Sen. Lisa Murkowski, asked by a CNN reporter if she would consider changing her party affiliation to “independent,” said that possibility it is not off the table. It just depends on what direction the Republican Party takes.
Murkowski was being interviewed about the news of Sen. Mitch McConnell stepping down as Senate Minority Leader in November.
“It has Republicans reflecting on what happens to the party in the months ahead and has some weighing whether they can fit into a GOP that is more modeled after Trump than the Reagan-Republicanism McConnell embodies,” the Fox News story says.
“I wonder that every day,” Murkowski said to CNN.
Asked if she’d be open to becoming an independent, Murkowski said, “That’s not something I am prepared to discuss in terms of where I am, but I am watching very carefully what we are seeing with the party and the party’s choices and with where Republicans are leaning. And, I am clearly not one who is following the Trump path at all. So again, it is not about Lisa Murkowski. It is like what is our party right now?”
The direction the Republican Party seems to be taking in Alaska is in favor of Trump for president, according to numerous polls. In 2020, Trump won Alaska with 53% of the general election vote; Biden received 43%. This year, the pattern appears to be repeating, and Murkowski is not only vocal in her disapproval of Trump, she voted to impeach Trump in 2021.
That means that Murkowski, even with her 22 years of seniority, likely won’t be in line to become the Senate Minority Leader, because whoever is chosen by the members may need to have a good relationship with Donald Trump, should he be elected in November. McConnell, the longest-serving Senate leader in U.S. history, has refused to endorse Trump for president, and has not spoken to the former president since Jan. 6, 2021, the day the Capitol was overrun with protesters.
Murkowski is fifth in seniority among Republicans in the Senate, not counting McConnell. She comes after Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa, Sen. Susan Collins of Maine, Michael Crapo of Idaho, and John Cornyn of Texas. But neither Collins or Murkowski would be contenders for Minority Leader due to their liberal records. Chuck Grassley is also out because he is 90 years old and will be nearly 91 in November.
Although Sen. Rand Paul is mentioned by some as a good option, he comes from Kentucky, as does McConnell, which may make some senators balk at giving Kentucky so much power. Others mentioned include John Barrasso of Wyoming, John Cornyn of Texas, John Thune of South Dakota and Rick Scott of Florida.
Has she ever really been in it?
Don’t let the door hit you in the backside, cupcake.
Amen, and amen.
Lisa Murkowski has earned virtually nothing on her own merit.
. Passed the Bar exam only because the questions were released early in her bar prep course.
. Appointed to the US Senate by her father, the newly elected governor of Alaska.
. Survived the 2010 general election ONLY because Democrats and Bush Natives wrote in her name after she was soundly defeated by Joe Miller in the Primary Election.
. Survived the General Election in 2022 ONLY because the Democrats chose her in a scheme called Rank Choice Voting, whereby she would have otherwise been defeated by Kelly Tshibaka in a Republican Primary Election.
.
So why wouldn’t Lisa Murkowski change her party affiliation to Democrat? She acts like a Democrat. Walks like a Democrat. And quacks like a Democrat.
Lisa is a blight on the Alaska Republican Party.
ChrissyB:
I hope your remarks aren’t too deep an assault on genetics and imprinting. I find that walking and quacking like a Democrat to be a highly offensive statement.
quack = democrat.
The Republican Party left Lisa. More correctly, the Party ditched her. Another selfish Murkowski whom Alaskans actually hate, regardless of party affiliation.
How can we miss her if she won’t go away?
All she has to do is just come out of the closet and say I have been a democrat.
And any other skeletons she wants to tell us about.
She’s too busy stuffing her pockets like the rest of the chamber of commerce career politicians.
Oh please make her go away from all Alaska politics!
She or anyone in her family has ever been a conservative or a Republican.
No it has always been about how much they can advance their financial bottom end. She lies to the natives during election season and scatts all over them for the rest of her term. She is the exact reason the American people need ro demand term limits and do away with the retirement and health care for life.
“It has Republicans reflecting on what happens to the party in the months ahead and has some weighing whether they can fit into a GOP that is more modeled after Trump than the Reagan-Republicanism McConnell embodies,” the Fox News story says.
“I wonder that every day,” Murkowski said to CNN.”
Will the Senator explain this statement?
Will she explain her thoughts on the differences between Reagan-Republicanism and the Trump model?
Will the outgoing ARP Chair invite the Senaror to share her thoughts with Alaska Republicans in an open meeting at the State Convention?
As Senator of the most amazing natural resource state in the nation such a discussion is certainly warranted especially with Donald Trump looking like the party’s nominee.
Now is the time for consensus rather than division.
