Lisa, Liar, Pants on Fire! Murkowski Makes False Claims About Endorsements.
Lisa Murkowski has been the first to complain about the other candidates lying. She says Joe Miller distorted her voting record (which he did), and she says that Scott McAdams lied about her voting record (which he didn’t). But Lisa Murkowski sent out a nice glossy colored mailer that went out to Alaska households and arrived in mailboxes across Anchorage this morning, and it was full of lies. Under a banner that said “Alaskan Democrats Who Are Voting for Lisa Murkowski – and not Scott McAdams” was a list of people who supposedly fit that category.
This one was absolutely stunning. It claimed that Democratic candidate for Governor, Ethan Berkowitz was voting for Lisa Murkowski. It also claimed Don Mitchell, Democrat and Huffington Post contributor was voting for Lisa Murkowski. But before you pick up your phones to flame these two, or throw shoes at them if you see them in Costco, keep reading.
This particular act of desperation was refuted by both Ethan Berkowitz and Don Mitchell. Berkowitz cleared the record immediately after being made aware of the situation. “I am voting for Scott McAdams. I unequivocally deny what Lisa claims and call on her to correct this blatant lie.”
Don Mitchell also stated today, “I have NOT said I am voting for Lisa Murkowski, and I was not contacted by her campaign before she sent this.”
Even Democratic U.S. Senator Patty Murray was featured in the mailer leading readers to believe that she supported Lisa Murkowski. In response to inquiries from the McAdams campaign, Murray’s campaign manager Jeff Bjornstad issued the following statement:
“Neither Sen. Murray nor her campaign authorized the use of these comments. It’s unfortunate her comments about bipartisanship were used in a partisan manner against an excellent candidate like Scott McAdams. Scott McAdams shares the values Sen. Murray fights for every day. She’ll be proud to work with him as Alaska’s next senator.”
So, not only is Lisa Murkowski confusing Alaskans wiht her voting record, but now she is falsely claiming support that she does not have, in an attempt to gin up Democratic votes. It’s a “win at all cost” strategy that only serves to show Alaskans how far the Murkowski campaign will sink to put forth the story they want to sell.
“Lisa has lied about a very crucial issue: how people are voting. This most recent blatant deception shows once again that Lisa cannot be trusted. Alaska needs a Senator who will tell the truth, and the only one who is telling the truth is Scott McAdams,” Chair of the Alaska Democratic Party Patti Higgins said. “Lisa has lied about
fellow Alaskans in order to win. This is truly outrageous.”
Outrageous, yes. Surprising? No. Murkowski has been confusing Alaskans with her voting record for years. The Alaska Democratic Party put together some information on that at “Lisa Says, Lisa Does.”
McAdams spokeswoman Heather Handyside stated, “I know that passions run high during campaign season, but we are doing our best to run a straightforward, positive campaign. And we expect the same from Senator Murkowski’s campaign.”
Good luck with that. As Scott McAdams continues to gain support and momentum, Murkowski just seems to be getting more desperate.
Handyside also pointed out several other instances of behavior and tactics from the Murkowski campaign which are being used to influence potential voters and are less than honest.
- Exaggerating the impact of her seniority
- Hiding her recent voting record that cost Alaska $400M in 2010
- Downplaying her failing grade from Planned Parenthood and NARAL
- Taking credit for Alaska projects she voted against
- Using an ad campaign with fake poll results that indicate her popularity is increasing
There’s an old quote that I like very much that all Alaska voters should remember in any campaign, and with every vote they place – “When people show you who they are, believe them.”
Alrighty, then.
I just got a Murkowski phone “ad”
Did you know Ms Murkowski is running against Joe Miller?
Only?
No Mr McAdams on the horizon anywhere…?
Am thinking she and her campaign buddies think we Dems are pretty dim.
One day it’s an ad pulling voices of Democrats out of context, next day it’s calls to Dems blithering on about Mr repeal-the-20th-century Miller and how Ms Murkowski is all set up to deliver us from that evil.
Pffft!
Where’s tallimat’s Auntie’s booth-?
I want to buy one her self made cups.
I’m voting for the big guy…
Go Scott!!!!!!!!!!!!!
