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
The problem this time around is that Palin has a bigger base of support (cult following, if you will) than Begich. This precludes Begich from being one of the final 2. It’s an exact repeat of the special election from August.
I realize that Alaska voters — like the other RCV state, Maine — have a peculiar affinity for politicians who label themselves as Independent or some other third party; perhaps this is why they were so susceptible to the liberal sales pitch for implementing RCV in the first place. Voting against the two major parties makes them feel intellectually or morally superior (fallacies in both cases).
Even so, if the 4 candidates on the general election ballot in some race are R-D-Libertarian-Green (or Indie instead of one of the last two), in *most* cases I believe the major party candidates will still come in 1-2. We’d then have to see how the voters of the Libertarian/Independent candidate assign their #2 choices.
You may be right that it’s still a minefield for a Republican — especially a *conservative* Republican, which is exactly what RCV seeks to eradicate — but the GOP allowing 2 candidates onto the ballot is certainly not helpful, as these 2022 House elections have demonstrated.