Give Mr. Miller a recount, embarrass Sarah Palin
December 12th, 2010 Posted in OpinionBy Ben Zaritsky
When will it end?
Years ago Al Gore was mocked and ridiculed for asking for a recount on the presidential election.
When Al Franken had a recount in Minnesota, people said that it was ridiculous and a waste of money to do it.
Today? Well, today we have Joe Miller, the Tea Party candidate who beat incumbent GOP Sen. Lisa Murkowski in the Alaska primary, only to be beaten by a Murkowski write-in campaign in the general election. Miller recently asked for a recount on all ballots, not just the write-ins.
The Alaska GOP has asked Miller to let it go and look toward the future. In all honesty, I’m torn.
GOP Chairman Randy Ruedrich was reported saying, “This was a free and fair election. It is now time to look forward. We call on Joe Miller to respect the will of the voters and end his campaign in a dignified manner. We have every expectation that Joe will do the right thing.”
So far Miller has not done the right thing. I can’t blame him though. After all, what does he have to go back to if he actually looses? A job that he was forced to resign from for ethical reasons and a strong stance against unemployment compensation make things look rather depressing for Miller. Maybe he should have allowed a little bit of leniency on the unemployment topic.
But are things really so bad? We as a nation have become so pessimistic that all we do is look at the negative. Let us look at the positive for a change. And there is a positive to this situation. Actually, there are a couple of positives to this situation.
The biggest positive to this situation is that we, as a nation, got to see Sarah Palin, who supported Miller, lose over and over again each time Miller loses another appeal.
Palin, the person who (by many reports) gave the GOP nomination to Miller, is the one who is most hurt by this continued effort by Miller to gain the Senate seat he lost.
If Miller gives up, Palin’s humiliation ends as well. I’m not sure I’m ready to end that suffering.
This senatorial race has much more to do with the nation than it has to do with Alaska.
It’s not like a lot will change for Alaska, which gets either gets a very conservative and inexperienced senator, or a mildly conservative but experienced senator. We as a nation get the joy of being reminded every day how Sarah Palin was unsuccessful in her attempt to fix an election in her home state. So why not continue the recount?
This is more than just Miller v. Murkowski. This is a battle of epic proportions of Palin v. Murkowski. The Palins and Murkowskis have been at each other’s throats for years.
This was Palin’s chance to destroy the Murkowski political genealogical line. Now we have the chance to see this feud continue and grow if Palin attempts to run for president in 2012.
Murkowski has already taken off the gloves for the possibility of that race. “I just do not think that she has those leadership qualities, that intellectual curiosity, that allows for building good and great policies,” Murkowski has said about the former Alaska governor.
It’s looking to be a rambunctious race, which, for those of us who receive rays of sunshine from seeing Sarah Palin flinch, is fantastic.
While many look back on this past election with regret, we must remember that it’s not all bad. As for Mr. Miller’s desire for a recall, I say, Bring it on.
TP
Tags: GOP politics, Joe Miller, Lisa Murkowski, Sarah Palin
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