What I find interesting (per the news last night here in Anchorage) is that there is a good possibility folks are going to be able to wear a ‘blue’ (vs red?) bracelet into the voting areas (11/2) that show Lisa’s full name with the oval marked. It was indicated that should a voter wear one of these bracelets into a voting location, that it could not be visible to other voters. It certainly doesn’t seem legal to me!
Is this the United States of America?
I saw the mailer, in which Ethan Berkowitz is quoted as saying, “Lisa was, and remains today, an honest, decent, truthful hardworking Alaskan.” The Anchorage Daily News printed Berkowitz’s letter in support of Lisa on September 1st.
He also said, ” While we did not always agree on every issue, she was always respectful and reasonable. Beyond that, she was a good person with a good heart.” and “I hope we have not seen the last of Lisa Murkowski she has too much to offer Alaska. Something tells me she will be back, and I look forward to working with her when that time comes.”
No offense to DINOs everywhere, but Ethan really disappoints me, especially this election season. I wonder if he still feels she’s such a “good person with a good heart” after she has misused his magnanimous statement so. If it weren’t Diane Benson on that ticket, I think I wouldn’t even vote for governor.
And Parnell is really, really bad.
So Murkowski’s campaign makes a mistake with a headline (but not with any any of the quotes), catches the mistake and promptly apologizes and she personally makes calls to McAdams and Berkowitz to apologize. In the chaos of a campaign, mistakes happen, but this sounds like the way they should be handled.
Lisa voted against the budget as a whole, so right now McAdams is running ads that list specific Alaska appropriations (that Lisa put it in the budget) and saying she voted against them. This is deeply disingenuous and I think a similar level of responsibility and apology from McAdams would be appropriate.
1. “specific Alaska appropriations (that Liz put it in the budget)” (my sic)
2. “Liz voted against” (my sic)
So what you’re selling is: Liz was for it, before she was against it. Thanks, for nothing, also, too, Just say no to Mrs. Miller-lite.
Mudpuppy: “So Murkowski’s campaign makes a mistake with a headline (but not with any of the quotes), catches the mistake and promptly apologizes and she personally makes calls to McAdams and Berkowitz to apologize. In the chaos of a campaign, mistakes happen, but this sounds like the way they should be handled.”
“Mistakes” are made in debates or extemporaneous speaking situations, whereas campaign materials and propaganda are scrutinized down to the last little detail to achieve the maximum calculated political effect. Even follow up scenarios (such as staged apologies) are discussed and worked out as much as possible ahead of time.
In the event that such a mistake actually happened (which I don’t believe for a second), the only honest remediation would be to send mailers admitting the mistake to the same voters who received the initial mailers, not merely a phone call to McAdams and Berkowitz.
This was a calculated political gamble on the part of the Murkowski campaign. Period. They obviously believed that the risk / benefit ratio of this cynical ploy would be favorable to her election chances.
You’re either a disingenuous apologist for Murkwoski…..or, if you really believe it, an ingenuous one.
Mudpuppy, according to the newspaper article anyway, Murkowski herself apologized to Ethan but not to Scott. Maybe you know something I don’t. And if Lisa is going to vote against budgets no matter what — as her Republican overlords tell her to do — then why even bother putting the appropriations in there in the first place. Ultimately, she DID vote against them, so I don’t see any disingenuousness here at all.
Yeah, I saw that fake poll with made up graphs in a huge ad in our local paper in the slough. Shows Murky with 40% of the vote and the others trending way down. What poll was that?
This just goes to show that the only thing Lurky can rely on is that Alaskans will vote their fears rather than their values
Because Alaskans who vote their values are choosing McAdams.
And this fake poll stuff tells us much about Murky. She doesn’t have much else to stand on, but lies.
When Lisa kissed the ring of Alaska Pope Prevo that was all I needed to dispel any sense that maybe voting for Lisa would stop Miller. She’s a typical Republican shill. Ultimately after all the bs of the campaign is over, she & Miller would probably vote more or less the same anyway.
Something to ponder.
I saw that ADN.com had a story about this, but I didn’t see it in the paper this morning. Interesting.
I noticed that, too. We’ll know there’s some funny business going on if it isn’t in tomorrow’s paper.
