Murkowski matters

Alaska has the pundits of American politics hooked.

And no, I’m not talking about Sarah Palin’s Alaska.

For the first time since 2008, this actually has nothing to do with the former governor of the 49th state, thank god.

It all started when Senator Lisa Murkowski lost in the Republican primaries to Joe Miller, a lawyer with Tea Party support.  But the incumbent did not step down.

Instead, she recognized that the primaries have a structural flaw of allowing the radical fringe of a party to go mainstream while the centrist candidate that is more likely to get elected in the general election is defeated.

Absent a GOP endorsement she continued running, and now Alaska is the last undecided Senate race in the country.

So while the Tea Party complains about the establishment, the citizens of Alaska realize it’s about  neither party affiliation nor anti-incumbent attitudes of Democrats vs. Republicans. 

The good people of Alaska, they understand it’s all about the person, and if you’ve got mighty fine representation, why change it? Murkowski won 35 percent of the ballots, but 40 percent of constituents wrote in their selection. A majority of these write-ins are believed to favor Murkowski, ensuring her return to Capitol Hill.

So while Miller continues to contest the 8 percent of write in ballots because of misspellings and other embellished circumstances, let us as a nation pause and exhale a collective sigh of relief.

The system is not broken. Old and creaky, yes. Full of corruption and poor management, of course. But this country is not trapped in the gridlock of the notorious two party system if we don’t want to be. Murkowski, even as a representative of the establishment, is proof of that.  

Chances are, she’ll caucus with the Republicans and reclaim her title as a member of the GOP (even though she was shunned by the party in the primary).

But how interesting might it be if she decides to remain a free agent?

An independent who votes on laws based primarily on how her constituents feel, instead of how the party wants her to?

Here we have a shining example of American excellence: that it is really possible to win even if you’re not accepted by the popular cliques known as the Grand Old Party and the Democratic National Committee. As though it is a radical idea that American government shouldn’t mirror the pedantic social nature of high school.

Sure, Murkowski didn’t come out of nowhere. She is an incumbent with roots that run deep with political activism.  But she is a beacon for other candidates who doubt the capabilities of the two parties. And potential politicians take heed.

If you want to be a representative of the people, you don’t need the Republicans or the Democrats to do it.


E-mail: danfleis@indiana.edu