Miller Concedes – Now What?
Happy New Year, Mudflatters. The Mudflats is slowly returning from its hiatus… Of course, I’d never want to come back and all of a sudden just bonk you on the head with a large cast iron skillet, but sometimes we don’t get what we want. This is one of those times. Over the weekend, there was a big development in Joe Miller’s legal pursuit to clarify election law, and demand a complete hand reconciliation of the Alaska vote count. Our Voices from the Flats contributor, and publisher of The Brad Blog has been following the case closely and has written a…
The Scallion Speaks – Murkowski Completes Sale of Senate Seat to Native Corps.
Many of you are undoubtedly fans of the site The Onion. In that great spirit of political satire, please welcome a contribution from Mudflatter Publius. We present: The Scallion MURKOWSKI COMPLETES SALE OF SENATE SEAT TO NATIVE CORPORATIONS A Commentary by Publius Sen. Lisa Murkowski today announced the friendly takeover of her Senate seat by Alaska Native corporations is now officially complete. The takeover, launched shortly after her loss in the Republican primary to Joe Miller, was accomplished at the bargain price of $1.75 million. The deal was financed through a Native corporation joint-venture known as Alaskans Standing Together. The…
Hand Count Coming in the Alaska Senate Race?
Watch the latest video at video.foxnews.com Here’s the latest information on the Alaska Senate race. Looks like we’re headed for the most important step – a full hand recount of all the ballots! It’s a good day for election integrity when that happens. If anyone still needs convincing, check out the must-read post from Brad Friedman who has been dogged on this issue for a very long time, but staunchly stands on the side of the process, not the candidate. He has a very good flak jacket. If the issue of election integrity is close to your heart as it…
Murkowski & Begich – A Tale of Two Senators (and some guy from San Francisco)
It was a busy week last week. The giant metal gears in Washington D.C. were busy grinding up the hopes and expectations of those who voted for the President in 2008. And then, just as suddenly, something hopeful started to happen. Alaska’s story of the last week is one of the more interesting ones. We are the only state in the union that has not had its 2010 Senate election results certified. Joe Miller, who is raising legal challenges to the apparent write-in victory of incumbent Lisa Murkowski, still has several courses of action he can take. We’ll know Tuesday whether…
State Court Rules Against Joe Miller in Election Suit (But it ain't over yet…)
In the battle of Miller v. State of AK v. Murkowski v. Voter Intent v. Election Integrity, the next bell has sounded. Today Superior Court Judge William Carey ruled against Joe Miller on all counts in his suit against the state. Carey stated that he saw no evidence of election fraud, and allowed the state to consider voter intent in casting ballots. Part of Miller’s suit suggested that any ballot not perfectly spelled for Murkowski should be disallowed, stating that the state law was very clear on that point. It all boiled down (on that point) to what the word…
Cookies for Cholera? Sarah Palin Travels to Haiti.
Haven’t they suffered enough? Sarah Palin will be putting her little-used passport to work, traveling to Haiti. Yes, her old buddy Franklin Graham will accompany her on her trip. You all may remember the last time this dynamic duo visited the less-fortunate, they traveled to Western Alaska on Graham’s private jet with a one-time delivery of food boxes, stuffed with religious leaflets. And not only that, but Sarah herself brought a plate of home-baked cookies, in response to a crisis in which residents of rural communities had been left to make the horrible choice of whether they would keep their…
America by Heart – Chapter 7, The Indispensable Support of Freedom
This was a sneaky one. I read the title of the chapter thinking it might be anything. Turns out that the hidden message of this chapter is religion. We have hit the “faith” part of “Family, Faith and Flag.” Although (spoiler alert) the next chapter is called “I Hear America Praying” so we might be in for two scoops of religion in this Palin-style crap cone. Let’s get right to it. Page 181 Little Sarah had a transcendant experience when she was eleven years old. She walked out of the cabin and things seemed different when she looked at the mountains….
Why Won't Joe Miller Concede? (Answer: It Doesn't Matter)
Alaska’s Democratic Senator Mark Begich made a statement yesterday that was covered in Politico and the Anchorage Daily News, calling for Joe Miller to abandon his legal challenges to the U.S. Senate election that has Lisa Murkowski unofficially declared by herself and the Associated Press as the winner of the race. “It is time for Joe Miller to put Alaska interests ahead of personal ambition and allow the state of Alaska to certify Lisa Murkowski as the winner,” Begich said. “Without both senators, Alaska’s interests will be at risk on critical issues from energy development to job creation and reducing…
The Mystery of Joe Miller and the Vanishing Emails.
Sounds like an awesome new Hardy Boys book, but alas… it’s just the latest chapter in the fiasco of Alaska politics. The nation is still keenly aware that Joe Miller has not conceded the senate race to Lisa Murkowski. It’s like Coleman vs. Franken in the 2008 Minnesota senate race – only it’s more like Coleman vs. Coleman. And while moderates and progressives are no fans of Joe Miller, a full hand count reconciliation of a state-wide election is a result many completely support. We’ve needed it for a long time. That said, Joe Miller has other problems than people…
Commissioners to APOC Staff: Try Again.
Some of you have been following the saga here on Mudflats about my APOC complaint against Alaska House District 5 Representative William Thomas, Jr. (R-Haines) and his re-election campaign. The complaint (plus amendment) deals with 17 ads placed and designed by campaign Deputy Treasurer James Studley and charged to various Haines businesses. My complaint asserts that they should be considered illegal campaign ads in total, either illegal in-kind contributions because some of them were paid for by corporations, or illegal independent expenditures because they were coordinated with Studley as well as others campaign staff. We left the story at the…