The Other McCain

"One should either write ruthlessly what one believes to be the truth, or else shut up." — Arthur Koestler

EXCLUSIVE: Alaska LP Senate Candidate Dave Haase Is ‘Huge Sarah Palin Fan’

Posted on | August 26, 2010 | 28 Comments

Libertarian Party sources in Anchorage say they’ve been deluged with phone calls today from media and “political types” asking about the LP line on the ballot, which is Lisa Murkowski’s only hope to remain in the Senate unless her NRSC lawyer can find a way to steal the GOP nomination from Joe Miller.

Murkowski’s supporters “want us to keep an open mind and not say ‘no’ immediately” to their suggestion that LP Senate nominee Dave Haase step aside and let the incumbent Republican senator run as the Libertarian candidate on the Nov. 2 ballot.

In an e-mail Thursday to Ace of Spades HQ contributor Drew M., Haase praised Murkowski as a “smart lady” and said he had voted for her in the GOP primary.

However, the person who might be most able to sway Haase’s decision is none other than Sarah Palin.

“He’s a huge Sarah Palin fan,” the source in Anchorage said of Haase. The idea that the LP candidate admires both Murkowski and Palin — who are bitter political rivals — might “seem kinda weird,” the source said, but Haase is “a unique individual” who is “open to anybody who is open to his message.” Haase advocates the abolition of both the Internal Revenue Service and the Federal Reserve.

Would it make a difference if Palin herself were to contact Alaska Libertarian Party officials directly? The source said such a call “would likely make a difference.” With the LP suddenly in the middle of the nation’s biggest election battle, one call from “Mama Grizzly” might prove decisive.

Palin has a long-standing friendship with Alaska’s Libertarians. In 2005 and 2006, the source said, the future governor attended two LP meetings at the Denny’s restaurant in Anchorage as a guest speaker. During the last few weeks of the 2006 election, the leadership of the Alaska LP endorsed Palin for governor.

UPDATE: You’ll notice some snarky know-it-all in the comments quoting two-day-old reporting about the Alaska LP. The actual situation behind the scenes is complicated, chaotic and subject to change. While rounding up the Miller-Murkowski news at The American Spectator this morning, I came across this:

Meanwhile, Alaska Libertarian chairman Scott Kohlhass told KTUU in Anchorage that if Haase were to step aside as the party’s candidate, the choice of Haase’s replacement would be up to the LP executive committee.

Get it? Although it’s Haase’s decision whether or not to step aside, the choice of Haase’s replacement in such a scenario would be made by the executive committee, of which Kohlhaas is a member. I’d be remiss if I failed to point out that (a) Libertarians are firm believers in free-market capitalism, and (b) at last count, the Murkowski campaign had $1.8 million cash on hand.

Like I said, this is complicated.

BTW, thanks to everyone who has hit the tip jar so far to help send me up to Alaska. It’s past 3 a.m., and I’m too tired to give you a rundown on prospective travel plans and thank everyone individually at this point, but we’re definitely getting there. Mrs. Other McCain talked to me Thursday evening about the family budget. Just keep it coming, y’all.

Category: Ace of Spades, Alaska, Election, Joe Miller, Republicans, Sarah Palin, Senate

Lisa Murkowski ‘Lawyers Up’

Posted on | August 26, 2010 | 34 Comments

The NRSC is now “meddling” in the Alaska GOP Senate primary, says RINO killer Joe Miller:

“Frankly we’re looking right now to make sure . . . that the votes are accounted for fairly without any type of game play,” he said. “[It] concerns us any time that somebody lawyers up and, you know, tries to pull an Al Franken if you will.”

Dan Riehl says his sources are suspicious of shenanigans in Anchorage. As I explained down in comments on the earlier post:

Ever since Toomey-vs.-Specter ‘04, I’ve said that the NRSC needs to stay out of contested primaries. These Senators have their own campaign funds (Murkowski was still sitting on $1.8 million three weeks before the primary) and ought to be required to rely on that in the case of primary challenges, rather than calling in the NRSC to tilt the playing field.
Notice that it is always — always — the RINOs who get special help from the NRSC: Lincoln Chafee, Specter, Crist, etc.

There is no reason Lisa the Loser needs an NRSC lawyer flying to Anchorage to help her, since there isn’t the slightest hint of shenangians on Miller’s side.

JOE MILLER for U.S. SENATE

UPDATE: Christina Bellantoni of TPM catches the Democrats in a boasting mood:

If Joe Miller ultimately prevails in Alaska’s Republican primary and unseats Sen. Lisa Murkowski, you can expect the Democratic Party to go after him with gusto and paint him as an extremist.

(Which is, not to put too fine a point on it, a load of crap. In a crucial mid-term year, with Dems on the defensive everywhere, the DSCC isn’t going to spend squat to support their designated loser in deeply Republican Alaska.)

“I don’t think Alaskans are that crazy, and Miller is very fringe,” an Alaska Democrat backing Democratic nominee Sitka Mayor Scott McAdams told TPM in an interview. The source added that McAdams is “not a flaming liberal” and can appeal to sensible members of both parties, adding a prediction that because Murkowski supporters are mainstream, they will flock to McAdams in November.

