Karen Tumulty at the Washington Post:

“We are all afraid,” Murkowski said Monday at an event in Anchorage. “It’s quite a statement. But we are in a time and a place where — I don’t know — I certainly have not been here before. And I’ll tell you, I’m oftentimes very anxious myself about using my voice, because retaliation is real. And that’s not right.”

An acknowledgment of the obvious, to be sure. But a video of her comments has gone viral since it was posted by the Anchorage Daily News. Which raises the question: Why aren’t more Republicans breaking with a White House that has such little regard for the rule of law?

Though her willingness to break from the pack is a reflection of the senator’s own character, at least part of the answer also lies in the fact that Murkowski does not have to compete in aRepublican primary to win reelection.

That’s because Alaska elects its lawmakers by ranked-choice voting, which reduces the influence of extremists in both parties.