Lisa Murkowski's Telling You She's Not Going To The Democratic Party
BREAKING!
Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski voted on Saturday to advance Donald Trump’s hideous billionaire giveaway bill, which came as a tremendous shock to everyone with bananas permanently stuck in their tailpipes. Just last week, a series of left-leaning social media accounts announced that Murkowski was very close to switching parties or at least caucusing with Democrats as an independent.
Among the accounts reporting this self-declared BREAKING news was Democratic Wins Media, which has a consistently generous, Charlie Sheen at his most manic, definition of “winning.” It wouldn’t surprise me if they posted, “BREAKING: Chuck Schumer finds a penny, picks it up. Resulting good fortune might last at least a day. This is a game changer!”
The premature champagne-popping was in response to Murkowski’s appearance on journalist Galen Druke’s podcast, where she promoted her upcoming book while saying nothing that would reasonably indicate she plans to leave that violent fascist movement posing as a political party. This would disappoint me if I’d expected more from these fanatic cheerleader accounts. Still, she very clearly shoots down the switching-of-the-parties conversation. These accounts just needed to watch at least a minute of the video clip they shared. It’s apparently too much to ask for such stringent journalistic standards. (Watch below.)
Yes, Murkowski said she’s open to “exploring something different than the status quo,” but that’s hardly a selling point for Senate Democrats, who are relentlessly status quo. Ultimately, despite her criticisms of Donald Trump and her assertions that she’s not a MAGA Republican, Murkowski remains a proud resident of Both Sides Island. After all, that’s the whole point of her book, Far from Home: An Alaskan Senator Faces the Extreme Climate of Washington, D.C. There’s even a blurb from her fellow non-fascist Republican Mitt Romney, who deftly lifts from Robert Frost with all the skill of a sixth-grade English paper: “Two paths diverged — Lisa Murkowski took the one less traveled. In Far from Home, we see how the solitary course she chose has made all the difference.”
Obviously, Murkowski went on this podcast to sell her book not weaken its premise.
“My problem with your hypothetical is that as challenged as I think we may be on the Republican side, I don’t see the Democrats being much better,” Murkowski told Druke. “And they’ve got not only their share of problems, but quite honestly, they’ve got some policies that I just inherently disagree with.”
This remains the key dilemma for Democrats regarding Lisa Murkowski: She actually believes in things. Her political positions are fairly consistent, unlike John Fetterman, whose entire political persona is performative cosplay. She’s not desperate for attention, either, like former Manic Pixie Senator Kyrsten Sinema.
When former Democratic Rep. Tulsi Gabbard switched parties, her explanation was filled with MAGA lies: “You know, I was a Democrat for over 20 years. Today’s Democrat Party is completely unrecognizable,” she said. “When you look at the party of Kamala Harris, for example, she is anti-freedom. She is pro-censorship, she is pro-open borders, and she is pro-war without even pretending to care about peace.” (It’s true that Trump does “pretend” to care about peace. Harris was never in the make-believe business.)
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is perhaps the most prominent defector to the GOP, but he represents the kook contingent of the left that’s anti-science and steeped in a conspiratorial worldview. They were destined for MAGA, especially after the pandemic.
Murkowski describes herself as a moderate Republican. She voted to convict Trump during his second annual impeachment. If former Tea Party Republican Joe Walsh could officially become a Democrat, it shouldn’t seem like a stretch to flip Murkowski.
Pundits across the political spectrum seem to think Murkowski isn’t on Team Blue already because Democrats aren’t trying hard enough. The party is just too rigid ideologically.
Josh Barro wrote, “A Democratic Party that is ideologically positioned to compete effectively in the marginal states for a senate majority would also be a Democratic Party that Lisa Murkowski would feel like a better fit in.”
Political analyst Drew Savicki posted on social media, “Reality is if we want to win more Senate seats we need to be more accommodating to people like Murkowski who are socially liberal but have otherwise center-right views.”
I think the mainstream Democratic Party is plenty accommodating to people like Murkowski. If she were to switch parties today, she could do so without sacrificing any of her most sincerely held beliefs, whereas even Republicans who wish to remain on Trump’s good side must routinely declare that they see five lights when there are only four.
Murkowski is pro-choice, pro-gun, and pro-tax cuts for billionaires. None of her positions would offend Democratic donors. She’s the ideal “centrist” or even “conservative” Democrat, especially in a state like Alaska. Kirsten Gillibrand would welcome her with open arms.
Democrats have actively courted Murkowski, who told Semafor’s Burgess Everett that she’s “considered” switching parties because Democrats keep asking her. However, she insists that her values more “closely aligns” with the GOP. That is also evident from her voting record. This must come as a blow to Chuck Schumer’s Droopy Dog recruitment efforts. After all, Democrats, including Joe Biden and Kamala Harris, walked on egg shells to avoid alienating Joe Manchin and Kyrsten Sinema, but Trump actively supported a 2022 primary challenge against Murkowski, who admits she fears “retaliation” from Trump’s MAGA mob. Yet, she still spurns Democrats’ repeated overtures.
It’s both predictable and understandable that Democrats would believe there’s some magical policy change they could make or centrist position they could adopt that would change Murkowski’s mind. Savicki alludes to a supposed “secret sauce” that would appeal to Murkowski Republicans, but I’m afraid it’s not that simple. I think “socially liberal with otherwise center-right views” is a West Wing fantasy, a sort of cope from Democrats who want to believe their Republican relatives might prefer low taxes but aren’t hateful bigots: “Oh, my Aunt Lisa isn’t like Majorie Taylor Greene! She’s a small ‘c’ conservative!”
Now, I personally don’t think white supremacy and cultural resentments are the sole reason people like Murkowski remain in the Republican Party. Party affiliation is familial and tribal, and that’s where Republicans have an advantage over Democrats. Most white voters grow up in Republican environments even before they personally identify as conservative or liberal. (Note, I said “most.” Not everyone had hippie parents from Berkeley.) Even the liberals who disagree politically with their Republican relatives still view them as otherwise human.
When John “Beach” Fetterman was running for Senate, he boasted that his parents were “Trump-voting former Republicans.” That might’ve boosted his credentials in rural Pennsylvania, but it does make it a little easier for him to walk away from the Democratic Party. Notice that he often talks about Democrats as if he’s a cultural outsider.
According to New York Magazine, whenever Fetterman appeared on Fox News as a guest, his father would almost always call him to say how proud he was of him. No one in Murkowski’s immediate family would probably praise her for cozying up to Joy-Ann Reid. There’s far more cultural incentive for Democrats like Fetterman to switch parties. It’s like coming home. That’s why Murkowski isn’t leaving. She’s already there.
Someone thought she was?
As always, Lisa Murkowski will do whatever she thinks is best for Lisa Murkowski.
Who cares which party Murkowski caucuses with? Not me. It's how they vote. The "Bill" got three Republican no votes but the "moderate" Murkowski and the "concerned" Collins, who actually could have affected change, didn't. The "Bill" is much more than a tax cut and Medicaid removal and deficit buster (Republicans keep running on this and their fools go along), it is a big step to the incoming monarchy. And our "normie moderate" Republicans are MAGA, as usual. Please stop with the Murkowski/Collins/Romney crap. Other than Liz Cheney and a few others, who actually believe in Democracy, I don't want to hear it.