Republican Joe Miller is not showing any signs of giving up his fight against Sen. Lisa Murkowski’s win in the Alaska Senate race. But the sounds of silence from his Republican (former?) friends is starting to speak volumes…
As we reported, leading up to the count of write-in ballots, Jim DeMint, Mike Huckabee, and the NRSC all sent out fundraising emails in support of Miller.
The NRSC wrote: “We need to get Joe the resources he needs to win the vote count. Because we need Joe to join our fight against Barack Obama. Help ensure that this vote count is conducted fairly.” Mike Huckabee and Jim DeMint enlisted their PACs to raise money for Miller’s fight.
But last week, Murkowski declared victory in the race, after pulling ahead of Miller by more than 10,000 votes, with more than 2,000 of those uncontested by the Miller campaign. And though Miller was granted an injunction to stop the election from being certified, he’s starting to look a little desperate.
The tea party-backed Miller scored a surprise victory over Murkowski in the primary, only to fall short to her historic write-in bid in the general election.
Since Murkowski’s victory speech, the NRSC has gone silent. Politco reports that the NRSC declined to comment on the race until the results were “official.” The NRSC did not immediately return TPM’s request for comment. Huckabee has also stayed mum, and HuckPAC also did not immediately return TPM’s request for comment.
Add to that the Alaska GOP’s call for Miller to give up his fight — though Miller and AK GOP Chairman Randy Ruedrich have a bitter history, after Miller attempted to oust Ruedrich in 2008.
Fred Thompson said on his radio show: “Joe Miller ought to give it up and live to fight another day. Show a little class.”
The Tea Party Express, meanwhile, is still maintaining its verbal support for Miller, though it is not playing a financial role in his continued campaign. Politico reports that TPE contributed $585,000 in the Republican primary, but:
The group’s lead consultant, Sal Russo, said it is not playing a financial role in the recount.“We are not directly involved in any of the campaigns as an Independent Expenditure committee, but we would defer to them and support them in their efforts to get a fair election result,” wrote Russo in an e-mail. “We don’t have any independent knowledge to suggest anything other than we fully support Joe Miller.”
SarahPAC, Palin’s political action committee, donated $5,000 to Miller’s write-in fight on November 11. But Palin herself has been pretty quiet, only once retweeting a Miller campaign tweet on November 10:
RT “@JoeWMiller: Miller Seeks to Uphold Valid Ballot Count & State Law http://t.co/WCJszig files complaint & motion for prelim injunction”
Only DeMint seems to be continuing his efforts, prominently featuring a contribution button for the “Joe Miller Recount Fund” on his Senate Conservatives PAC website. “Joe Miller can win this race, but he’s up against a well-financed legal team that is working for Lisa Murkowski,” DeMint wrote. “They will be fighting to bend the law in Alaska, which requires write-in ballots to accurately state the candidate’s name.” DeMint’s PAC has already contributed about $627,000 to Miller’s campaign.
But even DeMint is covering his bases, saying on November 15 of Murkowski that he would “congratulate her and welcome her back” to the Senate, McClatchy reports.
Jillian Rayfield
Jillian Rayfield is a Reporter/Blogger for TPM, and started as a News Intern in May 2009. She graduated from Cornell University in May 2008 with a degree in Film, and worked as a Research Assistant for a market research firm in London in between.
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