Sullivan Goes ‘Fog of War,’ Then Flees
Looks like our Republican “Alaskan” Senate candidate has been watching The Fog of War, and taking a little advice from former Secretary of Defense Robert MacNamara.
“Never answer the question that is asked of you. Answer the question that you wish had been asked of you.”
Savvy advice when one’s actual answer might be harmful to one’s political prospects.
The question asked of the candidate by KTUU’s Grace Jang was pretty straightforward:
“How much backing are you getting from the Koch brothers?”
One would expect, perhaps, a numerical answer of some kind, like “millions of dollars.” Percentages maybe. Or a descriptor indicating size.
Instead, one would be treated to one of the most fantastically awkward moments of the campaign season so far, followed by a handler dragging Sullivan away from the interview by his elbow, much to Sullivan’s relief.
“….(super long pause)……..Look, um…. you know, we’re gettin’… we’re gettin’ , we’re gettin’ broad-based support from Alaskans first and foremost. That’s where I’m focused on in this race, and gettin’ out the message with regards to… um… what we’re doing in this race.
From this, we can cleverly reverse engineer Sullivan’s response and find out what question he wished he had been asked. It might go something like this:
“Excuse me, Mr. Sullivan? Can you pause for a really long time, and kind of grin inappropriately, and then tell us what kind of support you are getting from Alaskans? Is that what you’re focused on? And what about the message regarding what you’re’ doing in this race? Is that something you want to get out?”
Sullivan, it should be noted, is a master of the long pause. Other long pause favorites from primary debates include his responses to:
“Did you write in Lisa Murkowski?” (Long pause, prod by Joe Miller urging him to tell the truth) No.
“Will you be retiring in Alaska?” (Long pause……..) Yes.
and “Have you ever been arrested?” (Long pause…….) “No. I had to think about it.”
And just for grins, here’s some bonus material from the fisheries debate. You remember, the one Sullivan was originally going to blow off? We wrote about it HERE.
Sullivan campaign manager Ben Sparks told debate organizers that Sullivan does not have a prior commitment keeping him from the fisheries debate, but that “he is just too busy with all the traveling he is doing.”
That one.
After pressure was brought to bear, Sullivan showed up. And now we know why he didn’t want to.
Fish iz hard…
“It’s very clear that Dan Sullivan is not up on the issues that affect our fisheries here, and it was embarrassing,” said an attendee.
I won’t spoil the rest, but it’s pretty great.
And here’s a nice Republican from South Carolina, with some thoughts on Native Americans.
I guess I shouldn’t have been shocked, but…but…
Over at Juanita Jeans Tawd K is saying that people with ebola should be napalmed,including Dallas,Texas. Sounds like another one hijacking MLK’s message.
I watched the video and was sitting here thinking that Dan Sullivan sounds every bit as knowledgeable as Sarah Palin, when the next video began and I’m seeing an Australian girl from my home town reporting on Alaska politics.
Oi, oi, oi!
Alaskan Republicans would vote for the corpse of Ronald Reagan if it was the GOP nominee.
Because they’re such well-informed, rational thinkers.
and yet, he’s still ahead in the polls?
That speaks volumes about the voting populace of Alaska. They are dumbing themselves down to single letter issues. If the candidate has an R behind his/her name,well that is just all we need to know to vote for them.
we do have a buncha doofs but we also have a lot of folks without phones. Have just spent 2 Saturdays helping build call lists .
I know so many of the people no one can call and poll in my town. Knocking doors is a way better way to get a feel for what folks think here.
You mean to tell me that Obummer didn’t hand out free Obama phones and new SUVs and SNAP cards to all Liberals in Alaska? That doesn’t jibe with fake noize talking points. Now I is rilly cornfused. Color me a maize duh(that is one word). 🙂
A Sullivan support come up to the door and she said ” I just wanted to know if you support Sullivan or are undecided?” I said I am voting for Mark. She literally stomped off in a huff.
😀
good on you!
tired of the Sullivan or undecided crap myself.
Go Mark Begich!!!
Yeah… well.
Mr Sullivan doesn’t do much better when he has time to think and write stuff down.
His op-ed in the Dispatch recently was all about the frickin Middle East and President Obama’s policies there.
Like em, hate em, the dude has 2 more years in office, Ohio Dan.Congress has done damn all except obstruct this President and as best as I can see you are proposing to do the same- except you are calling it “engaging”.
Sure , hon.
Meanwhile, Alaska has some super serious federal issues and you can’t hardly be bothered to sort them out, let alone come up with policy ideas to solve them. All I see and hear are vague oneliner sound tough crap.
Your federalgubbmintoverreach record is broken sir. You have played it til it wore grooves clear through your cheap plastic policy maunderings.
Get off it.
Sullivan would Ok Pebble Mine in a heartbeat, if his record as managing Alaskans natural resources is any indication. Bristol Bay needs to be taken off the table, PERMANENTLY. And the only way to do that, is to declare the area a national monument. while ANILCA Limits new monuments to 5000 acres, it says nothing about expanding existing monuments. Set aside 5000 acres now, then set aside the rest later.
All I’ve ever heard from him has been the standard Repub lines like: small government, etc., etc.
And he has flubbed simple questions badly.
It leads one to believe he is not very smart.
Thus, GOP voters love him ’cause he is just like them.
Well, you know, thinking is, um, hard.
It’s more fun to go home to Ohio and raise funds than it is to figure out Alaska issues and actually have a position.
He does have a stellar academic record, graduating Magna Cum Laude from Harvard Law as he simultaneously got a Masters in International Relations from Georgetown but good lord he does come off as dumb. It’s part of the phenomenon that is America. Very intelligent people being dumbed down by ideology so much that they have to give up the rational, reasoning function of their brains that served them so well in academia for the emotional and reactionary impulses they need to survive in the GOP world where truth is subservient to party platform.