Murkowski Wants Gov't Leaders to Compromise

In Alaska they're still counting votes in the senate race. Tea Party Republican Joe Miller leads with 87,000 votes but incumbent Republican Lisa Murkowski, who ran a write-in campaign, trails by fewer than 10,000.

With more than 10,000 write-ins still to be counted, Murkowski is confident of victory because she's been getting nearly 90 percent of the write-in votes.

Murkowski would be the first candidate elected to the Senate elected as a write-in since Strom Thurmond in 1954.

CBS Evening News anchor Katie Couric spoke with Murkowski about her role in the federal government.

"This is a whole new world for me," says Murkowski. "And it'll be a whole new world for my colleagues in dealing with me."

Murkowski is back in Washington and this time she's making sure everyone knows how to spell her name.

Scroll down to see video of Katie Couric's interview with Sen. Murkowski.

"Running a write-in campaign against my party's wishes demonstrates that it's either political courage or just plain crazy," she says.

Beaten in the GOP primary by Tea Party favorite and Sarah Palin-endorsed Joe Miller, in some ways the loss was Murkowski's gain, breathing new life into a candidate who assured Alaskans that federal dollars would keep traveling north.

Murkowski: I Wouldn't Back Palin for President
Murkowski Takes the Lead in Alaska Senate Race
Is Joe Miller Trying to Disenfranchise Alaskans?
CBS News Complete Results: Election 2010

The Republican establishment supported Miller and now Murkowski is trying to figure out where she fits in.

Couric: "Will you feel a little like it's your first day of school and you don't know who your friends are going to be?"

Murkowski: "Maybe a little bit of that. Who are my friends? Who are my real friends?"

Part of a dying breed of moderate Republicans, Murkowski claims she's winning because she represents all Alaskans.

Murkowski: "I do not pass the purity test that the Tea Party has set out. It's just as simple as that. And that may be the case. But I don't think most people in my state pass that. There's a lot of people in Alaska that are pretty anti-government. But I think they would also agree that, 'Well, maybe the best thing is not that we shut government down.'"

And Murkowski says the message she's hearing loud and clear is compromise.

Murkowski: "I will tell you, I am not one of those who wants Obama to fail. If he does well, that means the country's doing well. We don't have time as a nation to spend all of what we do blocking. We have got to figure out how we get to a point where we can be sitting around the table and talking about these difficult problems and advancing some solutions."

She's not shy when it comes to speaking out about another Alaskan outdoorswoman but she minimizes the bad blood created when her father appointed her instead of Sarah Palin to serve out his term in the Senate.

Couric: "What's up with your relationship with Sarah Palin? Can you explain it?"

Murkowski: I'm still her senator. I'm going work hard to represent her, too. We don't really have much of a relationship."

Couric: "You have said you would not support Sarah Palin for president because she is not worldly enough."

Murkowski: "I just do not think that she has those leadership qualities, that intellectual curiosity that allows for building good and great policies. You know, she was my governor for two years. And I don't think that she enjoyed governing."

No matter what Palin does, Murkowski says 2012 is still a long way off and she's certain of one name that won't be on the ballot.

Couric: "Would you ever throw your hat in the ring? That would really shake things up, wouldn't it?"

Murkowski: "A national write-in campaign. Wouldn't that be wild? No, we're not…we're not thinking about this. At this point in time, I am still counting votes in Juneau."

And Murkowski met with Republican leader Mitch McConnell Monday to talk about her future. She thinks compromise with the majority Democrats is possible on energy policy. As ranking Republican on the energy committee she'll have a major role in trying to work out a deal.

[FrankTrades]

Everyone wants compromise. But the Demo-tax-and-spend-ocrats cannot start from communism and expect all others to compromise to socialism.

[bingogeorge4]

Please, What qualified Obama to be President? Absolutely NOTHING.

Lisa M is NOT what Alaska or America needs in OUR (Peoples)government.

George S
Alaska

[mleakdpm]

I thought Couric could only ask questions regarding which literature reads. But she asked Lisa Murkowski about running for president in 2012: poor Lisa had to try to forge an answer, knowing that her father never lost a primary or general election for U.S. Senate in Alaska, but after one term as governor he lost the republican primary to Palin: she had 50%, Frank Murkowski had 20%, in a 3-way race. Lisa lost the republican primary election in Aug.; she would be clobbered nationally trying to run for president. Come on, Katie! Lisa also noted that, ultimately, O'Donnell and Angle lost their races in Delaware and Nevada, respectively, because of their weakness as candidates. But she lost the republican primary because of "Tea Party" money from out of state: how much campaign money did Lisa and Joe Miller each spend? And where did Lisa's money come from? Hey, Couric! This is how you conduct an interview, not like an obsequious teenager admiring a rock star. Maybe it's time CBS stopped worshipping the Wash.,D.C. Noble Class, informed yourselves, and asked relevant questions that gave viewers fair and balanced facts.

