Excellent GOPer corralling by Bob and the Buckley fellows. But contra the suggestion by some that the decision to keep Murkowski in place is insignificant — that’s not how Lisa Murkowski sees it.

Murkowski said Republican senators “recognize, ‘You know what? Lisa might be a risk-taker, but she’s got a real shot at coming back here, and it only makes good sense that we would not want to be so punitive that she would be discouraged by the actions of her colleagues,’ “ she said in a Q-and-A with Time magazine published Friday…

It’s bad enough Murkowski paints a picture of Senate Republicans hedging their bets. Worse still is what she says next, calling to mind a chummy, cliquish Senate caucus that puts country-club norms ahead of principle:

“This was an affirmation of the relationship that I’ve built over the past eight years with the people that I work with,” she said. “As difficult as the politics are, as awkward as the situation is, I had really believed that my friends would recognize that what I’m doing is for my state.”

There couldn’t be a worse time to broadcast that message.

Had the Republicans stripped Murkowski of her ranking membership on the Senate’s energy committee, it would have undermined the central argument of her write-in campaign — that Alaska’s economy can’t do without her clout. The decision to keep her in place has energy interests in Alaska hedging, and is undermining Miller’s ability to raise money:

Murkowski’s campaign coffers are healthy, but some energy companies key to the Alaskan economy, which had given generously to Murkowski before she lost the primary, have been weighing whether to donate to Miller and help him raise funds. “I honestly don’t think that’s going to mean much one way or another,” one energy industry official said of the decision to allow Murkowski to keep her committee leadership post. The real question would be how hard Senate Republican leaders push companies to help Miller, the official said. One Alaskan political consultant, however, noted that Murkowski’s argument that the state cannot afford to lose her clout in Washington could have been undermined if she had been booted from her position on the Energy panel. “Miller’s been telling everyone that she’s lost all of her power in D.C.,” said Jean Craciun, an Alaska-based consultant. “Well, now that’s not true.”