The Murkowski-Palin-Peltola political love triangle is a curiosity in the “Only in Alaska” category: Sen. Lisa Murkowski, a Republican, endorsed hardline Democrat Congresswoman Mary Peltola during Alaska Federation of Natives convention, an annual gathering that happened in Anchorage last week.
Sarah Palin, one of Peltola’s Republican congressional challengers, also poured on the love for Peltola. As she has done in the past, when she has aligned herself with Peltola, Palin professed to the AFN audience her affection for her Democrat friend and said she loves everything about her and wishes she was a Republican.
“This is the toughest campaign because of her,” said Palin, pointing at the crowd favorite Peltola during the congressional candidate forum at AFN, and expressing her angst about having to run against someone she admires. “We are in Mary’s house and I know that. I just wish she’d convert to the other party, but other than that, I love her.”
Switching parties would make Peltola an odd-fit Republican, more like a Murkowski, whose positions are often to the left of the party and who has, because of her anti-Republican votes, been formally asked to leave the Alaska Republican Party.
Peltola is far from having a record that could even be considered moderate. She is a die-hard leftist with a record of being pro-taxes, anti-oil, anti-gun, and pro-abortion (she calls that “pro-freedom”). She’s not the Republican that Nick Begich is, most certainly — he is pro-Second Amendment, while Peltola believes the Second Amendment is for hunters. He’s pro-resource development, and pro-family, including the gestating members of the family. And he has a history of supporting conservative causes.
Peltola’s known positions and votes on topics of “freedom and family” are out of step with where the majority of Alaskans are at. She became a member of Congress in August nonetheless, through the ranked choice voting system, and has a multi-million-dollar nationally fueled campaign underway that plays to her likability, and focuses not at all on her actual stance on issues: She’s anti-ANWR development and anti-resource economy in general, except for fish; with fish, it’s really just fish for tribes that is her driving message. For Peltola, it’s about growing government and getting more entitlements, as her party platform also promotes.
The bond between Palin and Peltola goes back to the time when both women were serving in office — Peltola in the House and Palin in the Governor’s Office, and they were pregnant at the same time. Palin, who has always been pro-life, never doubted she’d bring her disabled child into the world, but for Peltola, it was a choice — she could have aborted her own child with a clear conscience. The two do not share pro-life principles.
Thus, a triangle of women political veterans has emerged that places friendship over policy, and get-along-go-along over principle: Palin is hardly a Murkowski fan, and Murkowski doesn’t care for Palin, and yet both of them have zeroed in on Peltola as their favorite congressional candidate.
Read: Murkowski says she will vote for Peltola first
Palin posed for hug-photos with Peltola at AFN, as she has at almost every forum she’s attended. Wearing an iron cross necklace, which drew fashion criticism from poorly educated leftists over its use in Nazi Germany as the highest military medal — Palin also showed off her arm tattoos for the cameras to bond with the attendees. (The iron cross is an edgy symbol to wear, but is also used by motorcycle and rock music, but dates back centuries to European monarchies and military uses. Read more about it here.)
Palin has come around on that issue of ranked choice voting: Before August, she told her followers “do not comply,” on the ranked choice ballot, but now she says, “rank the red,” meaning Republicans, until the new election experiment in ranked choice voting can be reversed. It’s a disconnected message, since Palin is putting the “pal” into play in what appears to be an effort to support Peltola.
Recent polling shows that Palin is running slightly behind Begich for that coveted second-place slot, which can only overcome Democrat Peltola if people who vote conservative rank the Republicans — even if they don’t like the other Republican. But the real poll comes on Nov. 8, when voters will make up their minds about who can best represent them in the only seat that Alaska has in Congress.
Gee, where are all the people who I told “Palin isn’t a conservative, she’s an opportunist”?
Chameleon, more like.
You are correct. So much for Palin being a fighter for conservatism. I guess she spent a little too much time with McCain.
1. Begich. 2. Palin, 3. Write in for Fred Ziffel. 4. Blank. The only reason to vote for Palin AT ALL is to eject Peltola and 2024 we eject Palin if she prevails, which I now doubt.
Senate.
1. Tshibaka, 2. Chesbro, 3. Write in for Arnold Ziffel, 4. Blank.
This is strictly strategic. We must eliminate Peltola and Murkowski.
Keep Chesbro off the ballot too. She’s a Democrat.
Do not vote for any leftists whatsoever. You are not helping the State or the country by assisting a democrat in their election.
I do not care how bad Murkowski is, I would rather have her in the office than a Democrat.
Exactly! Remember Peltola is anti-oil, anti 2nd Amendment, pro-abortion up to birth and after as she supports allowing a baby who survived an abortion, to die unattended. Same for Murkowski. Wake up voters-Vote Republican Only as we need voices in Washington. Democrats currently control everything as they Control both the House and Senate, and the Presidency!! No to Peltola and Murkowski. Elect Tshibaka and Palin.
