Alaska Senate Race: Miller v. Murkowski

I know that there's a Democrat in this race as well, but the chances of him winning aren't good, even if all of the Republican votes are split up between these two.

I have a friend who is a little left-of-center, and he takes great joy in pointing out all of the problems with Tea Party candidates. The Tea Party candidate for Alaska (Miller) won the primary over the incumbent (Murkowski). Murkowski has decided, however, that she should have won and is conducting a write-in campaign. Miller has very idealistic views, and at times in his past he hasn't lived up to them.

Here is my take on the situation. I went and compared what each of them had to say on their websites. Joe Miller laid out a concise, easy to follow plan of what he would like to do in the Senate. He also laid out his immigration beliefs. Everything he talked about, apart from some of his policy suggestions for illegal immigration, I completely agreed with. Murkowski, on the other hand, only talks about opposing the Obama administration and opposing Joe Miller.

Put another way, here is Miller's position:
1. Balanced Federal Budget
2. Account for all expenditures in the budget (no more dipping into Social Security or keeping Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac of the books)
3. Line Item Veto
4. Unspent and Repaid TARP funds be used to pay down deficit
5. No more bailouts
6. Repeal Obamacare/no new entitlements
7. End Czar layer of government
8. Hiring freeze for all non-essential government positions
9. Establish a sunset committee to review bills and put sunsets on all programs
10. Earmark reform: earmarks have to be passed with 2/3 majority for each specific earmark
11. Each bill has to say what part of the Constitution it deals with and can only address 1 item (no more omnibus bills)
12. Limit increases to government spending to the rate of inflation

Here's Lisa Murkowski's position:
1. I opposed the stimulus and Obamacare.
2. I think Joe Miller is an extremist backed by a conspiratorial national movement.

Don't take my word for it, though. Visit Miller's and Murkowski's sites and see for yourself.