(Thumbnail Image: Newsweek / Bill Roth)

BY CHRISTINA HARTMAN & ASHLEE GLASTETTER

MURKOWSKI: “Based on where we are right now, I don’t see a scenario where the primary will turn out in my favor. And that is a reality that is before me at this point in time.” (CBS)

Incumbent Senator Lisa Murkowski conceded the Republican primary race more than one week after Alaskan voters cast their ballots.

CNN producer Shannon Travis says Murkowski’s loss is Miller’s gain, and chalks up his win to some high-profile support.

REPORTER: “Joe Miller, you’ll remember, is the Tea Party express candidate who, back in June, when the Tea Party express endorsed him, was a virtual unknown in this state. ... This will also be seen as a political victory for none other, Sarah Palin. Sarah Palin endorsed Joe Miller, back again when he had very little name ID. That earned a lot of local and national attention, so this will also be seen as Sarah Palin flexing her muscle once again.”

Murkowski is the seventh incumbent to lose a primary this election season, and The Christian Science Monitor says her loss could be a symptom of a bigger trend.

“...widespread voter dissatisfaction with the Washington ‘establishment’ has clearly been on display. … tea-party backed candidates also beat insider GOP favorites in the Kentucky and Nevada Senate primaries. ... Murkowski’s defeat also challenges the notion that 2010 will be the Year of the Republican Woman.”

But an article in US News and World Report says the reason behind Murkowski’s loss is she wasn’t conservative enough for Alaska voters, especially compared to opponent Joe Miller.

“She’s been an unrelenting supporter of oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge and big tax cuts. ... But she apparently was still just a bit too cooperative for Alaska Republican primary voters, who didn’t like her vote for the Wall Street bailout in 2008 ... In a Congress hampered by a Sharks vs. Jets standoff, Murkowski apparently just didn’t obstruct enough for angry Alaska primary voters...”

Alaska’s new Republican nominee says he’ll campaign on making Alaska less dependent on federal dollars. Anchorage NBC-affiliate KTUU looks ahead to the general election, talking to Democratic nominee Scott McAdams, who says that isn’t what voters want.

REPORTER: “It’s now Scott McAdams versus Miller. ... McAdams says voters will side with him, saying Miller’s feelings on cutting federal spending to the state aren’t realistic.”
MCADAMS: “The 1/3 of our state’s economy is based on federal spending. To say that we’re going to do away with that, I don’t think is in the interest of Alaskans. In fact I think it would bankrupt our state.”

Murkowski has not said whether she will endorse Miller. (SOC)