Right. We’ll see about that.

Category: Alaska, Joe Miller, Republicans, Scandal

Would Another GZM Post Draw Vacuum?

Posted on | August 26, 2010 | 12 Comments

by Smitty (h/t Proof Positive)

Not if it’s Andrew Klavan, picking through the cultural, i.e. non-pure-Libertarian, angles.

This blog approves Klavan’s thoughtful, moderate take on the the issue.

Update: the Daley Gator has a Dr. M Zuhdi Jasser, who is a moderate Muslim, anti-GZM post linked. Let’s hear more from Jasser and his crowd.

Category: PJTV, The Flemish Menace

What’s the Air Fare to Anchorage? UPDATE: Miller Campaign ‘Urgently’ Seeks Funds to Fight Murkowski Recount

Posted on | August 26, 2010 | 67 Comments

Yesterday I told you the NRSC advised Lisa the Loser to “go negative” on Joe Miller. And today we learn that John Cornyn’s National RINO Subversive Conspiracy has sent lawyers to Anchorage to try to steal the election from Joe:

Sean Cairncross, the general counsel of the National Republican Senatorial Campaign Committee, is headed to Alaska at the request of Sen. Lisa Murkowski to help provide guidance to the GOP incumbent finds herself trailing attorney Joe Miller by roughly 1,600 votes.

Even a GOP team player like Allahpundit is outraged:

Let me get this straight. After taking loads of abuse from the grassroots for endorsing Charlie Crist before Rubio’s campaign got off the ground, and with Murkowski already pointedly refusing to rule out a third-party bid . . . John Cornyn and the NRSC are . . . . sending their top lawyer to help her out?

Indeed, given the possibility of Lisa the Loser becoming The World’s Least Plausible Libertarian — she’s certainly not a real Libertarian like my new BFF David Nolan — I’d hope the only reason the NRSC would speak to Murky at this point is to communicate five words: Quit now, you pathetic loser.

They could send that message with an e-mail, so why is Cornyn spending Republican money to fly his legal hatchet-man to Anchorage?

Trust me, I’ve just spent a few minutes looking into the cost of a flight from DC to Anchorage. I’m freaking serious. We’ve got the 8/28 event coming up — preceded by Friday evening’s Smittypalooza — but after that? I’ve got nothing scheduled.

So what the heck? If the tip-jar hitters want some shoe-leather reporting with an Anchorage dateline, who am I to say no?

UPDATE: If Mrs. Other McCain is reading my blog again: Yes, dear, I know about the car payment and the rent and, to paraphrase Scarlett O’Hara, “We’ll worry about that tomorrow at Tara.” As a lady told us when Kennedy was just a baby, we’ve got so much love.

Meanwhile, thanks to the lady in Alaska who just hit the tip jar for $20 — if we can get about 30 more like that, you can meet me at the Anchorage airport next week and I’ll deliver your Certified Tip-Jar Hitter mug personally. And thanks again to my $50 friend in Walla Walla.

UPDATE II: Oh, my goodness, I haven’t seen this kind of fired-up grassroots enthusiasm since NY-23! Thanks to Joe in Maryland and Joe in Virginia — you Joes sure stick together, huh? A tip-jar hitter from Kentucky sends $10 and this message:

Find that NRSC lawyer and ask him straight up what he’s there for, then meteor-kick him in the face.

LOL! Keep it up, y’all.

UPDATE III: And a big $20 worth of “Roll, Tide!” thanks to a fellow in Arkansas who previously helped out on that crazy Pasadena trip for the BCS game. Thanks for the linkage from Ran at SVP, who’s angry at the GOP Senate candidate in Ohio.

UPDATE IV: Message from Walla Walla:

Say . . . could you score (yes, a poor choice of words) an interview with Levi “Dead Beat Dad” Johnston?  Might be a real scoop! 

Heh. Be glad to do it, assuming “Ricky Hollywood” isn’t in New York or LA, doing interviews with his buddies in the MSM. But if he’s in town, maybe I’ll see Levi hanging around a trailer park. I’ll tell him Dan Riehl says, “Hi!”

If y’all keep hittting the tip jar, I guess I can get a rental car and take a trip to Joe McGinniss’ neighborhood.

UPDATE V: Thanks to Dana in Ohio and Stephanie in Louisiana. Every $10 or $20 helps, and the same is true for Joe Miller’s campaign. Bracing for Lisa the Loser’s NRSC-funded demand for a recount, the Miller campaign sends out a fund-raising letter:

Thousands of absentee voter ballots were sent out by the Division of Elections and those votes will not be fully tallied until September 8th. A recount is imminent and Joe Miller URGENTLY needs your help . . .

Many of you have already contributed to Joe Miller, and certainly Joe needs your help again. Meanwhile, the L.A. Times reports:

Gail Fenumiai, director of the state Elections Division, said that 9,500 of the 16,000 absentee ballots requested had been received so far. She cautioned that not all of those ballots would be guaranteed to be counted, and that many may not include votes in the Republican Senate primary.
None of those ballots will be opened until Tuesday.