She was addressing AFN. Did you expect her to shoot at Peltola? In reality, Peltola appears to be a very sweet lady. Of course, we aren’t supposed to be electing sweet ladies to fight, but liking them should be okay, no?
Sarah Palin is PHONY, PHONY, PHONY, PHONY!
1. She does not concern herself with the best interests of Alaska or Alaskans; she’s all about self promotion.
2. She has been “all over the place” regarding Ranked Choice Voting; her AFN comments represent a third change (vote for me, vote for me and Nick, vote for Mary).
3. She does not care for the child with Down’s Syndrome, she said she birthed while in office; she is often absent from the campaign trail in order to travel around the country with her new boyfriend.
4. She seems to have switched to using Donald Trump’s makeup and/or makeup artist; look at the photo.
Begich supported Ethan Berkowitz, a hard leftist. Begich has never held office, so we really don’t know what he’d do to us if he was in Congress.
Since Begich finished a dismal third place in the preliminary round, one suspects he’s just a spoiler.
Palin has never let us down on key issues. Sarah has always supported the right to keep and bear arms. Sarah is against open borders, and would never, ever support the crazy Nancy Pelosi, or the criminal, demented, Joe Biden.
What do you mean Sarah has not let us down on Issues? Bill Walker, Raising Taxes more than any other governor, appointed planned Parenthood Executive to Alaska SC, vetoing a bill that would have banned state funded abortions? Palin has let Alaska down more than any other republican. At least Begich admitted he was wrong endorsing Berky boy.
Exactly. Palin has failed and keeps failing.
“..has never let us down”???
Stabbing Sean Parnell in the back and endorsing CCP candidate Bill Walker?
Stabbing Ted Stevens in the back, and by doing so tacitly endorsing Mark Begich for U.S. Senate?
Signing the Democrat written ACES into law, and driving oil investment out of our state?
Have you been asleep for the past 15 years?
You are nuts she endorsed Bill Walker over Sean Parnell… How people forget.. Ask Palin why she endorsed walker and you will get a deer in the headlights look..
you are so far behind, you seem able to spew stupidity but not able to search Nicks past!! you should educate yourself before you make yourself look stupid
Begich and Palin are both controlled opposition.
I will be unhappy when I rank the red.
When I first came to Alaska in ’08, I admired Ms. Palin. Now…I cannot see her in office. We need someone who isn’t wishy-washy like Murcowski.
I totally get having friends not in the same political spectrum. It’s normal for a mentally healthy person.
But when trying to unseat her, don’t act like pajama party BFFs.
Can’t wait for the Palinheads to spin this.
Howdy M, she needs to make inroads on the 26,000 Begich voters who #2 Ranked Mary.
Ranking the Red, means ONLY one thing:
.
Begich #1.
Palin #2.
Peltola no rank.
.
The only sane candidate at this point is Begich,
who can win it all if conservatives and Republicans stick together.
AGREE. We have to stick together and vote for Nick Begich #1 in the RCV. As we have seen, he shows up everyday and everywhere and at all debates to let us know that he is responsible, reliable, mature, dedicated to working hard for Alaska and Alaskans.
Lakreesha, you are right except for the fact conservatives and Republicans don’t stick together. Most Republicans are no longer conservative.
Hmmm what’s Palin’s angle on this?? Hoping to pull some votes from the independents?? Even with this I will hold my nose as I rank Palin #2.
Nope. She’s angling for attention and a payback opportunity if both Murkowski and Peltola remain in DC.. Sarah has no politics.
You are entirely correct about this. Sarah has always promoted herself above anything and everything that would lead to positive outcomes for Alaska and Alaskans. She’s a charlatan.
My advice to Alaska voters: SHOW PALIN THE DOOR! We have had enough of her games.
Palin only got 50 at her campaign rally at the D Center. And that’s with her famous NHL boyfriend in tow. Those are Joe Biden type numbers. Sarah will be gone soon.
Trying for the Native vote!!
Chuck…..
You really think the Natives are gonna split their support with Peltola and the Queen of Alaska backwoods drama? Cut me a break. To the Natives, Palin is a cartoon figure on a broom, much like Hillary Clinton is to the rest of us.
So, your answer is to sit back and allow a raging liberal like Peltola to win. This,is the very reason republicans tend to,get outplayed by democrats. THEY at least stick together. Tshibaka and Palin are CONSERVATIVE REPUBLICANS and they will do MUCH BETTER voting for the Alaskan people’s values as well as ECONOMIC POLICIES! Peltola and Murkowski are the ones who DON’T care, they are Leftwing democrats .
Wow! Another major ”OCTOBER SURPRISE”.