This is a screw up by Lisa’s campaign but read the actual document (you have to zoom in) and see what the quotes are. It’s small wonder they got overexcited:
http://www.alaskademocrats.org/images/stories/lisa%20lies%20mailer.jpg
I am disappointed to be presented with evidence that Lisa may have the same ethical code(questionable)that her dad had.Don’t get in the pig pen with Miller Lisa,you will just end up filthy dirty & ashamed of yourself.
This whole thing that is coming out about Miller’s staffer who is anti-gay & tries to “cure” gays is truelly creepy.Miller cannot win this election, whoe unto alaska if he does.
Just perused the actual flier. Prominently displayed at the bottom is the banner of The Oregonian as the source of Patty Murray’s quote. The Oregonian is starving, as a lot of subscribers (me included) have canceled their subscriptions, after they were bought out by right-wingers from Orange Co. Ca. They recently advocated voting no on a desperately needed school bond issue. Down here, progressives are derisively calling it, “The Orange-gonian”.
These people suck.
I’ve come to the sad realization that pretty well 99.9% of ALL politicos are the dregs of society, truly the bottom of the barrel creatures. With rare exception, I would neither allow one in my home nor waste any time nor money on them. Until everyone gets a really good and worldly education and can think rationally and logically, we are doomed to have little choice in our elections as we won’t have the ability necessary to see through these charlatans who so easily lie and manipulate for their own selfish gain at their country’s expense.
You couldn’t have said it better, AlaskaDisasta! How aobut civic tests on their particular state, the American government and the Constitution? Cannot run unless they pass it!
Here comes the, “unsupervised anonymous staffer” dodge.
In all of my life, I have been able to have meaningful discussions about candidates — UNTIL THIS YEAR! And, my niece actually TOLD me to vote Republican. Now, I don’t take kindly to being told how to vote and responded as such. I’m beginning to think there’s more fear out there than in the last presidential election.
Oh my, Rachel Maddow tonight points out the guy on Joke Miller’s staff is another ‘cure for the gays’ goofball.
“http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26315908/ns/msnbc_tv-rachel_maddow_show/#39805480”
So the Berkowitz campaign told me that the flyer didn’t go to all Dems, it went to a certain targeted group/demographic. I would like to know what that group is that myself and my daughter fall into according to Murkowski. Is it women? Is it first time registered Dems? My partner didn’t get a flyer, he’s non-partisan.
I’m registered non-partisan and did not get a flyer. Maybe they looked at Scott’s donation list and didn’t send to those who have donated. Maybe they are just targeting Anchorage and Fairbanks since that is where the population base is…..
LOOSA, you have lost my respect — you will never get a vote from me and you confirm to me just how two-faced you are…..
I got one of these flyers. I’m a registered Dem, and one of the many proud Alaskans who have donated to Scott McAdam’s campaign. And I put the flyer in its proper place – the recycle bin.
The postcard I used was sent to a registered Democratic woman.
We got the flyer here, and I am a registered Democrat who has contributed $110 to Scott’s campaign. I first just threw it in the trash until this controversy arose, at which time I took a closer look at it. This really is just pure bs, and Lisa should be ashamed of herself. I bet she thought she could slide it by and no one would notice.
I am so impressed how Scott and Heather both take the high road. I just wish that meant something to the majority of the voters out there. Sad to say, they have become lazy and dependent on the 30 second spots, or the bullet item postcards that distort and lie.
I am getting a postcard a day from Miller, sometimes two. Good fire starter material.
Ditto to that – very proud that Scott is an Alaskan and a first class candidate. Getting out the credit card again!!! You go, Scott!!!
My mouth dropped when I read the part about Patty Murray and I said, “No way”, I worked on her campaign the first time she ran for senator in Washington.
The apology is a joke. They should be required to mail out a flyer to each address that got the last one saying “these are democrats who are voting for Scott McAdams despite our earlier bogus claim.”
Exactly! Anything less then a mass mailing to correct this, is an insult. Fighting with new low-joe has really brought out her true colors.
Just for the purposes of disclosure, here is a link to the actual ad. Not that I want to spread this anymore than it needs to, but I thought you should see for yourself how disingenuous it is:
http://www.adn.com/2010/10/22/1514962/dems-upset-over-murkowski-mailer.html#
Here’s a link to the actual flyer. Please disregard the previous link I posted.
http://www.alaskademocrats.org/images/stories/lisa%20lies%20mailer.jpg
The mailer just confirmed my views that Bob Poe was pretending to be a democrat. Who is he to question anyone’s fitness for office when he was running for Gov without ANY government experience. Thank goodness the Dems saw through his BS from the very beginning. Who is Bob Poe? An opportunistic sleaze!
