Silly women, never wanting bad photographs of themselves to be put on the Internet.
That’s the impression Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, got from Sen. Mark Begich, D-Alaska, when the incumbent claimed the only reason Murkowski didn’t like his television ads was because of the photo.
“She didn’t like the photo. That’s was what the letter was about, Dan,” Begich said when asked by his opponent Dan Sullivan during a debate about Murkowski’s insistence that he remove a television ad featuring her image.
The line drew laughter from the debate audience.
Murkowski is not happy about Begich’s reasoning, calling his joke during the debate “belittling.”
“I think I made very clear that I had objections, serious objections, to how that ad portrayed our relationship,” Murkowski said over the weekend. “It was an implied endorsement, and I didn’t appreciate that. I think Begich knows where I stand in this race.”
The ad that is causing all the problems features a photo of Murkowski standing next to Begich while a supporter says the two vote the same on 80 percent of their votes. Murkowski believes the ad implies that she endorses Begich, which she doesn’t.
Murkowski has actually endorsed Sullivan.
Begich currently trails Sullivan by an average of 5 points, according to the Ace of Spades Decision Desk polling average. Murkowski has an approval rating of 46 percent in Alaska, with 39 percent disapproving, among likely voters. Meanwhile, far more Alaskans (51 percent) disapprove of Begich’s performance than approve (42 percent), so it makes sense he would want to tie himself to a more popular politician in the state.