Senator Murkowski, what role will you play in helping our state become the best?
So far she has ensured that her role continues to be “useful idiot of the Democrats”.
I am sure she will contunue this role as she approves mass illegal immigration, approves burning of our ities by BLM/Antifa, approves massive spending on Ukraine war efforts to secure thrie borders while spending ZERO on Americas borders.
Lisa hates Alaska, she proves it with her votes against drilling, against enforcing American borders, never fights FOR ALASKA and spends our future generations into poverty with unrealistic spending bills.
Lisa hates America as she votes with the demoncrats on their outrageous war efforts against WE THE PEOPLE taking away our own country’s physical security (BUILD THAT WALL ALREADY).
Lisa the traitor to our state and our nation will continue to vote the democrat ticket all they way, time to kick her out of the party she hates, censure her, whatever as she no longer represents us and our party does not change for her, she should be doing OUR (WE THE PEOPLE/WE VOTING CITIZENS) business.
Lisa, resign as the disgrace you are. We can definitely do better.
“Lisa-THE-Baby-Killer” will never resign.
Through her actions taken against We The People, it is evident she has NO Morals, Values, Scruples, Ethics, or Self Respect.
She will never leave. Doesn’t matter anyways, she’s in for life like don young or Ted Stevens. Doesn’t matter how bad she does, doesn’t matter if she’s a RINO. We suck as a populace when it comes to voting.
Finally…. someone describes the situation truthfully.
I have never seen her as a leader.
Neither has anyone else, shes a puppet of the dems.
No Tom, she is a sabateur. Always has been.
Birds of a feather or snakes slithering together….. Lisa has never been Republican.
Let’s hope so.
It would be a good decision of hers For the Alaska Republican Party. Then, those loyal Republican members who continuously vote for her they will finally have to evaluate should they vote for a non Republican Vs a Republican? When she is officially out. She has never been officially out.
She left years ago. She ran as independent, in case you missed it. Claiming to be Republican while voting to kill babies is disingenuous at best.
Yet she will hook idiots into thinking she is a practicing “catholic”….. more like a devil worshipper
She was anti abortion years ago until her daughter became of age and convinced her otherwise.
I am a simple woman. I understand complex b.s. And here is the secret. Complex b.s. is exactly the same as simple b.s.
Example.
Employee Retention Tax Credit (ERTC).
I was blessed to be hired by a private multi-specialty owned clinic.
And believe me, I went through the hoops and ladders of background checks and screening because of my horrible online reputation.
My own people from the place I was born did that to me. Why because I am a Republican.
My Grandfather Arthur Johnson was elected as the Republican State House of Representative in 1960 – for the seat Neal Foster occupies today.
My grandfather- on his off time and back home in Nome as an employee and pilot for Foster Aviation died in an airplane accident in the Safety Sound. He chose to fly in white out conditions to attempt to save a pregnant lady in distress. My grandfather, that lady and her baby did not survive.
Likely the mother and baby would not have anyway but my grandfather could not live with himself without trying.
That is statesmanship.
My Grandmother Grace Johnson packed up her four children and relocated to fulfill her husbands elected duties for our region.
That is statesmanship.
This is how statesmanship has been diluted.
Except for Senator Sullivan.
Lisa Murkowski’s policy is that she does not address individual issues.
But she banks on individual votes.
Congresswoman Peltola is simply non-responsive.
But she banks on the native vote.
I am a human, working for other humans, trying to give affordable healthcare to people that are being isolated and railroaded by self funded health insurance programs by a borough owned hospital that drives the price out for doctors to work in independent health clinics and share those cost savings to the person who deserves a choice – not a government monopoly over their care.
Isn’t it incredible that leaders and the drivers of this freedom place, those self-evaluated, self-proclaimed people that bank on and rate those to represent them by the first date and not the follow-through of a promise?
I am a native woman and I know more than most about how hard it is to raise a family on my own and to do it well.
Without the buy-in or even comprehension of a ‘Man’ feeling any sense of reflection or responsibility.
But the only man in our congressional delegation fights like a statesman, not a politician.
God bless Senator Sullivan.
Alaska’s Statesman!!
Trudy, well said. Your moral principals define you. Never compromise them. No regrets. Hang in there. We are pulling for you.
That’s why I won’t vote for Trump a third time.
Because mumbling Joe is such a superior option. You have to be kidding. Or is it Cornel?
No, he is not. We left the winning horse in the stables.