It’s a closed primary, so only Republican absentee ballots matter in this particular fight.

We’d all save a lot of money and hassle if that stupid RINO Murkowski would just admit she’s beat.

UPDATE VI: Lisa Murkowski ‘Lawyers Up’

Category: Alaska, Election, Joe Miller, Mrs. Other McCain, Senate, Shoe Leather Fund

One Year Ago Today

Posted on | August 26, 2010 | 25 Comments

Thanks to Bob Belvedere for reminding us that, for the past 365 days, Ted Kennedy has been the only kind of good Democrat.

And Mary Jo Kopechne still could not be reached for comment.

Category: Camp of the Saints, Massachusetts

The $21 Million Arizona Sell-Out

Posted on | August 26, 2010 | 40 Comments

The Keen Observer at Townhall.com:

It only took a measly 21 million dollars for John McCain to buy yet another 6-year term in the most exclusive club of aristocrats the world has ever known: the United States Senate.
And all for a job that pays 174K a year, plus a few fringes. Fuzzy math indeed; but nice “work” if you can get it.
But curiously, most of the 21 milion was LEFTOVER from his bizarre presidential campaign of 2008, where McCain exhibited “extraordinary restraint” in not attacking Barack Obama head-on . . .
Now contrast with the way McCain went directly after the jugular of fellow Republican J.D. Hayworth — choosing to attack the hapless ex-congressman unrelentingly over FOUR consecutive months, in one the dirtiest, most-misrepresentative TV campaigns in recent memory.

You may read the whole thing, if you wish. My question is for Arizonans who love liberty, who care about the Constitution, who oppose John McCain’s big-government RINO agenda: Are you for sale?

Will you betray your principles for $21 million? Or is it so important to elect a senator with an “R” beside his name that you will now roll over, bite your tongues, and pretend that America will somehow be safer — our freedoms more secure — if John McCain gets re-elected?

Will you, in other words, become a willing accomplice in foisting this fraud upon your fellow citizens?

Michelle Malkin has declared, “John McCain is the problem,” and I completely agree. If we agree that this two-faced backstabbing disgrace to my family name is the problem, what is the solution? On Tuesday night, when the results of the primary in Arizona became known, I said:

Say hello to Libertarian Party candidate David Nolan. He’s also on Facebook.
David F. Nolan is a great American, and I’m his new best friend.

As his new best friend, allow me to make the proper introduction, from his official biography:

David F. Nolan is the principal founder of America’s largest and most successful third party, the Libertarian Party.
He holds a degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and enjoyed a successful four-decade career in advertising, marketing and publishing.
In 1970, he created a new map of the political world that has all but replaced the old-fashioned left-right linear model. A Google search for the phrase “Nolan Chart” recently turned up 350,000 references!
This groundbreaking achievement earned Mr. Nolan a listing in 2,000 Outstanding Intellectuals of the 20th Century, published by the International Biographical Centre, Cambridge, England.
David lives in Tucson with his wife Elizabeth.

Many of my friends, I know, are saying to themselves, “This guy can’t possibly win.” That’s what they said about Joe Miller until Tuesday night. And some of you may be looking at Nolan and saying, “Dude, he’s a hopeless geek. If we support him, we’ll look like idiots.”

Yeah? Well, let me remind you of another hopless geek:

Nov. 4, 2009
SARANAC LAKE, N.Y. — If a Hollywood producer were casting for the role of a revolutionary hero, no talent agent would send Doug Hoffman to the audition. Yet the Hoffman congressional campaign has ignited a revolution within the Republican Party, the results of which are already being felt.
Even while the Hoffman campaign’s early-evening “cautious optimism” gave way to concern — with staffers huddling in the “war room” here at the Hotel Saranac — one official of New York’s Conservative Party was already in a celebratory mood, laughing as he yelled into his cell phone: “Guess who will not be representing the 23rd District? Dede Scozzafava!”

Exactly my point. We can win back the 23rd District this fall — go contribute to support Doug Hoffman now — but if conservatives are afraid to stand up for principle, if conservatives are willing to roll over and buy into the GOP establishment’s lesser-of-two-evils defense of a two-faced backstabbing RINO like John McCain, why should conservatives expect to be treated with any respect?

If not now, when? If not us, who?

We have started a revolution, and we cannot quit it now. It’s time to take a stand, my friends, to draw a line in the sand and proclaim our vow, “This far, and no further.” Who’s with me?

DAVID NOLAN for U.S. SENATE

Category: Arizona, Conservatism 101, David Nolan, J.D. Hayworth, John McCain, Michelle Malkin

Reminder To Self: Purr More, Hiss Less

Posted on | August 26, 2010 | 16 Comments

by Smitty

My favorite obscure ukulele player, the Howlin’ Hobbit, has an original number for your delectation:Anyone in Seattle, get down to the Pike Place market and support this wonderful artist.

Category: Art, Blogging, Video

Who Doesn’t Enjoy Fisk-Flogging A Lefty Op-Ed?

Posted on | August 26, 2010 | 25 Comments

by Smitty

Michael Gerson’s 25 August op-ed is something of a treasure to be savored in full: Read more

Category: Progressivism
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