[michaelheit]

Just remember [in November] if you vote Demo-RAT or Republic-RAT there will be absolutley no difference in the crap going on ...it will be business as usual ... AFU.

So, vote third party only or independent that you KNOW will do the right thing: resore our government back into its Constiutionally limited role: secure the rights of the people and to hell with TSA, BATFags, K9PEe alphabet soup agencies sucking our freedom and liberty away.

But that is predicated on the sheeple waking up and removing their heads out of their Derrieres ... what will it take to wake up the sleeping sheeple?

[simnszz]

She's anything but moderate when it comes to Green Energy. However, she's a clever politician who brings home the bacon. She senses that Tea Partiers won't be able to maintain their hate crusade with what I call the 'Normal Majority' too much longer. There are just too many naive crackpots with big mouths in DC and the public will quickly see that they were bought and paid for by Billionaire Profiteers. The media will jump on every chance to gain readership with their InSaNe remarks. The GOP was stupid not to back Murkowski. She's far more intelligent than Palin and a better fit ideologically with most Republicans and Independents.

[crazyname]

Like Charlie Crist, this women has no more loyalty to the democrats that put her in office. She is s waste of time! She has to go wherever her suport wil take her, and that is not to the right.

[jimbom121]

Well, I guess compared to Joe Miller, she's moderate, but far to the right of everyone else.

[RobAla]

Couric: "What's up with your relationship with Sarah Palin? Can you explain it?"

What a dumb question. Palin replaced Murkowski's father as governor, and Plain backed her competitor Miller for the Senate. Of course they aren't in the same camp.

As for the compromise: We did not replace over 60 Democrats in the House, give conservatives gains in the Senate, replace a boatload of Democrat Governors, and replace 682 Democrats in local elections because we liked the way the Democrats were handling things. I'm sorry, it will have to be the Democrats who compromise - not the Republicans this time. The election proves that Americans want compromise that very much leans to the right, and away from what the Democrats have been going. Murkowski has the wrong idea as she goes into the Senate. She should be expecting the losing Democrats to compromise. Democrats need to come toward the Republicans, based on this recent election. As for health care, a majority of Americans have never been for this stinking bill.

[michaelheit]

Let me clarify my statements. Miller was elected in the primary to be the candidate ... Murkowski lost the election, and chose to go the write in route, and that's ok. But Miller won the primary and should be interviewed as well. All political parties ought to be banned and made illegal ... this lunacy is destroying our Republic.

Screw earmarks, war, and all the other idiotic crap those cretins in Congress waste our hard earned money on ... and speaking of money: use your intellect to see if you can find an article of amendment to Article One, section 10 of the Constitution that would eliminate the mandated gold and silver based coin as a national currency. Why can't the lame-stream media focus some attention on a real solution to our nation?s problems, and quite reporting the garbage that passes as news?

So there you go ... show us how smart you may or may not be ...where is the amendment? Am I ticked off? With all the Ponzi schemes coming out of Washington D.C. [District of Criminals] you bet I am; and you ought to be too ? the Federal Reserve Act is the biggest Ponzi scheme next to the Social Security act ..and I suspect you think this is just a rant?

I sure hope my spell checker worked better this time ... wouldn't want you to be as radical as I am ...

[GotToBeKiddingMe]

If Republican's were actually conservative from 2001 to 2009 then we wouldn't have these tea parties. But hey people wanted the federal government to spend money, so the Republicans spent the money. Republicans controlled the Whitehouse from 1981 to 2009 with the exception of Bill Clinton. Guess which President presided when the country spent less than the taxes it took in? Bill Clinton. Go figure. How on earth have we been brainwashed so badly?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_debt_by_U.S._presidential_terms
Look at the numbers. Compare Start debt/GDP column to the End debt/GDP column.

[tridirk]

All of us See BS everyday. Time to call it for what it is. If Ms Couric is talking it's only to promote Dem Libs causes. I don't know why any Repub, conservative or Libertarian would waste time speaking with her?

She should just put on her Donkey pin and bray away.

Wonder if her interest is to rub a Tea Party nose in the loss? Maybe she can sway Murkowski to caucus with the Dems?

Alaska will be represented by the winner of the election, but by a Senator that a majority of the voters didn't vote for!

[GotToBeKiddingMe]

I don't get this... "but by a Senator that a majority of the voters didn't vote for!" - of course not. If there are more than 2 candidates in the general election of course you won't have a majority of votes unless one of the candidates receives very few votes. They don't need to get more than 50% of the vote. It's always the person who receives the most votes who wins.