U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski said Monday that a bipartisan approach to governing is possible despite the political gridlock in Washington, D.C.
The moderate Alaska Republican is campaigning in Hawaii for former Gov. Linda Lingle’s Republican drive for U.S. Senate. Lingle, a moderate, has framed her campaign against U.S. Rep. Mazie Hirono, D-Hawaii, around a bipartisan theme.
"I think it’s critical for good governance," Murkowski said in an interview at Lingle’s campaign headquarters on Dillingham Boulevard. "Last I checked, the Republicans didn’t have the monopoly on good ideas, nor did the Democrats. Legislating, by its very definition, requires coming to agreement, forming a consensus amongst disparate interests and groups and approaches and philosophies.
"I think part of what you’re seeing with the gridlock in Washington, D.C., right now is you have folks lining up on either side of the political spectrum and saying, ‘It’s my way or the highway.’ And so, as a consequence, we don’t get anything done."
Murkowski won re-election through a write-in campaign in 2010 after she lost the Republican primary to a tea party-inspired attorney who had the support of former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin.
One of Hirono’s contentions is that Lingle, if elected, would be under pressure to vote with more conservative national Republicans. But Murkowski said national Republican leaders recognize that some GOP senators need to more closely reflect their home state’s politics.
"I think there is a recognition and an appreciation that a Republican senator from the South has a different constituency than a Republican from Alaska or a Republican from Hawaii or a Republican from Massachusetts," she said.
Hawaii and Alaska have had a political alliance in Washington since both became states in 1959, a partnership formed by U.S. Sen. Daniel Inouye, D-Hawaii, and the late U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens, R-Alaska. Hawaii and Alaska lawmakers often vote together on home-state-related issues to expand their influence.
Murkowski, for example, is one of the few Republicans to support Native Hawaiian federal recognition, viewing the issue as similar to tribal recognition for Alaska Natives.
"We are very unique, and some of that uniqueness helps us, but more often than not it presents challenges because people don’t really understand, they can’t relate to us," she said.
Betsy Lin, Hirono’s campaign manager, said Murkowski questioned Palin’s intellectual curiosity and leadership qualities in a 2010 interview about a potential Palin presidential campaign. Lingle had praised Palin’s leadership skills after Palin was nominated as the GOP’s vice presidential candidate in 2008.
Lin, in a statement, said that "while Palin’s own U.S. Senator has questioned Palin’s qualifications, Lingle told the world that she believed Palin was, in fact, qualified to be a heartbeat away from the presidency. History, as well as Murkowski, tells us that Lingle’s assessment was flat out wrong."
The Lingle campaign on Monday also welcomed the support of U.S. Rep. Don Young, R-Alaska, who had endorsed Hirono in the Democratic primary. Young released a letter that said Lingle has a "proven track record of working across the aisle to solve problems and working with members of both parties to improve the lives of all the people of Hawaii."
Retired Maj. Gen. Robert G.F. Lee, Lingle’s campaign manager, had a different assessment of Young after he endorsed Hirono in July. "It should be troubling to the people of Hawaii that Mazie Hirono’s first attempt to convey any example of bipartisanship is a video advertisement with one of the House of Representative’s most controversial members, who even Mazie’s fellow Democrats have criticized on a range of ethics and spending issues," he said at the time.