Don’t make that assumption until the truth is out. Not sure what you are talking about on government experience, unless you mean elected experience?
Read more: http://community .adn.com/node/136351#ixzz139khOM2V (due to spam fliter – remove spaces for link)
“Poe has never run for public office before.
But he’s been around Alaska government and business for 28 years. He’s currently a business consultant in Anchorage and said he worked under four governors – Sheffield, Cowper, Hickel and Knowles.”
The big LISA sign on his fence is a pretty good indication he is suporting the princess. And, yes elected government experience IS what I was CLEARLY talking about.
And another thing I could make a similar claim/spin about my government experience as I too have worked under four governors–as a proud ASEA union employee.
It is just this kind of thing that leads people to not voting. The ugliness of political campaigns is a turn off to many people especially if they mostly hear the negative things candidates say about each other. I bet there is going to be more nasty tricks and mean stuff from Lisa before this is over. This is her last chance to save her job.
try to save her job.
Which she will not do, since McAdams will be the new senator from Alaska.
In regards to that failing NARAL grade… here are the facts:
http://www.votesmart.org/issue_rating_category.php?can_id=15841&type=category&category=2
NARAL 2009 – 25%
NARAL 2007 – 75%
1996-2003 PP Grade – 40%
Not great…. but not as bad as you’re painting it either.
As for seniority… come-on – how can you honestly argue against her seniority? She’s a ranking member on the Energy and Natural Resources and a member of the Appropriations committee.
If you’re a democrat and really really feel good about this race then stop for a minute and think about how many of you and your friends voted for Nader b/c Gore was too conservative.
I am so very proud to support a man that has integrity ~ Scott McAdams!
As usual, you bring up scenarios that have nothing to do with anything, like the Nader / Gore comment. The last one I bothered to read was how you felt you were being attacked by Rovian tactics because you made an obnoxious post. You sure make a lot of assumptions, and a lot of snotty remarks. I think it’s becoming clear why you have such a narrow view of politics. I will no longer read anything you have to post, don’t know why I read this one.
Seniority? That’s an excellent question. I don’t know what the Republicans are going to do if she wins: put Murkowski back into her seats on committees- that they removed her from when she decided to run as a write-in- thereby saying Alaska’s Republican primary didn’t count? Nice slap at the Tea Party, which they are courting… Or treat her as a new freshman Senator, so no primo assignments- shooting themselves in the foot, but making the TP happy.
What to do, what do to–
She hasn’t done anything but vote no for two years anyway. Whey would we miss her?
As Lisa explained to us all, when she was running against Tony, what’s important is to be in the party of the majority if you want to get anything done for Alaska. 🙂
By your own figures, Murkowski’s ratings by your chosen organizations have dropped significantly since she was appointed to the Senate. (The current rating by Planned Parenthood of Murkowski is 25%.) This supports the view that Murkowski has become more conservative and obstructive after she moved to Washington. This, of course, is off the point. Murkowski’s flyer shows that either (1) she is a liar or (2) she employs a liar. She needs to stand up and take responsibility.
NARAL 2007 – 75%
NARAL 2009 – 25%
Looks like it’s falling and failing to me.
—————————————————–
I’m a Democrat, so I took your advice, iceman, and stopped for a minute to think……….Yep. After a minute, you still sound like Tokyo Rose.
Hauling Rosie out of the mothballs is just more proof how much Murkowski needs those Democratic votes.
Seniority doesn’t mean jack when you use it the wrong way.
And if you think 40% isn’t that bad… I’d hate to see your report card.
She voted against 11 straight appropriations that included millions for Alaska. She pretends it’s because she’s all concerned about the overall national debt. Ummm. She voted FOR every single one under Bush. She’s an opportunist, and a political panderer, and now she’s a liar. Your being here is making me hate her even more, because all you do is make excuses for her bad behavior.
I hope you’re at least getting paid to write this swill. We’re not that stupid.
