I wouldn't read to much into Alaska's 2012 trend. Keep in mind that Romney did horribly with even some traditional Republican minority groups and he especially tanked amongst Alaskan natives if I recall correctly. Even if the state does shift more towards the center, there is enough between the Mat-su, Fairbanks and the like to keep the state in the Republican collumn.
I suppose Alaska is handled by surrogates and local organization. Ironically it is probably one of the few states were retail politics is more effect precisely because of how disbursed it is. It is also a state where money isn't worth all that much since the lack of concentration and Anchorage cannot be that expensive to advertise in. You could be competative if you have a small plane and $50,000 (okay, maybe $100,000
). That is probably why it was so easy for Miller to beat Murkowski in the primary and conversely for Murkowski to win to the general election as a write-in.
