Revenge Of The Entitled: Murkowski Launches Write-In Campaign (UPDATED)

National Journal has the story of Alaska Republican senator Lisa Murkowski, who was beaten in the GOP primary by Tea Party candidate Joe Miller earlier this month, putting out the word that she’s going to be a write-in candidate this fall…

Sen. Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) will run for re-election as a write-in candidate after losing her bid for renomination, according to sources briefed on Murkowski’s decision.

Murkowski’s decision will set up a 3-way battle between the incumbent, Miller and Sitka Mayor Scott McAdams (D), potentially turning the race on its head. Private 3-way polling has shown Miller leading, but by a narrow margin.

Murkowski will make the formal announcement tonight in Anchorage. She has been mulling her options after losing to attorney Joe Miller (R) by 1.8% — or about 2K votes out of 110K

Fears that the Democrats might now pull McAdams out of the race and insert former governor Tony Knowles in an effort to capture the seat are mounting.

Murkowski’s decision isn’t a surprise, though it’s disappointing. She’s just the latest in a long line of Republican careerist politicians who, refusing to accept the clearly-expressed will of their constituents in the primaries, continue in efforts to hang on to power or do what they can to sabotage the Republican candidates to whom they lost.

Arlen Specter was one. He switched from the GOP to the Democrats last year when it became obvious he wasn’t going to be able to beat Pat Toomey.

Charlie Crist was another. Losing badly to Marco Rubio among Florida Republicans, Crist bolted the party this spring and is attempting to run as an independent.

Dede Scozzafava’s circumstances were a little different. Scozzafava, anointed the GOP’s nominee for a special election for the 23rd District congressional seat in New York, dropped out of a three-way race and endorsed Democrat Bill Owens over Conservative Party candidate Doug Hoffman last year. Owens won a close race over Hoffman, possibly on the strength of Scozzafava’s last-minute endorsement.

In North Carolina, Republican Will Brezeale lost to Tea Party candidate Ilario Pantano for a congressional seat, and now he has endorsed incumbent Democrat Mike McIntyre.

In Delaware, Mike Castle refuses to endorse Tea Party-endorsed Christine O’Donnell for the senate seat the latter seeks against Democrat Chris Coons. O’Donnell knocked off the “moderate” (make that the farthest-left in the entire House GOP caucus) Castle by six points Tuesday night.

And in Florida, Bill McCollum, who lost to businessman and Tea Party-endorsed candidate Rick Scott in the GOP gubernatorial primary, refuses to endorse Scott. McCollum has run – and mostly lost – for almost every major seat in Florida politics over the last 20 years.

It’s a strong pattern. And it’s one reason why the American electorate – and particularly the conservative portion of it – is fed up with politicians in general and long-time incumbents in particular. The lack of humility, the rejection of accountability, the sense of entitlement – it’s nauseating.

In every case outlined above, the sore loser has failed to profit by his or her actions. Murkowski’s case won’t likely be any different. She could have taken her lumps, helped Miller win and then bided her time before running as a sizable favorite against Democrat Mark Begich for Alaska’s other Senate seat in 2014. Instead, she still loses her seat, possibly throws the seat to the Democrats (not likely McAdams, but potentially to Knowles) and becomes a pariah among Republican voters in Alaska as a result.

The media is busy promoting a war between the Tea Party and the GOP establishment. In this case, they might be correct. And this war is exposing how devoid of virtue or even intelligence so much of that establishment actually is.

UPDATE: Tom Brady at Conservatives4Palin has it exactly right in recalling this Murkowski analogy…

As Robert Stacy McCain notes, how the heck does somebody named “Murkowski” expect to win a write-in, anyway?

UPDATE #2: Erick Erickson suggests that Murkowski be dumped from the Senate Energy Committee. Which is a terrific idea. It’s long past time to start punishing people who carry on the way she has.

UPDATE #3: Via Ace, how about this quote?

She added: “When you think about the outcome of that, in a closed Republican primary, how many Alaskans were actually able to weigh in? So what is the will of the constituency? When you hear this outpouring of support and concern — concern about the future of the state of Alaska and our representation here in the Senate — you do feel a responsibility.”

“I’m a public servant. My job by definition is to listen to my constituents. And there was a process in place — a primary election — that’s certainly one way that you listen to your constituents.”

That’s reminiscent of this…

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