In 2002, Lisa Murkowski was appointed to the Senate by her father, Frank Murkowski. Alaskan voters were so taken aback by this blatant self-dealing that the legislature passed a law preventing the governor from making a long-term appointment to the U.S. Senate. In 2006, Sarah Palin walloped Frank Murkowski by 31 points in the state’s Republican primary, and recently there’s been some speculation that Palin might try to take Lisa Murkowski’s Senate seat in 2010. Politico reports that Sen. Murkowski is telling Palin to back off: