Murkowski first has to get through the Aug. 24 primary. Her leading opponent is former state Senate President Mike Miller, who says Murkowski is not conservative enough and calls it a "scandal" that her father appointed her to the Senate.

Miller, a former state senator who plays to the conservative wing of the state party, said several Republican stalwarts asked him to consider a run against the moderate Murkowski. He said a Murkowski-Knowles contest might turn into a referendum on nepotism in this Republican state. While Miller said he would not raise the nepotism issue if he decides to run against Murkowski, "it's out there, let's face it."

When he became governor of Alaska, Frank Murkowski had to decide who should finish the two years remaining on his U.S. Senate term. After a supposedly exhaustive search, Murkowski appointed his daughter, Lisa Murkowski. Although the first U.S. senator appointed by a father, Lisa Murkowski is hardly unique among the children and spouses of politicians. For example, Vice President Cheney's daughter, Elizabeth Cheney, and his son-in-law, Philip Perry, were appointed by President Bush to high-level positions: deputy assistant secretary of State and chief counsel for the Office of Management and Budget, respectively. Nepotism is on the rise, both in Washington and across the nation. After decades of decreases in nepotism under good government laws, there has not just been a resurgence in the practice, but also a new boldness, if not defiance, among government officials using their offices to benefit their family members.

In Alaska, which has not elected a Democratic senator in 30 years, Knowles is locked in a tight race with Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski, who was appointed to her seat by her father, former Sen. Frank Murkowski, who is now Alaska?s governor. The charge of nepotism has weighed on Murkowski?s chances of winning the seat in her own right.

But ground zero for American nepotism will be the November election, when voters will get to decide how they feel about the proliferation of family ties in our governing class. Already nepotism watchers have singled out Lisa Murkowski as the poster child for creeping dynasticism in American life. Lisa?s father, Alaska Republican Frank Murkowski, named her to his Senate seat when he became governor in 2002. The watchdogs of democracy have declared her appointment a grave threat to the republic. Even many Republicans are queasy.

And it is Gov. Frank Murkowski's paternal instincts more than his hardball ones that have landed him (and the GOP) in hot water in Alaska. Murkowski, it will be recalled, was elected governor last fall, and in that capacity was permitted by law to fill the Senate seat he had vacated. He chose his daughter Lisa, who is unpopular (partly for her abortion stand) among the very conservatives who were her father's base. In fact, she stands a chance next year of losing a hitherto invincible Republican seat. Dad Murkowski must be proud, but Governor Murkowski surely doesn't need this headache. In this sense, Dad or Governor (but let's just call him Frank) Murkowski has done what Americans hypocritically tell pollsters they actually want: He has put principle above politics. What principle? A variant of the one E.M. Forster enunciated on patriotism: "If I had to choose between helping my country and helping my family, I hope I should have the guts to help . . . em . . . Junior."

A bill to prevent Alaska governors from making any more long-term appointments to the U.S. Senate became law over the weekend, without Gov. Frank Murkowski's signature. The law passed after Murkowski appointed his daughter, then state Rep. Lisa Murkowski, to fill his Senate seat following his election as governor in 2002. The appointment led to cries of nepotism from some Alaskans. The new law calls for a special election to be held 60 to 90 days after a Senate vacancy occurs. Previously, the governor could appoint a new senator if less than 21/2 years remained in the departing lawmaker's term. The new law still allows the governor to appoint a replacement, but the replacement would serve only until the special election could be held. The governor's spokesman, John Manly, said Murkowski did not say why he did not sign the bill. "I'm not aware of any position we took on it," Manly said. The governor has 20 days to sign or veto a bill once it reaches his desk. If he takes no action, the bill becomes law without his signature. Legislators passed the law earlier this year after it became clear that a measure to do about the same thing had gathered enough signatures to go on the November ballot. Sen. Murkowski faces three Republican challengers in the August primary. If she wins, she will run against Democratic former Gov. Tony Knowles in November.