“Nick Begich is from a historically Democrat family, yet he ran as a Republican.”
The eventual outcome has pretty much nothing to do with that factoid. It has everything to do with the fact that Begich voters resent and despise Palin, both in general and for the fact that she opportunistically jumped into the race long after Begich delcared.
And just like the Begich voters did in the special election, enough of them again will either leave their #2 choice blank or vote for someone other than Palin.
As I mentioned in an above post, the GOP needs to crack the whip and make sure they run **ONE** candidate instead of shooting themselves repeatedly in the foot by splitting the vote between multiple candidates.
This garbage affects only Alaska and Maine today, but if Democrats get their way it going to show up in a lot more states before too much longer.
This is larger than just Republicans running multiple candidates.
Democrats have a long history of supporting the Libertarian candidates in races with strong Republicans. They know the Libertarian will split the Republican vote.
The same could be said for the Green Party and the Democrats, but Republicans don't get involved with funding liberal dark-horses.
In Alaska, I think they allow anyone who finishes in the top 4 as long as they are above a minimum vote in the primary. Republicans could have encouraged only one candidate in the primary, or coerced one to drop out, but they wouldn't have been able to stop a Libertarian from getting on the ballot.
As far as detesting Palin, this is a sticky issue. Are Republicans so fickle that they would send a Democrat to the House who would support a ban on drilling in a state that pays revenue bonuses from oil production to each resident every year? Would they send a Democrat who supports hand-outs and free loans in a state known for their rugged individuality and self-reliance?
Are Alaskan Republicans that vain that they would do this to spite Palin and hurt their own personal interests, or will they hold their nose and send another reliable Republican vote to the House of Representatives?
-PJ