In Republican Senate primary, a clash of conservativism

Last week, the federal government handed Alaska communities more than $50 million for educational programs for kids with disabilities, for snow removal equipment and fencing at remote Bush airports and for better emergency response at the Anchorage airport. The week before brought federal grants and contracts totaling more than $20 million for housing in Native villages, for geothermal energy projects and fisheries management programs, and to build a runway in Kipnuk.

U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski thinks that's just fine. The federal government is such a major presence in Alaska, tying up lands that can't be developed or taxed otherwise and keeping major military operations here, that it should be sending plenty of money our way, she says.

"There is a commitment the federal government has to the state of Alaska," Murkowski said over coffee at Europa Café, a few doors down from her campaign offices in Midtown Anchorage.

Joe Miller hates the fact that the federal government plays such a big financial role in Alaska. He sees the growth in government as out of control and talks about "the huge insolvency crisis" that is going to sink the nation and catch Alaska worst of all because of our dependence on federal dollars.

"If this state wants to prepare for what's coming, we need to wean ourself off the financial purse," he says.

The consummate insider vs. the ultimate outsider? Pragmatist vs. naïve dreamer? Experience vs. clueless?

No matter how you frame it, the political battle between incumbent Murkowski and challenger Miller is obvious. They couldn't be more different. And much of the rhetorical run-up to the Aug. 24 Republican primary, from which one of them will emerge victorious, has been about the riled-up newcomer trying to knock off the entrenched veteran.

Murkowski has held the job for the past seven years -- not all that long by congressional standards, especially in Alaska, where Rep. Don Young has kept his seat for almost 37 years. Former Sen. Ted Stevens hung in there for 40 years.

An attorney, Murkowski was appointed to the Senate seat by her father, Frank Murkowski, who left an unexpired term when he was elected governor in 2002. In 2004, she beat out Tony Knowles, the former governor and Anchorage mayor, for a full six-year term.

No stranger to politics or public service, not only did Murkowski grow up in one of the most prominent business and political families in the state, she served in the state House from 1998 until she jumped to the U.S. Senate in 2002. She is now the ranking Republican on the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, arguably one of the most important positions an Alaskan could hold.

She is often described as a moderate Republican, generally pro-choice -- which seems to be the key defining social test for moderates vs. conservatives. She is passionate in her support of oil and gas development in Alaska and has lately been sticking up for Shell and BP with the Obama administration, fighting one-size-fits-all restrictions the Interior Department has placed on all offshore development following the Gulf of Mexico oil spill.

In a recent interview, Murkowski pegged the crafting of a national energy policy and the ability of Alaska to develop our natural resources as "the biggest challenge that we face."

President Barack Obama and his administration appear opposed to energy development that Alaska depends on and the Gulf spill has opened the door for more "impediments" for future development, not only on and off the North Slope but in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, she said.

Murkowski noted that she has the personal cell phone number of Interior Secretary Ken Salazar and he has hers, and that she thinks does listen to and respect her views when it comes to energy and Alaska.