Personally, I don’t have friends who voted for Nader instead of Gore. And what the heck does that have to do with this race anyway, unless you are going to talk about all the lying the repubs did back then – if I were you, I wouldn’t go there.
Anyway, your argument is off-base. And as for the numbers you posted? Last time I checked, 25 and 40% are clearly failing grades, no matter how you try to spin it.
Seniority is a great plus if the person uses it to further the constituents and the country. Lisa chose to do neither when she sided with the repubs last time out in just saying no. Then to find out she has lied about endorsements she doesn’t have, including my senator in her lies, just proves she is desperate. She lost already and she’s just muddling things up by insisting on a write in campaign.
There’s just no way you can make this latest deliberate pack of lies look good to anyone who has half a brain and uses it.
LOL!
ROFL!
Ms Murkowski is the “spoiler” here, not Mr McAdams !
Nice try at reframing the situation!
Didn’t vote for him but at least Mr Nader was a 3rd party candidate.
Ms Murkowski is in this for the couch-spud-couldn’t-get-off-their-buns-and-vote-in-the-primary-and-now-freaking-out vote.
Pfffft!
No, she’s not a spoiler. She’s helping out McAdams! 🙂 Miller also, too.
Lurky lost to a loser with only Republicans voting.
Where is her base? She’s not popular with much of anyone. She just has name recognition.
McAdams has name recognition now also. And it’s associated with good, positive, passionate energy on his behalf.
Not going to work, Akiceman. Nice try, though.
Lisa may have just given us the election. This needs to be spread far and wide. Does she really expect people to believe that her professional campaign could make this kind of mistake? Puh-leeze.
I know, it’s not like she made a slip of the tongue on live TV. They had (comparatively speaking) all the time in the world to make sure they had the flyer right, but they didn’t. This is a classic case of someone purposefully doing something for a desired effect and then turning around and claiming they never meant to do it only after the damage has been done. Truly disappointing behavior for a sitting senator.
Murkowski is repeating the Crist campaign and rather than going after Miller for Republican votes, she’s ceding him those votes and trying to scare Democrats into voting for her to keep the scary Miller out. All that is going to do is ensure Miller wins as he’ll get 40%, and Murkowski and McAdams will split the remaining 55% (assuming the fringe candidates split 5%) in such a way neither get 40% themselves.
She needs to move on Miller to lock him down to 25%, and try to claim 40% of the more moderate GOP and centrist vote to win.
We Democrats aren’t scared and we’re voting for McAdams and he’s going to win.
Is there proof that Miller is sinking like a stone or just folks believe that he must be and that’s getting passed off as fact?
Miller seems to have gone underground and will try to stay there and hope to get enough votes because of the [R] after his name it seems. It seems to work reasonably well for the lot of other GOP candidates who are not ready for prime time and not qualified for office – Paul, Buck, Johnson just to name a few. These Miller stories can’t be allowed to die.
I’m not aware of any polls that have been released recently that were taken this week. I assume we’ll be seeing a fresh batch of them either by this weekend or next week that will measure the recent damage his campaign has taken and will show him plummeting or at least going down by several points. Other than that, yeah I think the whole plummeting thing is more or less conjecture (reasonable conjecture) at this point. I mean, with all of the gaffes he and his campaign have been committing it truly would be amazing if they didn’t have any effect on his numbers.
The TPE-Bagger senate candidate is quoted as being ahead in the phony polls that keep getting published – to what good end I cannot see – but people I talk to who have always been republican voters are saying he’s toast. I was even told today that the TPE is no longer putting funds to his campaign, although I’m sure it is meaningless because all ads have been paid for, I’m sure, through Election Day.
Those polls are being published to scare Democrats and independents into voting for Lisa. She’s using all of her manipulative skills this time around.
Does anyone know if the Bob Poe endorsement was legit? I would be disappointed in him if it was.
I’ver been told Bob and Tirza are moving to Calgary. She’s gotten a big promotion at Shell.
Oh it was legit. That guy is nothing more than a carpetbagger. He pretends to be Alaskan but the second his wife was offered a sweet oil company job in Alberta, Canada he jumped from the governor campaign with all the campaign donations.
Friends and I ran into him at the Cook after attending Drag Queen Bingo, I can attest to his discomfort in meeting Drag Queens, his wife almost had to shove him to shake our hands. My opinion was changed then and I would not have voted for him.