The Christian right wing wants to control the Maga wing of the GOP. The Alabama Supreme Court’s ruling on IVF and the GOP senator blocking national IVF access is the beginning: Clarence Thomas wrote a concurring opinion in th Dobbs decicion advocating for the repeal of birth control. The MAGA wing is going to pivot to hard-right social issues, and between Steve Bannon and Steven Miller, we can expect to see a GOP pivot towards a national set of laws banning abortion, birth control, and “insurrection”. Old time consertavites are aghast about the federal government deciding to arrest anyone for social reasons, but the MAGA GOP is actively seeking to punish their percieved enemies. Not a huge shock a centrist Republican is not advocating to punish her constituents.
You need a lesson, MAGA
Make
America
Great
Again
We conservatives simply believe in common sense not nonsense.
They don’t care if you claim to be conservative, M’aam. When the Christian militants get to establish their religion as law, our names will both rhyme with “wall”. They’ll kill you just as fast as Hamas would, if given legal cover. Have fun cheering on Palestinian deaths and arresting Americans for taking medication, our time is just a few elections away.
Most laws on the books of every country on the planet are based upon those handed down through Judeo-Christian tradition…. directly from the Pentateuch itself.
Loosen the tinfoil hat. You’ve cut off any blood flow your brain might have been getting.
Are you kidding? As a Jew, I’ve been variously accused by Americans of supporting Israel over the United States (to be clear, my entire family tree dating to the late 1800s are all American citizens, and I am a proud American), while other Americans have demanded I show fealty to Israel in a way that I don’t. I’m an an American citizen, Israel is a foreign country. An ally, but not my home.
I have witnessed in my lifetime, attempts by the North Carolina GOP to establish (in 2013) an “official state religion”. I have read Justice Thomas (in 2022!?!) opine the Establishment Clause allows states to declare official religions.
I am a small-c conservative, (limit government, personal liberty) and am from a Conservative Jewish background. Its been really interesting to me how many “Christians” have been willing to send me snuff photos of Hamas attacks and implying that my American political loyalty is contingent on my bloodthirst for revenge and wanton slaughter.
Likewise, these same surely well meaning and not at all threatening right wingers have reminded me that Jews are guests in America, and not full citizens. Which is insane to me.
MRAK is one of the conservative sites I’m on, along with RedState, FreeRepublic, and TheFederalist. Even in the post-9/11 days (when, the Internet was, hmm, little less moderated) 2023-2024 is the highest and loudest volume of death threats, insults, and scumbag comments I’ve received.
Which is why I push back against Christian supremacy being welded to government policy. I admire Jesus Christ, but he’s not my Messiah. I understand that certain commenters who are too stupid to make more than $12 an hour think I need a stern talking to and to read the Gospel (I have, its so-so, not really convincing), and that’s cute, bit I have no interest in Christians enforcing their religion with the force of law. If they truly believe in Judgement Day, maybe they can keep their opinions and beliefs out of my tax bill.
I’m surprised to see you zing me on this. Given your comment history. You seem to also prefer to be ledt alone and to let existing law (which works pretty well!) supersede the need to legislate morals.
If they get to ban IVF and the pill, religion is next. No thanks.
Yeah, Jimmy, it’s a real shame that Republicans are against murdering babies, isn’t it? *spit*
If you believe IVF and the birth comtrol pill are the murder of babies, surely you suggest arresting women who use such things?
Justice Thomas did NOT advocate for banning birth control; he advocated for overturning the ruling (Griswold v. Connecticut) that invented a “right” to purchase and use birth control. Nothing in the Constitution says anything about birth control which makes it a State issue.
No State in the 21st Century would seriously consider banning birth control and I (along with the overwhelming majority of Americans) would oppose any such proposal as a matter of policy. Such a policy rightly belongs in the hands of the States, however, and Griswold must be overturned as part of the process of returning the Federal government to its proper role.
“It is not about Lisa Murkowski” says the RINO. Hahaha. Yes it is. That is why she spearheaded ranked choice voting in AK.
Suzanne, slight correction. Jan 6, 2021 was the day the Capitol was visited by hundreds of thousands of patriots who knew the 2020 election had been stolen from President Trump. The same patriots who were attacked by the Capitol and DC Metro police while others were invited inside by those same police.
Right on!
Happiness to me would be
Mitch walking back to Kentucky with Lisa & Dan under His arms.
I second that motion, with emphasis added!
If it weren’t for dominion, Trump would have won 70% of the vote in Alaska. There’s no way 47% of Alaska voted against President Trump.
Its all about WHO COUNTS OUR VOTES.
Now we conservatives will be bullied and further harrassed if we question election integrity.
When will everyone want FAIR ELECTIONS?
Fair means no cheating, no manipulating and true transparency. Thats my kinda trans….
