Murkowski is considered a moderate Republican. She is one of ten Republican Senators who refused to commit to Bill Frist's "nuclear option" to end judicial filibusters, and she supported H.R. 810, the Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act, which would have permitted the Secretary of Health and Human Services to support taxpayer-funded research on embryonic stem cells. Congress passed the bill, but President George W. Bush vetoed it.

Murkowski voted with Democrats and moderate Republicans on H.R. 976, which called for the expansion of the State Children's Health Insurance Program (SCHIP) to provide coverage for additional uninsured children.^[12] That bill passed both the House and the Senate, but was vetoed by President Bush. She supports health care reforms in her native state as well, largely because health care costs for Alaskans are up to 70% higher than costs in the contiguous United States.

On abortion, Murkowski has a "mixed record" rating (50%) from the National Right to Life Committee, and a pro-life rating (14%) from the National Abortion Rights Action League (NARAL).^[13]

On voting rights, Murkowski opposes bringing the DC Voting Rights Act to the floor.

On environmental issues, for 2003, the liberal watchdog group League of Conservation Voters rated Murkowski at 11% on environmental issues: "During her short time in the Senate," Murkowski, who chairs the Senate Energy and Natural Resources Subcommittee on Water and Power, "has thrown her support behind efforts to drill for oil in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR)."^[14] For the 109th Congress, Republicans for Environmental Protection, a group dedicated to environmental causes, issued Murkowski a rating of 2%, noting that in 2006 she voted:^[15]

• against S.C. Resolution 83, intended to bolster energy security and lower energy-related environmental impacts
• against an amendment to S. 728 which would make the Army Corps of Engineers more accountable for the environmental and economic impacts of their projects
• for oil drilling in ANWR
• for offshore oil and gas drilling.

Most Democrats and some moderate Republicans oppose Arctic oil drilling because of concerns about environmental damage. Murkowski believes that recent technological developments make it possible to drill without incurring such damage.^[16]

On December 14, 2007, the Senate passed an energy bill that, among other things, encourages the use of renewable fuels. The legislation, which Murkowski supported, raises the renewable fuels standard to require the production of 36 billion gallons of biofuels by 2022, compared to the current production of about 7 billion gallons a year.^[17]

Most recently, Murkowski introduced a bill that would block the Environmental Protection Agency from limiting the amount of greenhouse gases that major industries can produce, effectively nullifying the EPA's authority to regulate gases that contribute to global climate change. In a statement, Murkowski said, "We cannot turn a blind eye to the EPA’s efforts to impose back-door climate regulations with no input from Congress."^[18]

In the wake of the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill, Murkowski blocked a bill introduced into the senate that raised the cap on the financial liability an oil company has for oil spills. The bill, introduced for unanimous approval, would take the burden off of tax payers to clean up oil spills and onto the oil companies (raising the cap from $75 million to $10 billion).^[19]

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Seem like a social moderate and fiscal conservative. I dont like her 2010 vote on the blocking raising the liability cap for oil companies.  And, there may be other specific votes that I dont like... but all in all, she has a fairly decent moderate position for a Republican.  That's a profile worth supporting, I'd think.

Indy run is not possible in Alaska - they have a sour loser law - to prevent loser from registering as indy they want their Indy to register BEFORE the primaries.  So, he would have to pick another party to endorse her candidacy... which could happen - there are plenty of other parties.

Anyways, Joe Miller is up against Scott McAdams who was a mayor of a small town and won the DNP primary handily. So, that race now becomes hot.