Thanks for the info Philip & wendy. I was wondering what Bob Poe and his wife were up to these days. I still think he made a great candidate but it sounds like he probably won’t be running here in the future.
Actually, I will say that if he jumped ship with all his campaign donations for his own personal gain than I take back my remark about him being a great candidate. Since I don’t know whether this allegation is true or not I will have to leave it at that.
“Dear Supporter,
The last seventeen months campaigning to become Alaska Governor have been the most gratifying of my life. Regrettably, it was necessary to end my campaign effective June 14, 2010.
Getting to know Alaskans like you, learning about your history here, getting a sense of your hopes and dreams has enriched me beyond measure. I’ve been continually impressed by the passion you share for our state and the optimism you have for our future here.
Unfortunately, while greatly enriched spiritually and intellectually, in today’s economy I have been unable to raise the funds necessary to gain the broad statewide name recognition required to win a statewide race for Governor. Terzah and I only have so many personal resources we can devote to this campaign and sadly we reached that limit.
My message of developing and diversifying Alaska’s economy has been well received. Alaskans want to assure our state is a place where we can build our futures and our families’ futures here. As a people, we are more optimistic than the rest of the country, we believe in our dreams and we are willing to make the effort and take the risks to see them become reality. And, we vote for the person over the political party.
The good news, we really do have an excellent field of candidates, all more qualified for office than the person Alaska elected during the last gubernatorial election. I remain optimistic about Alaska’s future.
This year voters are suffering from what I call “governor fatigue”. I urge you not to be complacent, don’t just settle for calm. Challenge your candidate to have a compelling vision for our economic future and hold them to their promises.
I want to thank the love of my life, my wife Terzah, for her support throughout these seventeen months I couldn’t have done it without her. My deepest thanks also go to you for your support throughout this campaign – we couldn’t have done it without you.
As for me, I have a book I put on hold when this campaign began that is itching to get out. I still believe deeply in Alaska’s future and I will be redoubling my efforts to do what I can to move our economy forward and to serve Alaska every day in my own way.
With deepest thanks,
Bob Poe ”
from a cached view of his site before he closed it down.
Mr Poe never got the $$s necessary to keep going.
I enjoyed his view of things and by and large think he would have been a heckuva a lot better than Berkowitz…
While he may not have set the state on fire with his campaign it is unfair, bordering on worse, to accuse him of absconding with funds…
No surprise there.
Alaska Pi: I hope you don’t think I was accusing him of that, I was reacting to what wendy said and didn’t claim it was either true or false, just that if it was it would change how I viewed him. Sorry for any confusion on my part and yeah I agree that accusations don’t have a place here. If you do have a claim to make, please proved proof.
er, I meant to say if ‘people’ have grand claims to make, please provide proof to back that up. 🙂
I should have attached my response to the grand claimer’s comment…
instead of yours.
We’re all getting tense with the horsepunky this campaign has stirred up
I’m going to go have a cup of tea (oh gawd- the TPers have ruined that for me!!!!!!!)… uh… coffee.
Wanna join me? 🙂
Oh, sorry I didn’t realize that you were responding to another! 🙂 Yeah, I agree this whole campaign season horsepunky/nastiness is indeed causing.. shall I say a general confusion as to who is on who’s side, etc etc. I know you’re on my side, though!
Oh and yeah I too wish the TPers hadn’t mucked up the good reputation of Tea! I had some nettle tea tonight, but I’m not gonna give them any credit for it. 😉 I still think us progressives need to make that whole coffee movement thing stick. I would love to join some of you fellow mudpups for coffee sometime. The whole online thing is nice but can never substitute for a good face to face conversation.
Here’s a shout-out to Heather Handyside and the rest of Scott’s awesome team for running a positive, respectful, and truthful campaign. It will be an unequivocal pleasure to fill out that particular oval!
I expected this bull from the twisted Gestapo wanna be, but from a sitting Senator??! Scummy sleazy trash.
I’ve voted in AK for 25 years and not once has there been anything inside the booth save a pen, until today. Today there was a huge blown-up poster of instructions on how to make a write-in vote taped to the inside of the booth, front and center. Why this year and no other????