Molly, why would the cheaters want “fair elections?” They win by cheating.
Lisa murkowski has intelligence, emotional control, experience, clarity of thought, commitment to Alaska and America, is respected, speaks well, can compromise, and has integrity. She would fit well among centrist Democrats.
I think she would fit well in the Communist party.
You must be smoking some strong stuff!!
“It has Republicans reflecting on what happens to the party in the months ahead and has some weighing whether they can fit into a GOP that is more modeled after Trump than the Reagan-Republicanism McConnell embodies,” the Fox News story says.
“I wonder that every day,” Murkowski said to CNN.”
This is a marvelous opportunity for the Senator to provide her Alaskan constituents with a meaningful discussion on the differences between Reagan-Republicans and “a GOP that is more modeled after Trump.
Chairwoman Brown, please consider this opportunity.
It would be appropriate, especially now that the Senator has provided one aspect of her daily thoughts, for the retiring GOP chair to invite the Senator to the upcoming GOP State Convention held in Anchorage to come and discuss her perspectives.
And the alternative would be?……. The further destruction of our nation
Nwo. Coming to a place near you.
I don’t care what she says, she is a liberal democrat and has been for years.
Go. Leave. You make me sick.
Can somebody please tell……. When?
if ever, she won by getting votes from actual republican voters.
I would be gratified if she would just leave Alaska. She is not working for us.
“So again, it is not about Lisa Murkowski.”???
If she were to tell the truth it would read, “So again, it is ALL about Lisa Murkowski.”
She would be much happier as a Democrat… we won’t miss her.
Good, I would leave the Un American party of Putin too.
So you’re not supporting the left anymore.
Are you serious? Do you handle your own affairs?
Murkowski despises conservatives ….always has.
Thanks Frank.
Frankie couldn’t have done it without me. Frankly, all the Murks are done with conservatives. Good riddance.
She needs to be gone. Her fealty to Kyiv vs. US sealed the deal for me. Almost nauseating as that photo when Dianne Feinstein had her pinned to the wall in the senate hallway. Our entire congressional delegation has been compromised. Voting BILLIONS for Ukraine & Israel while serving crumbs to Alaskans. Murky & Carpetbagger Dan were two of 19 spineless senators who voted to keep the border open. The other idiot (Pertola) just voted to allow illegals to vote in US elections. As long as the Alaskan free-s#!t army continues to benefit from DOT GOV largesse, nary a care will be given . M I Rite?
lol …. “free sh*! army” ! I like it.
Murkowski, don’t just leave the Republican party – totally leave politics for good! Do not be involved anymore. You have done enough damage to this state, to this nation and to this world. Leave now and take McConnell with you!
Nancy and I are actually hoping for this. We hardly have any Republican friends anymore because of Lisa. Nancy gets shunned by her former Republican Women Lunch cronies, and all of my old pals are either bankrupt, thrown out of the house, or dead. Life is pretty miserable for us. If she joins the Democrat Party she can introduce us to her new friends. I think we can fit in pretty well with liars, cheaters and thieves. Lisa made sure that her dear old parents will suffer great loss of old friendships, but we still get to keep our monarchy status over these stupid Alaskans.
Thanks dad, for saying it like it is. I just never wanted to go back to work again. Not even a government job. Imagine that. Republicans who gained two generations of great wealth by working for the government. And most people think that only Democrats can do this. I’ll never go back to my noodle stand. Never.
She may still have an “R” after her name, but she left the Republican Party a LONG time ago.
She was never one of us, always a traitor….
Stop using words you don’t understand.
MA, is the word “traitor” a trigger word for you? I looked up the meaning and it looks like Molly has appropriately used that word.
The woman has only ever been Republican in name only…
Traitor to the people of Alaska. Good riddance.
The primary on Tuesday will determine if Alaska is moving on from Trump
Prepare for your new best friend, disappointment. Cheers –
I think the princess should resign in protest just to show them!
Is this suppose to make us worry and cower in fear the princess might decide to leave the republican party? Oooh, scary-she might leave, change parties….Once again, she shows it is always all about her, what she wants, her ability to whip out the taxpayer funded credit card, spend, spend, spend buckets of your hard earned money
without considering the consequences to the people who have to pay taxes and who she is suppose to represent. She is not representing her constituents and what they want, just herself. I don’t see where she talks about her constituents, representing them and what They want aka her job.
In a direct match, DT 53, JB 43…..Alaska is a mess. 43% of our residents actually believed JB was a better choice. Thats the issue here. Murky is not the problem, she is the symptom of the populace. Culture has declined. Why? I have my thoughts and government is not the culprit.
