Senate 2014 – Begich v. Palin?!
Here’s a little bright spot for Alaska Democrats.
I know, right? How often to you hear THAT?
Harper Polling, a Republican-leaning outfit, has done a survey in Alaska of 1157 likely voters. They asked about hypothetical match-ups in the 2014 senate race, in which giddy Republicans are lining up to take on freshman Democratic Senator Mark Begich. The poll was taken on January 29 – 30.
After Begich’s narrow win in 2008 over Senator Ted Stevens, who at the time was a 7-time convicted felon, the right has had their knickers in a twist over the “illegitimacy” of Begich’s win. Despite his popularity as Anchorage mayor, many Republicans (including Palin) called for him to step down once Stevens’ case was thrown out due to prosecutorial misconduct. The right maintained that this was the same thing as innocence, and that Begich would have lost, had the “truth” been known. Nice try.
So how did Begich fare?
Drumroll please.
Lt. Governor Mead Treadwell, has formed an exploratory committee, and is considered one of the most likely to get in the ring next year.
Begich leads the Lite Gov 44% to 34%.
Then there’s Tea Party favorite Joe Miller, the 2010 Republican Senate nominee who lost to incumbent Lisa Murkowski, whom he’d trounced in the primary, in a history-making write-in campaign. Miller has a strong and devoted following who are itching to see him go another round.
Begich leads Miller 52% to 29%.
And, I know what you’re all thinking. What if Sarah Palin ran? First, nobody’s really even sure if she’s still a legal resident of the state. She’s laying low, and has new digs in Arizona. It would be fun to know, but surely they didn’t ask the question. Actually, surely they did.
In what may be the most horrifying result, the current Senator leads the ex-half-governor 47% to 40%. Yes, he’s leading, but the fact that any poll, no matter how right-leaning, has Palin with 40% sends a big Alaskan chill up the collective spine of sane people.
The poll shows Begich has decent approval ratings, with 48% of those polled approving of his performance, and 39% who disapprove. Treadwell may still have the best chance of the three, since 40% of voters have no opinion of him – either not knowing who he is, or because it’s difficult to have an opinion of someone who really doesn’t have many duties.
Governor Sean Parnell may throw his hat in this ring. If that happens, Treadwell says he won’t run. And Harper didn’t poll that match-up.
So, don’t get complacent yet. Or ever. It’s still likely to be a tough race, but the news could be worse. And that’s what passes for good news in Blue Alaska these days.
If Sarah won, she could always stay at home and charge the taxpayers a ‘per diem’.
She could join her pal Deb Fischer and oppose the Violence Against Women Act: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/02/04/deb-fischer-vawa_n_2617388.html?utm_hp_ref=politics
She could go on to sponsor freedom of the press legislation which would bar all journalists from asking questions that she doesn’t know how to answer (that means any of them, all of them that have been put to her all these years).
She could make sure that freedom of religion is redesigned to provide that only Christians have rights..
She could sponsor legislation that require all citizens (which of course are only Christians and Jews who love Christians) to carry guns with as much ammo as they like.
There is so much she could accomplish in that common sense way of hers. And don’t get me frothing at the mouth about how she could improve the education system by abolishing all universities which would prevent anyone from getting all hoity toity and elitist.
If Palin were serious about running, she’d come out educated and swinging for the one thing good that she did do as governor and speak up on behalf of Alaskans against the oil companies. She’s a front for Joe Miller or an as-yet unnamed other nutcase.
What about dear old Mayor Sullivan? I thought he had major ambitions in that direction? Sarah? Bwhahahahahahahahahaha!
If he has even a few brain cells left he would know the public would out him for the adulterer he is and the fact he has run Anchorage into the ground with his terrible administration.
Won’t happen. Sarah would just have the senate salary. She’d have to go rogue again
and quit to make more money.
No way Palin would run. She would have to go to work.
What work? Just do lots of junkets and press conferences. How hard is that?
Does Washington DC have a good Nordstrom store?
http://www.whitepages.com/store-locator/DC/Washington/Nordstrom Take your pick,with my compliments.
Love the picture. How would you like to be the only audience member to applaud her and have her single you out? Glad I don’t have your pols,I’d hide in tsunami trash until hell freezes over.
Fat old white guys with guns still have the hots for Palin, eh?
Time for the younger Alaska electorate to take names and kick ass.
Yeah, but did anybody poll Begich v. Party Planner?
Public Policy Polling is doing Alaska soon (this weekend I think?) so we should have some more data to compare, from a less right-leaning firm. (And I think they’re polling Begich v. Parnell.)
A chill up your spine? How about a huge handful of snow dumped down the back of your shirt? Palin… ick
It will be a fight no matter so glad to see Begich is at least somewhat ahead no matter what, but it will take work!
But they didn’t poll him against my favorite alternative, the “any other Republican candidate”– you know, the one they kept saying could unseat the President, if only they could find him/her. (Statistically, for the GOP, probably ‘him.’)