In the words of the lyrics sung by Kenny Rogers, “You got to know when to hold ‘em, know when to fold ‘em.”
I guess Alaskans aren’t big fans of Rogers.
Republican senatorial candidate Joe Miller still refuses to concede his loss in the Alaska senatorial election to fellow Republican and incumbent Lisa Murkowski. He has decided to, instead, waste government time and money on a lawsuit to challenge the results.
Back in August the Tea-Party-supported Miller pulled off a shocking upset over Murkowski in the Alaska Republican primary elections. Murkowski responded by deciding to stage a write-in campaign during the general election to attempt to keep her seat.
When election time came, it surprised many to find out, Murkowski’s write-in candidacy received the majority of votes in Alaska, higher than the Democratic or official Republican candidate in the election.
Yet Miller, backed by Sarah Palin, still will not admit defeat and decided to bring forth a lawsuit in an attempt to turn Alaska’s election into a spelling bee.
Let’s be honest, “M-u-r-k-o-w-s-k-i” isn’t as easy as “S-m-i-t-h,” but I think we can tell when “Murkowski” isn’t “Miller,” or anyone else for that matter.
If there was another candidate whose name was close to Murkowski I would understand the hesitancy by Miller, but it’s painfully obvious that the majority of Alaskans were trying to vote their incumbent senator back into office.
Should somebody with bad handwriting or someone who, in his or her hurry to get out of the ballot box, misspelled her name, really be blamed by not having his or her vote counted?
Miller only cares about getting his next job in politics and not what the people want — an early sign he does not deserve the office he seeks to steal. His tactics could result in legal holdup that might leave his state without representation and his party with one less member in the important first session of 2011. It’s no wonder he has been urged to stop these selfish plans by the head of the Alaska Grand Old Party and other leading Republicans.
The most curious thing about the whole situation is that it appears Miller and his campaign crew need a math lesson.
Murkowski leads Miller by about 10,300 votes, but Miller is challenging only 8,100 votes. It does not take a finance major to realize even if Miller foolishly wins his challenge, he still will not win the election.
Miller is selfishly wasting the government’s time and money with his lawsuit that, in essence, will not accomplish anything.
Campaigns might have been dirty in the past, but when all was said and done, the opponents ended their bouts like gentlemen and women.
Miller is the very example of the type of politician we do not need in office — the politician who is trying to climb the Washington version of the corporate ladder and does not give two shakes to what the people want.
If Miller wanted to save face for a future run at office, he should have listened to Rogers and walked away.
Chris Dodson is a first-year finance and journalism student. His column appears every Monday.