Well, well. Our entire family hated Sarah Palin for running me out of the Governor’s mansion in 2006 and selling off my prized Desault business jet on EBay. Lisa used to fly around with me on that jet. Now Lisa, Mary Peltola and Sarah Palin are all banding together? No thanks. Nancy and I are sticking to our principles.
Nick Begich for Congress.
Kelly Tshibaka for US Senate.
And please hurry. Petersburg is closing in on us.
Another ferry leaves late tonight, Frankie. If we sneak out of Petersburg, where do we go? Republican Womens Clubs around the state still have me on their no contact lists. Living here is difficult for the Murkowskis’.
Frankie and Nancy,
You can come stay with my dad and mom in Wasilla. They’re both backing Nick Begich and Kelly Tshibaka too. You’ll be right at home with us as we watch Lisa and Sarah both have their political careers ended.
If Lisa loses, can I move in with you, Todd? Lisa has a terrible temper when things don’t go her way. That’s why she looks so old for 65. I like younger women, and she knows it. I know how to wash dishes, wax the floor and iron. I can even cook-up a pretty good dish of noodles. Call me!
“…….Nancy and I are sticking to our principles……..”
You’re the moron who put Lisa into the Senate in the first place, and without a single Alaskan vote. Why should we listen to anything you have to say?
Oh…….unless you’re just an even dumber moron posting as Frank the Bank like an adolescent boy who thinks he’s clever……….which you’re not………..
Nancy told me to do it. Do you argue with your wife?
No one else can post as Frankie and look down and still see his underwear. The emperor never wore any clothes. Dangle around that thought in your brain.
A vote for Peltola is a vote for the Pelosi machine. Somebody please tell me the logic behind hiring Alaska’s only Representative into the minority with no seniority? Don Young at least had some seniority during the Pelosi years. As we shift back to a republican majority, Peltola will sit in the shadows for years with no positive impact for Alaska. When the democrats eventually win back control, we’ll have a hard lefty in there. Rank the red. Begich 1, Palin 2. No to Peltola.
Apparently the name of the game is “Uterus uber alles!” with this sexist RINOS.
Palin is looking for Peltola’s 2nd choice voters, as well as Begich’s 2nd choice voters.
So the lowest polling for 1st place will be the highest polling of 2nd place.
She’s betting that no one will have a 50%+1 at final tabulation…
She’s probably correct. Isn’t ranked choice voting great?
Took a real criminal mind to invent it and a real grifter to get it past the voters.
Well, there’s a ray of sunshine ☀ if I ever saw one…
Howdy G, Sarah’s going after the 26,000 Begich voters who voted #2 Rank for Mary. It was those 26,000 voters who elected Mary.
Do us a favor just rank Begich #2 …
“Do us a favor………”
Are you a politician or lawyer? “Favors” don’t cut it anymore.
Karate instructor… part time balloon artist.. full time beat poet..
Don’t give Peltola ANY Rank marking, nor Murkowski. Treat them as the liberals they are! Vote Tshibaka, Palin, Begich— ALL REPUBLICANS (except for Murkowski who might as well be a Democrat as she votes like one).
Disappointed in Sarah. You just lost a voter, Mrs. Palin.
Me too. I can’t pull lever for her now.
Please don’t be fooled. Put her as #2 and Begich as #1. If you don’t do that, Peltola will win.
I’ll rank the “Red” but I’ll be grinding my teeth and muttering swears when I do.
Thank you Suzanne. Nick you just won my vote here please don’t let Alaska down. Sarah, how low can you go here ma’am, you have a bad attitude about the past and I supported you for helping the seniors as governor. President Trump ask us to support you. After this article, I think president Trump would go with Nick. Must Read Alaska, I was wrong, you were right. Nick is the best pick. So sorry, Suzanne.
Sarah, I have been one of your most ardent supporters and just gave another donation that at this point is money in the shredder. I am extremely disappointed in your performance as a candidate, and you seem to be trying to lose this election. You can be friends with challengers but still stick to the issues and point out why they are not the America First Candidate. You are failing miserably at this point and turning away your supporters. I need to really reflect at this point if you deserve my support and vote. I hate to say it, but Nick may be the only one worth supporting at this point if it means getting rid of another communist collaborator like Peltola. You haven’t stuck to the issues and driven home why Sarah Palin will help correct all that is wrong in D.C. But you apparently have time to support a challenger that will continue to erode our rights and our Constitution. Just shameful! Why DJT continues to support you is beyond me.
Rank the red. It’s the only way to beat Peltola.
Let this generation of . Murkowski and palin republicans be the last time alaska GOP support any republican who believes oil mixes with water by compromising with democrats. the two parties ideologies and legislation policies are distinctive and so should its candidates. I like what southern u.s senate republican said, ” republican policies don’t feel good But it brings results” unlike democrat policies.