That stinks – if it’s there this year, it needs to always be there. It is allowed by statue it appears, but I don’t remember ever seeing this.
http://homernews.com/stories/102010/news_wic.shtml
‘ According to Alaska Administrative Code, 6 AAC, 25.070, “Information regarding a write-in candidate may not be discussed, exhibited or provided at the polling place, or within 200 feet of any entrance to the polling place, on election day.” It also states, “Instructions for indicating a write-in choice will be posted in each polling place. If the instructions are not understood, the voter may ask an election official for assistance.” ‘
Good heavens! — does Alaska not distinguish between “polling place” and “voting booth”? What part of “each polling place” is the Alaska Department of Elections having trouble understanding?
Surely Alaskans make a distinction between multiplex and theater; house and kitchen; book and chapter? How do they figure a polling place is the same as a voting booth?
Question [another one—this one not so much rhetorical]:
In each polling place, is there *also* hanging on a wall somewhere within easy visibility, a poster or sheet of paper with instructions on how to cast a ballot *along with* [specific] “Instructions for indicating a write-in choice” *OR* are the [specific] “Instructions for indicating a write-in choice” a stand-alone, solo poster/sheet of paper inside the individual voting booths?
If it’s the latter, it *IS* influencing the voter; it’s saying to the voter:
“We, the Department of Elections, think the write-in vote/candidate(s) is more important than the vote/candidate(s) listed on the ballot, so we are giving you *special* instructions, right here, in the voting booth, on how to vote for a write-in…we’re not giving you *equal* instructions on how to mark your ballot for voting, we’re giving you *special* instructions on how to do a write-in.”
Oh, yeah…this thing is going to go the the courts. I wouldn’t be surprised if it ended up in Fed Courts. And it’s going to be there for a long, heavy time. Electioneering is a no-no…even if it’s being done by the Department of Elections! Gads, what a mess; what a terribly uncalled-for, unnecessary, and unmitigated mess! beth.
The trouble is, the last election that ended up in the federal courts was stolen by Bush. I hope they can figure it out without going that far, but I’m not optimistic. What happens to the votes that were cast in a polling place where things weren’t done properly anyway?
A McAdams win free and clear will prevent a whole lot of headaches in Alaska.
There needs to be an immediate injunction against the Div. of Elections for sending out lists of write-ins with a letter instructing poll workers to use them to “assist” the voters.
This pucky has to stop in Alaska.
P,Ws — the Florida vote *results* were about which candidate had more ‘punches’ via the ballots [the infamous “hanging chads”] – whether more holes had *intended* to be punched for Gore (or for Bush) than were being read/scanned by the machines. In the AK election, now, that would be comparable to everyone getting together at tally time and deciding if a write-in of “Lisa Merkowski” would be allowed but “I Merechow” would not. In Bush/Gore, fed courts looked at how the *result(s)* of the cast ballot was/were being counted.
In *THIS* election in AK, it’s the *process* that’s compromised. Big time. By placing in the VOTING BOOTH a separate set of instructions on how to cast a write-in vote [even if the names of possible write-ins are not listed], the voter is being ‘told’ to write-in a candidate…the *specific* instructions are subliminal electioneering at its best. By putting those *specific* instructions in each *booth*!, the Dept of Elections is giving *more* emphasis, weight, importance to the write-in than to the printed.
If there were a sheet of paper in each booth stating: “How to Vote: Fill in the oval next to the printed name of the candidate you are voting for; if you do not see the candidate you wish to vote for listed (printed) on the ballot, neatly write their name on the line provided and fill in the oval next to that written-in name”, that would be one thing. It would be *impartially* giving *equal* instructions on how to vote…which is what the Dept of Elections is *supposed* to do.
As it is, by *only* and *specifically* telling voters how to do a write-in, the Dept of Elec is blatantly showing ‘favoritism’ for write-in candidate(s) — just because a candidate decides to run a write-in campaign, that does NOT mean the Dept of Elec can go out of its way and place/instruct *more* emphasis on how to vote a write-in than on how to vote for a printed. The AK Dept of Elections is electioneering *for* the write-in…electioneering in the booth! The Feds’ll love it. beth.
They can’t do this within 200 feet of the polling place. Period. The law is clear.
OMG – It is unending!
I’m assuming you’ve reported that to the election officials at your polling place. That is election tampering and is somewhat illegal.
