In a misguided article published in Politico Magazine last week, Forrest A. Nabors argued that I am poised to play the role of spoiler and deliver Alaska’s U.S. Senate seat to the Democrats this fall by running as an Independent. And predictably, the grand conspiracy is all Sarah Palin’s fault.
The suggestion that I intend to run as an Independent in the general election is no more than a rumor spread by the Weekly Standard’s report on a February Hays poll. In that poll, I was included as an Independent only because at least 10 percent of respondents said they would vote for me if their choice were between an establishment Republican and the Democratic incumbent, Sen. Mark Begich. To be perfectly clear: I have never said I am running for anything other than the Republican nomination.
While it is true that Gov. Palin played a decisive role in my stunning 2010 primary victory over the sitting vice chair of the Senate Republican Conference, her responsibility ends there. The truth is, but for the perfidy of the Republican establishment, the conservative movement in Alaska would have prevailed in 2010. And undoubtedly, the Alaska race in 2014 would be a unified Republican effort.
Sadly, Sen. Lisa Murkowski learned the wrong lessons from 2010. She was the only Senate “Republican” to vote for every piece of President Obama’s 2010 lame duck agenda. In the process, she helped the president up off the mat after a crushing defeat in the 2010 mid-term elections and handed him bipartisan legitimacy for his 2012 election. If that didn’t vindicate my 2010 primary challenge of Murkowski, and Palin’s decision to endorse my candidacy, I don’t know what would.
But that is the past. It’s time for people of good will to end the petty intramural conflicts and focus on the task at hand. Unlike many of my establishment Republican friends, I am not driven by hatred of Democrats. Nor am I motivated by the desire for power. I simply love my country and want to see it prosper.
For me, the 2014 election is about the renewal of America and Alaska’s economic future. It is a test of our resolve as a people. Will we stand up for the Constitution and our way of life? Or will we stand down as the world’s greatest civilization fades into the fog of history? I believe that our children and grandchildren deserve to face the future with the same sense of hope and optimism that we once did, and it is our responsibility to make that a reality. I believe that nothing is inevitable, that the future lies within the realm of our free will, that God still governs in the affairs of men who will exercise virtue and that, as Ronald Reagan once reminded us, “The future doesn’t belong to the faint-hearted; it belongs to the brave.”
That’s why I’ve embraced a bold agenda: return to Constitutional government. As Republicans, we must not abandon the sanctity of human life, as some would have us do. We cannot give up on our nation’s greatest asset, the traditional family. We must defend our religious liberties at all cost, and refuse the false promise of security in exchange for our 2nd Amendment rights. It is imperative that we repeal Obamacare. Half-measures and temporary fixes will not do. There is only one way to ensure freedom, access and affordability: Get government out of the way and let the free market work.
Republicans must also contend for the rule of law, and never reward lawlessness. Amnesty is a non-starter, and our borders must be secured. It is a grave matter of national security. Further, we must abolish the IRS and reform the tax code to make it fair and simple; audit the Federal Reserve; cut, cap and balance the federal budget; and return power to the states.
Contrary to conventional wisdom, our internal polling analysis shows that we are in a strong position to win both the primary and general elections in Alaska. Even public polling has seen my candidacy surge in a head-to-head match-up against Begich by 17 points since early last year.
The resurgent reform movement in Alaska is poised to make a big comeback, and without a doubt folks are more energized than they were four years ago. The number of registered Republicans is up 4.3 percent since 2008, while the number of registered Democrats is down 10.4 percent. In that year, Begich squeezed out a narrow victory with 48 percent of the vote against the GOP incumbent, Sen. Ted Stevens, who had just been convicted of multiple felonies. (Stevens’s convictions were later vacated because of prosecutorial misconduct.) This time around, Begich’s job approval in public polling has been hovering around 40 percent for months.
This is shaping up to be another wave election. It is inconceivable that an incumbent senator with job approval numbers so low heading into the election will be able to ride this wave of public discontent to 50 percent plus one, unless establishment Republicans sabotage another election.
Wherever I go across the state, there is seldom a kind word for the Republican Party. Much like the last two presidential elections, nothing could be more catastrophic to the cause of liberty, or to a Republican majority in the Senate, than to nominate another “me too” Republican.
Both of my opponents are now calling for unity, despite the fact that they refused to back the party nominee in the state’s last Senate election. The truth is, someone who helped tear the party apart simply isn’t qualified to lead a unity movement.
It’s time for the Republican establishment to end the impurity tests. A big-tent Republican majority must include full-orbed conservatives who embrace the party platform. If the Republican Party leadership is serious about governing, it has a choice to make: join the reform movement, or embrace a permanent minority status.
