Friday October 8, 2010
SBA List Targets Murkowski as Alaska Campaign Turns into Toss-Up
By Peter J. Smith
FAIRBANKS, Alaska, October 8, 2010 (LifeSiteNews.com) – The Susan B. Anthony List has launched an aggressive radio ad campaign against Sen. Lisa Murkowski, the Alaska GOP incumbent with a mixed record on abortion, whose write-in bid is now giving pro-life Republican nominee Joe Miller a serious challenge.
A September 28 poll by CNN/Time has vindicated Murkowski’s words that Miller, a Fairbanks attorney supported by former Gov. Sarah Palin and Tea Party activists, should beware of measuring the drapes before the November 2 election.
Miller pulled off an upset victory over Murkowski on the August 24 primary, beating her by 1668 votes. However, Murkowski refused to back out of the race, opting for a write-in campaign that has now placed her in a virtual dead heat with Miller.
The poll shows Miller leading Murkowski by two points among likely voters, 38 percent to 36 percent – a gap well within the poll’s +/- 3 percent margin of error.
Pro-abortion Democrat and Sitka Mayor Scott McAdams trails in third place at 22 percent.
SBA List, a pro-life political action committee that works to elect pro-life women or unseat women with pro-abortion records is hitting at Murkowski with a $10,000 week-long radio ad. SBA List blasts the sitting GOP US Senator for not quitting the race after losing her primary to Miller, and ignoring her constituents.
The ad features a doctor who makes a visit to Murkowski’s office for an “ear test” and brings along a megaphone, which he explains is a “hearing aid.”
"Alaska voters sent me, afraid she didn't hear them during the primary," the voice says.
SBA List President Marjorie Dannenfelser explained that her group was supporting Miller because he “represents women’s real views and needs on the issue of abortion far better than his female opponent does.”
“Joe Miller’s unique experience and commitment to rescind taxpayer funding of abortion in the federal health care legislation is urgently needed in the coming Congress,” she said.
Murkowski has a mixed bag when it comes to abortion, since her father, then Gov. Frank Murkowski, appointed her to the Senate in 2002 to fill his vacated seat. She voted repeatedly to repeal the Mexico City Policy prohibiting funding of abortion overseas, to reject a measure making an “unborn child” eligible for health coverage under SCHIP (State Children's Health Insurance Program), and voted to expand human embryonic stem cell research.
Murkowski garnered a 71 percent pro-life rating from the National Right to Life Committee’s congressional scorecard for the 111th Congress (2009 – 2010); but most of those pro-life votes were votes against the health care reform bill. However, she also voted to ban partial birth abortion, supported the Unborn Victims of Violence Act, and opposed carrying minors across state lines for abortion.
SBA radio ad is available here
See related coverage by LifeSiteNews.com:
Palin-Backed Pro-Life Candidate Wins Upset Victory over Pro-abort Senator
http://www.lifesitenews.com/ldn/2010/sep/10090111.html