Oops, misread your comment, thought there were names listed. It still reeks of sleaziness, though, doesn’t it?
ACK!!!!
Here goes another donation to Scott! Anyone who can join me, even if it’s $5, will add to the McMentum that Lisa is now so worried about. Let’s do this!
you’ve got it MYUS!!
MYUS That’s the USA version of Martha Yard Sign…
Go Get ’em, MUYS!
🙂 LOL
Cool! Done! We rock!
And done!
I’m in.
Challenge met!
Everytime Leasa or Joke tick me off I find myself reaching for that McAdams Paypal button. Dang, my Visa statement is going be a mess this next month when I try to ‘x’ things off (have other favorite candidates too like Grayson and Justin Coussoule-OH who has guts enough to challenge Boehner).
Oh well! If McAdams is willing to sacrifice living in the beauty of Sitka for the digs of Washington DC just to help Alaska, guess I can spent a little time & money helping him do it.
Outrageous! Probably no redress for Scott, but there may be for Ethan and Don. If nothing else, the ADN needs to print this story to get the word out to a larger segment of the population. What are the chances of that happening? Would a letter to the editor get the conversation going if they don’t do a story? Just unbelievable in a year when everything has been done to muddy the waters already. Good luck you guys.
It is in the ADN:
http://www.adn.com/2010/10/22/1514962/dems-upset-over-murkowski-mailer.html
TG
ADN is actually doing some things right lately.
Nothing like a little pressure from Alaskans. They haven’t printed half the letters to the editor for McAdams they have received.
Keep up those letters. And those comments on ADN stories.
Lots of comments, most about Miller’s possible reaction, and how classy Lisa was to promptly apologize. I pointed out that, yes, it was nice her campaign apologized- after the mistake was made. I preferred she absorb the cost to put an ad in the media to apologize to the voters. Won’t happen, but really–!
Actually, the Alaska Daily News headline on their website is “Democrats Upset Over Murkowski Mailer.” This is typical of the Daily News. The news is NOT that Democrats are upset. The news is that the flyer was an outright lie. The Daily News used to be a real paper. I’m sorry its gone.
Exactly. Their headlines are very biased.
That’s the final nail for me, Lisa. I haven’t voted for you, but I’ve been respectful and thanked you for the good work you did do (at one time) for rural Alaskans.
The respect is gone, and now the thanks for your past work is gone, too. Expect backlash.
‘Bout time.
Sad, sad, sad. Go Scott.
Unlike his opponents, Scott McAdams has shown class and grace under pressure. That being said, would some of you Alaskans form a posse, come to California, and haul Sarah Palin’s sorry ass home? Please? Pretty please? She affects the air quality here every time she opens her pie hole.
If only she sucked in all the pollution instead of the oxygen!
She sneaked into Arizona today! Silly wench needs to stop breathing my damned air!
Yes, Please! Come and haul her away!
@WakeUp…not just California…now lets not be selfish…get her the hell out of the WHOLE lower 48! And by all means…ESPECIALLY KEEP HER AWAY FROM WASHINGTON DC!
OMG! Now she’s in Orlando, Florida! If the posse comes and gets her, we’ll give their family’s afree vacation at Disney World as a reward for just getting her out of our state. She gave one of her word salad speeches again trying to sound like she knows what she’s talking about. NOT! Of course, it contained nothing but negitives about Obama, the only subject she ever speaks about. No substance or solutions to our problems, just Obama can’t do anything right. I’m really disappointed with the Republicans for being so blinded by this woman and FOX News. It really concerns me how such a large segment of our population can be brainwashed by FOX News and other extreme commentators. I can see where the irresponsible statements by Beck, Hannity, and Rush, and others could actually cause some unstable individuals to do violence on our society. If it does happen, I would like to see Fox held legally responsible for inciting the violence.
Desperate Lease-A-Murkychowskee is a shameless liar. If she walked by me on the street (which isn’t likely), I wouldn’t even throw water on her ass to put out the flames.
Didn’t LeasA’s defeater call her a streetwalker?
I think he meant to say “lady of the night.”
Good on you, Jeanie. I am so sick of Lisa and her lies, and you laid them out like a defeated boxer. Keep up the good work, and hopefully we’ll see Scott as the “champion” on November 2nd.