Tea Party Express in the News Again

As reported last week, the Tea Party Express has endorsed conservative Joe Miller from Fairbanks against Lisa Murkowski, the incumbent Republican senator from Alaska.

The Daily News says today:

The Tea Party Express, fresh off an election victory in Utah, promised Wednesday that Alaska Sen. Lisa Murkowski would be its next victim. The group's promise of big spending to defeat her is intensifying interest in Murkowski challenger Joe Miller, a strict Constitutionalist whose views are unknown to most voters in Alaska.

Miller says he believes the federal Department of Education should be abolished and that, over the long term, the government should stop offering Social Security and Medicare. His campaign message to Republican primary voters shouts of the contrast between him and Murkowski, saying she is for abortion rights, supported a Wall Street bailout and is not in favor of repealing the "Obamacare" federal health law.

The Murkowski campaign accuses Miller of distorting her record, and the senator is clearly positioning herself for conservative voters in the primary. Murkowski gave a speech on the U.S. Senate floor Wednesday calling for repeal of the health care law and the first radio ad of her campaign talks about her votes against the economic stimulus, the health care law and funding for the community organizing group Acorn.

"We need to keep fighting to lower taxes, to shrink the size of government and to push back against the federal government's assault on Alaska," Murkowski said in the ad.

Miller said Wednesday the ad isn't honest. "She's voted like a liberal the last six years and now she wants to recast herself as a conservative," Miller said. It's the opposite tack of the Democrat running for Murkowski's seat, Sitka Mayor Scott McAdams, who says she began her political career as a moderate but went right.

He's "distorting her record." Sure, because everything the U.S. Senate does is hidden in your Aunt Fannie's pantry. Sorry; personal disdain for our non-representing "representatives" creeping in, there.

It's not like Alaskans aren't watching the Senator closely. Her nomination by her father to the seat that just happened to be vacated by her father made a lot of folks pretty upset. I'll grant you her tenure has been more distinguished than his, but ...

Anyway, click on the link to read the rest.