Yesterday I read an article on Talking Points Memo with the following title: “Why Sarah Palin Is About To Lose Big Time In Alaska’s Primary.” The article was referring to Palin’s support of a teabagger candidate for Senate, Joe Miller, over sitting Senator Lisa Murkowski.
There are few public polls for this race but operatives for both Republicans and Democrats tell TPM they expect Murkowski to prevail tonight by a wide margin. Still, in a last-ditch effort to boost her preferred candidate Joe Miller, Palin recorded a robocall you can hear below suggesting Murkowski is a waffler who prefers Democratic policies. And even though several Republicans have been toppled this year by tea-party-favored candidates like Miller, those claims are a stretch.
The poll average was 62-30 Murkowski over Miller. Palin’s popularity in Alaska stands at 41-46. Palin did not make any appearances for Miller, but she did record a robocall.
It must have worked because as of this morning Joe Miller holds a 2% lead over Lisa Murkowski (just under 3000 votes) with 77% counted. This could be a big upset in the making, stay tuned. If Murkowski loses, the Alaska Senate race automatically becomes a top tier race for both parties. The Democratic candidate is Sitka mayor Tony McAdams.