I have many good reasons not to support Senator Murkowski; She is wrong on a bunch of things. I still pose the question: Is it possible for the Republican Party to be something more and larger than Donald Trump? Or is the Party just Donald Trump?
Some surveys indicate that Donald Trump has an overall negative rating. He is going to have a difficult pathway the Presidency. If Trump is the Party and Trump is a loser, then the Party will lose and have minority status and maybe for a long time.
It is also worth considering that there is nothing AFTER Donald Trump. There is no successor to Donald Trump. He’s a one-off personality. Thus my point: As flawed as Lisa Murkowski is, the umbrella of the Party must be big enough to include even non-Trump folks. If Republicans start excluding people, minority status is next. Maybe permanent minority status.
Abortion is her priority. She never was a true Republican, just co-opting the “R”. Be gone with ye!
To quote one of her obvious heroes:
“At this point, what difference does it make?”
IMO …
Daddy’s Little Princess is an “Air Thief(!!!)”
Stealing good air from the rest of us.
She’s a rat (we all knew THAT all along) jumping from a burning, sinking ship (still lots of denial on that reality, but she’s been feeling the heat since her primary loss to Joe Miller). The Republican Party is dying. It has finally fractured into at least two warring factors that will not yield. If the republic survives 2024, it will do so only as a long, brutal, and horrific civil war begins. And the death of the American republic will cause the death of the world order of the past 500 years. God only knows where we’re going, but at my age, I’m pretty sure I won’t be seeing the new world order. Just the violent end of the last one.
Amen Reggie.
So Lisa hears a poll that fewer Alaskans consider themselves either Republican or Democrat.
So…bright idea! Let’s float the idea to be independent!
Yeah, let her call herself anything she wants to. The most appropriate would be a five letter word beginning with “w.”
Or just “For Sale.”
She could resign and say”you won’t have ME to kick around anymore!!”
Many people at MRAK are saying that Lisa is driving her own family from the Republican Party, but honestly, Frankie and I feel that it’s Joe Miller and Kelly Tshibaka that drove Alaska’s greatest Republican Family to the Democrats. How dare they! Our family has had a good thing going for ourselves during the last 40+ years and now a few people want to ruin it for us. The Democrats would never do this. Democrats are such kinder, gentler people.
Nancy…..
No one is stopping you and Frankie from joining the Democrats. I bet more Democrats than Republicans will turn out for both your services.
And the flags will fly at 1/4 staff.
Uh, Nancy…..Frankie came in dead last in his last election. Are you delusional too?
Right. Don’t forget to put Hillary Clinton on your Christmas card mailing list, Nancy.
Is this satire?
How can you leave the party when you weren’t really there???
She is Maines 3rd Senator, controlled by Senator Collins, and the Bush Family. She has built a coalition of Democrats and RINOS in our Alaska. She voted with Obama 90% of the time, equal to Senator Mark Beghich. Voted For Trump Impeachment every chance she could, even when he was out of office. She beat Kelly two years ago
She has 4 more years left —-Trumps full Presidential Term. If she goes Democrat, she will solidify Chuck Schumer’s majority, and turn Alaska Blue. Alaska Voted for this.
No person or candidate should be able to self-identify as a member of any particular party. The party should determine a person’s or candidate’s membership. Under the present top 4 system, parties can and should grab control of their party name. Any candidate that files to run and campaign as a Republican should require written authorization from the party to do so, otherwise he or she will run as an independent.
She votes democratic and aligns well with the democrats! Hope this furthers your career? Go be the real you Lisa!
This person is the exact reason why States need to take things into their own hands and incorporate term limits for House and Senate representatives. There is nothing in the constitution that can stop this from happening. ALASKA is nothing but a federal superfund state. As long as the citizens allow them to proceed and not follow the agreements of statehood, the feds will keep funding state and citizen welfare.
Please leave NOW!
How can she leave a party out of which she has already been kicked out?
The Republican Party already excommunicated her. She hasn’t been an official member of the GOP for years.
Very true! Apparently she forgot and many of us forgot! :-/
Go for it Murkowski and take Collins with you!
Worst “republican” senator ever. Bought & paid for by special interest groups that literally have to harvest Alaska Native votes to keep her there. She proves herself a liar every time she claims to be a conservative.
Daddy’s little girl was never a Republican…just had to say she was to take Big Frank’s senate seat when he gifted it to her.
A friend waiting to cross back into the Us from Mexico texted me yesterday morning and said Doug in order to straighten this mess out in this country a bunch of blood is going to have to get spilled.
It’s telling Princess’ biggest cheerleaders are noticeably missing from this discussion.
Has she left yet?
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