Senator, let me just start there. This poll is remarkable. It shows you as a right-in candidate at 37-37.

But you know, and I'm sure all your advisors are telling you, a number is one thing.

It's tough when people have to not only fill in that little circle and spell out your name,

how do you get from a dead heat today to victory on Election Day?

I, like many people at the time, did not always spell the name Murkowski, right, the first time I tried, but after Lisa Murkowski lost to a Tea Party candidate in an upset primary in

2010, she made sure everyone would learn.

Let me tell you, you tell Alaskans that we can't do something.

And by golly, our backbone just gets a little bit stiffer, and we say, of course we can.

You don't think that we can't fill in an oval and write in a name.

This was back when it was said that the Tea Party and politicians like Sarah Palin were the future.

And incumbents, like Senator Murkowski, were going the way of the dodo.

If the Republicans ignore the message of the Tea Party, do you see a civil war in the party?

This is an interview with John King. It took place around 15 years ago.

I want to be able to deal with those in a manner that is realistic, pragmatic, thoughtful,

reaches across the lines, works to build consensus.

Consensus should not be a dirty word in the political process.

In the end, they were both right.

Alaskans were convinced by her historic right-in campaign,

and Murkowski won that 2010 Senate race with a message of pragmatism and consensus building.

At the same time, the Republican Party did enter a philosophical civil war

that purged most other consensus builders from the party.

It culminated in the triumph of Donald Trump and his brand of pugilistic politics.

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