Murkowski senate choice: time will tell

Frontiersman editorial board

Frank Murkowski's choice of his daughter to fill his vacant senate seat has received mixed reviews around the state. That's to be expected, but the fact that the ambivalence is non-partisan is what's interesting.

Lisa seems to have made friends and enemies on both sides of the aisle -- and the enemies seem to come largely from the extremities. A sign, perhaps, that Lisa Murkowski is a moderate, or perhaps that she simply approaches issues with both eyes open rather than with just the right or the left.

The new senator supported reasonable tax increases in Alaska, but opposes abortion. She also, like her father, supports the opening of ANWR to oil exploration, and she supports other expanded uses of Alaska's resources.

Those are issues that are sure to raise eyebrows on the far right and the far left. In truth and fairness, any appointment Murkowski made would have received mixed reviews.

Democrats would likely have been at least a little disappointed with just about any Murkowski decision, and Republicans who felt slighted would have grumbled, as well.

The thing that makes this decision more volatile is the fact that Murkowski chose his daughter. Whether nepotism is at the heart of the decision or not, the question was bound to be raised. Like so many questions that are largely politically motivated, its life expectancy will depend almost completely upon Lisa Murkowski's performance in the senate.

In the end, that's all that should matter. When she faces the voters for the first time, it's her performance they will weigh, not her lineage.

No matter how she made her way to the senate, it's how she navigates her way through it that will hopefully guide voters to either confirm her father's decision or reject it.

There are some problems with this appointment that can be assessed now, however. Why did it take so long, and why were Alaskans kept in the dark about who the short-list candidates were? It did seem, in the end, that Murkowski had made up his mind well before the decision was made.

Because there was little talk about who was on the list, and what the criteria would be, we're still left to wonder what the process, if there was one, entailed. The voters will eventually get to weigh in on this decision, and hopefully the Murkowski administration will keep us more informed on future ones.