Sarah Palin: Murkowski has "Gall" in Attacking Miller
U.S. Senator Lisa Murkowski (R) Alaska and Republican candidate for U.S. Senate Joe Miller.
(Credit: AP Photo)The ongoing feud between the two most famous women in Alaska politics - Sarah Palin and Sen. Lisa Murkowski - continued today with a Facebook post by Palin in which she says she has "never seen a candidate stoop as low as was seen last night in Alaska's senatorial debate."
In the post, "Lisa's Gall vs. Miller's Honor," Palin complains that even though Murkowski lost the GOP primary to the Palin- and Tea Party-backed Miller, she "reneged on her primary vow to not contest the will of the people."
Palin refers to Murkowski throughout the note as "the sitting Senator," as in, "[Miller] called out the sitting Senator's involvement in racking up the massive debt burden on our children and grandchildren, as well as her plan to barter over the destructive job-killing cap-and-tax legislation."
She went on to write that "the most shocking part of all in this debate was when the incumbent Senator used Joe Miller's distinguished military service as a means to attack him."
"I find it astonishing that a sitting U.S. Senator from Alaska would challenge the honor of a decorated combat veteran," wrote Palin. She added: "We need to send a message that we're not going to stand for this arrogant sense of entitlement and business-as-usual Beltway corruption."
Former Alaska governor Sarah Palin speaks to the crowd during the kickoff of the nationwide Tea Party Express bus tour in Reno, Nev., Monday, Oct. 18, 2010.
(Credit: AP)When she endorsed Miller earlier this year, Palin insisted there was no "feud or bad blood" between the two. But they have a contentious history.
When Palin resigned as governor, Murkowski released a terse statement about how she was "disappointed" that Palin quit. Palin first made it to the governor's office by defeating Murkowski's father Frank, the Republican incumbent, in the 2006 election. Four years earlier, in 2002, Frank Murkowski elected to appoint Lisa Murkowski to the Senate, passing over Palin.
When Murkowski announced her write-in bid, she promised to be "a Republican woman who won't quit on Alaska" - a not-so-subtle shot at Palin for resigning the governorship before the end of her term.
In a separate fundraising letter to Miller supporters today, Palin wrote that "Public service should be an honor not a family dynasty" -- a not-so-subtle shot right back.
Polls suggest a tight race between Miller and Murkowski, with Democrat Scott McAdams polling a somewhat-distant third. While Miller has trumpeted his desire to cut down on federal spending and government regulation - he opposes the minimum wage - Murkowski has stressed her ability to bring home the bacon for heavily-subsidized Alaska.
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