Prospect emerita Alexandra Gutierrez , now Alaska-based (and here, played by Sir Anthony Hopkins) presents this charming report on the political action up north: Apparently, Sarah Palin's endorsement mojo has petered out in her own state, and a Papa Grizzly is about go down.
Palin endorsed a doctrinaire Tea Party candidate Joe Miller, who is challenging incumbent Sen. Lisa Murkowski in the Republican primary. He's running on national issues when he ought to be talking about what Alaskans care about, which is apparently how terrible the rest of the United States is. I love this quote from Murkowski's spokesperson because it gets at the real disdain Alaskans have for the rest of us:
"It turns Alaskans off when outside groups from the Lower 48 like this California Tea Party Express come out and try to tell Alaskans how to vote and what they should be doing," says Wackowski. "I'm from here; I grew up here. And whether it's extreme environmentalists telling us that we can't drill in ANWR or that we can't do predator control to manage our game stocks, I think that really rubs Alaskans the wrong way. On Tuesday, you're going to see evidence of that."
I'm not sure that losing her Alaska credibility actually hurts Palin; resigning midterm from the governship and earning the general disdain of the state's political establishment hasn't hurt her national brand much to my eyes. I'm sure clever folks will be able to spin this impending loss as one more money-raising martyrdom for Joan of Alaska. On a brighter note, I think it's time to start a band called California Tea Party Express.
-- Tim Fernholz
