When former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin first endorsed Joe Miller on June 2 in his race for the U.S. Senate seat against incumbent Sen. Lisa Murkowski, the tone of that endorsement could be described as civil. She was careful to make it less about Murkowski and more about Miller. Less about competence and more about competition. Less about personality and more about principle. In her Facebook note, which is how Palin does these things, she also made sure that she dispelled rumors of personal animus between herself and Murkowski.
"Though the media has tried to portray some sort of feud or bad blood between Lisa and myself, such is not the case," she wrote. "I've always wished her well, but it is my firm belief that we need a bold reformer who is not afraid to stand up to special interests and take on the tough challenges of our time." (**see below for background)
That was Sarah then. And to go back further, the Sarah a year ago went so far as to donate $5,000 to Murkowski through her PAC, the maximum she could have given.
But today is another day, as they say, and a new Facebook face emerges with a totally different tone. This one doesn't bother to talk about how she wishes Lisa well, or even about the value of competition. This one goes for the jugular. This one repeats every criticism leveled against Murkowski by Miller and the far right, makes note of the fact that Murkowski was "given her Senate seat by her father," and accuses Murkowski of talking "one way in the Last Frontier and then vote the opposite way in the Beltway." And that's just for starters.
In her note, she delights in repeating that the Huffington Post called Murkowski "center-right Democrat." (Side note: strange that she would call attention to that piece, as it was written by local lawyer Don Mitchell in a column about how upset Sarah was that Lisa got the Senate seat. That piece also says that Palin came across as "immature" and "uninformed," and the least impressive of any candidate interviewed by Frank for the seat. Read it all here. )