In New Ad, Conservative Group Targets Lisa Murkowski as Spoiled "Princess"
In radio ads that will hit three of Alaska's largest markets by early next week, conservative political action committee Let Freedom Ring is targeting Senate write-in candidate Lisa Murkowski, who is running for re-election as a write-in candidate, as a spoiled "princess" who is unwilling to give up her seat.
The ad, which plays out as a mock fairy-tale set to the tune of "Hush, Little Baby," features a screaming "Princess Lisa" character who can't accept the news of her defeat in the Republican primary.
"It's mine! Daddy gave it to me! Mine, mine, mine!" screams an outraged Princess Lisa in the ad, upon learning that "the people decided that Lisa had kept [the Senate seat] long enough" and that she would have to give up the "very special present" her father gave her once upon a time.
Murkowski was first appointed Senator of Alaska in 2002, when her father, Frank Murkowski, was elected Governor of the state and named her as his replacement. She was elected to the seat in 2004, but she recently lost the Republican nominationfor the 2010 contest to Tea Party favorite Joe Miller.
Murkowski has since announced her decision to mount a write-in campaign against Miller and Democratic candidate Scott McAdams, and is said to be considering unveiling potentially controversial ads of her own: According to the New York Times, the campaign may run spots featuring the late Senator Ted Stevens, who filmed them on her behalf shortly before he was killed in an August plane crash.
"I know [Ted Stevens] would say if he had spent all of that time taping the commercials, 'We'd better damn well use them,'" said Steve Wackowski, a campaign spokesperson who previously worked for Stevens.
Despite what some have called her new, potentially-appealing "dark horse" status, Murkowski's bid for re-election is widely considered an uphill battle: As of last week, she was polling behind Miller (who benefits from the support of the Republican establishment) by a margin of 25 points. If elected, she would be the first-ever candidate in Alaska to win a write-in campaign on a national level.
Adding to Murkowski's difficulties in the campaign is her not-so-easy-to-spell last name: Last Monday, the candidate's own campaign launched a television ad in which Murkowski was spelled incorrectly.
