There's no feud like an old feud!

.
.
“As a presidential nominee, as a candidate, I’m looking for somebody that has a breadth of experience, not only within government, but just truly more a worldly approach,” ... “And I don’t think that Sarah Palin has that.” -- Senate candidate (and sort of incumbent) Lisa Murkowski, renewing her ongoing, feu, er, debate, with the Mama Grizzly herself Sarah Palin.

Much has been made of some of the success of the American Tea Party victories, with former Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin taking some of the accolades for their entry into the House of Representatives and US Senate in this electoral cycle.

But while the Mama Grizzly takes her bows, some of the more interesting fallout from Tuesday's American mid term elections comes from across our Northern frontier with the results of the Senate race in Palin's home turf of Alaska.

It's in the final frontier, a place where politics seems a little more hard knuckle than most,  and where it appears that Lisa Murkowski, the Ketchikan born daughter of Frank Murkowski the long time Republican and former  Governor of the state, who first appointed her (with no shortage of controversy) to the job in 2002, may yet win the day.

Murkowski a candidate who won election in 2004, yet found herself  bounced off the GOP slate in Alaska this time around (thanks to a bit more than an assist to Mrs. Palin), will seemingly regain her seat as an Independent ( but clearly aligned with the Republicans) thanks to a massive write in campaign to re-elect her.

In the Alaska Senate race, Murkowski seemingly got her message across and Alaskans practiced their spelling to the letter to make sure that M U R K O W S K I appeared on at least 41 per cent of the ballots, besting the Republican and Palin endorsed candidate Joe Miller, who received but 34  per cent.

The vote count won't begin until November 10th, and already there are more lawyers seemingly involved than vote counters, with the Miller forces apparently set to make sure that the letter of spelling law on the ballots is followed and not the  interpretation of the ballot as the the court seems to have outlined.

Unless ruled otherwise, the Miller forces believe each ballot will have to correctly spell out Murkowski's name, any variation which while suggestive of that name but not correctly spelled, will apparently not be allowed should the Miller forces prevail.

Needless to say, we imagine that Ms. Murkowski is hoping that any money she delivered towards Alaska's education system during her terms of office went towards the English department, with particular attention paid to the task of spelling.

While that drama plays out, Ms. Murkowski clearly is ready for a little political payback of her own for the Tea Party's spiritual and most outspoken leader, clearly outlining her disdain for the prospect of Mrs. Palin even entertaining a run for President in 2012, let alone seeking a nomination.

Setting the stage for the continuation of one of the great political feuds of our times and perhaps one of the most intriguing of feuds in American politics.

In a state known for its cold climate, in politics it seems the old axiom is true, revenge truly is best served cold. And this revenge cycle goes back more than a few years now.

This winter, like most will be cold in Alaska, but colder still will be relations between the Murkowski's and the Palin's, making for a most interesting lead up to the soon to start preliminary steps in the 2012 election cycle.

You can examine some of the background behind the animosity between Mrs. Palin and Ms. Murkowski below.


National Post-- Alaska rebuke curdles Palin’s Tea Party triumph
Slate-- So, How'd the Female Candidates Do?
Huffington Post-- Still No Clear Winner in the Alaska Senate Race, But Murkowski Widens Lead 
CNN International-- Alaska Senate race could be 'highest stakes spelling bee' in politics
NPR Radio-- Alaska's Contentious Senate Race Undecided