Vote one vote! None of this rank crap!
You are an idiot or a Liberal! Which is it? Didn’t you learn anything from the primary. One vote only does not work in RCV. Rank Nick and Palin both! Do a write-in for the third. Don’t rank Peltola.
Got news for you Skippy. That’s what happened last time and Peltola won.
Let’s face it MRA nation, it’s Peltola’s game to lose, and with the push to get out the vote in rural Alaska, Mary Peltola is going to be our representative in Congress. It’s a shame that the bitter partisans would rather sow dissent than get behind a candidate whose pragmatic stance speaks to more Alaskans than the bitter message employed by her detractors. For the first time ever, Native Alaskans will somebody whom we can look up to, a role model and a leader that we can be proud of.
Palin’s ship has sailed whilst Begich’s never really left the dock. It’s time to elect Mary Peltola.
So just how sure are you that the racial identity politics you’re bitterly spouting off in support of is going to work out for you in the long run, Royce?
Royce, what does “MRA Nation” mean?
She only represents the rural communities her husband not a fan of the road system people of Alaska. The only people who stand to benefit from Peltola are Native Corporations, Rural communities, subsistence hunters and fishermen…
Sarah is back on my good list.
I have been trying for years to convince those in the lower 48 that Palin is not the conservative superstar they think she is (and have taken heat for it). The farther we go, the less reliable she seems to be. I have no doubt that she would be an attention-getter in D.C., but I would much rather have someone who will reliably vote along conservative lines, without compromise.
Sarah Palin is treading on very thin ice, in my book! She is definitely a WILD card! Sarah, make up your mind!!! Either you are a Conservative or you are not!! Pick a bloody side and stop jerking us around!!! My mother always told me, “When you lay down with pigs, you get up smelling like them!”
This makes me sick. I guess it shouldn’t surprise me. I guess I’ll have to bring a barf bag with me to the poles when I hold my nose to rank Sarah second after Nick.
The Palinheads aren’t even trying to spin this.
I don’t spin.
If you’re happy with the economy, your 401K & retirement and policies of the last couple of years then by all means, vote for Democrats. If you’re not then you know what you have to do.
Another failed attempt at critical thinking.
Just give it another try, Lucinda — one day you may manage it!
She sure is making it hard for me to rank the red.
If you don’t rank her #2 then you are essentially giving it to Peltola
I am a Nick Begich supporter and will rank both conservatives in the election. Both Nick and Sarah are currently in ads supporting one another, rank the red. You can like and be friends with someone, even extol their virtues without agreeing with their politics.
I am not sure what the purpose of this article is but I find it very counter productive to improving our chances of getting a Republican elected, as it so denigrates Sarah that it could influence some people to not rank.
No matter what I think about Sarah, I have no doubt she will not be a Pelosi or Biden follower. She will lean conservative and is definitely not swayed much by popular opinion. There is nothing wrong with her liking Mary Peltola. From what I hear Peltola is very likable. Unfortunately if we do not rank then we are indeed voting for Peltola. Please do not undermine that.
Resolve to make the best of this Rank Choice Voting scenario that we find ourselves situated in.
.
Even if it is only in your head, although it could and justifiably should be done on paper, cast your FIRST vote for Almighty God.
I love how so many on here are outraged by the fact that opposing politicians can actually get along with one another and (god forbid) like one another! Oh, the horror! So many republicans, especially the MAGA crowd, are now the biggest snowflakes on the political landscape.
Sarah was SPEAKING at an AFN—-ALASKA FEDERATION OF NATIVES—-Convention. Mary has Incredible Standing with those in attendence. Sarah needs to appeal to Mary’s #2 Rank voters, and also the 26,000 Begich voters who Ranked Mary 2nd.I think she did a good job. She gave a speech and didn’t get BOOOOED, or Cursed. She got a good photo op to send on a mailer to the bush.. She promoted the Republican Party, and didn’t sell her soul doing it She’s still pro gun, pro life, pro Trump and MAGA, And suggested to Mary to become a Republican. And said so at the Convention. IT TOOK A LOT OG GUTS. By the looks of the comments of her shallow supporters here on MRK , it looks like the usual Republican Dumping their canidate over an unpleasant headline is the order of the day. Rank the Red Sarah, Nick, MAGA.
SP is a liberal. She did almost all liberal things as governor & backed Walker over Parnell.
She talks conservative, but acts exactly like a liberal.
She is a disgrace to conservatism in this state & is presently operating to give us a democratic congressperson, by splitting the republican vote.
She makes me sick.
Nick.
I noticed from the pictures that sp is to the right of peltola lm meanwhile was to the left.
Maybe Palin can hook-up Peltola to a new husband …..an old retired hockey pro. They can all go to games together while NB3 works hard in DC.
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