Bad Guy v. Bad Guy in Battle for Good. Alaska’s Election Under the Magnifying Glass.
Well, goodness me. The Alaska Senate race has certainly summoned an interesting cast of, um… ‘characters’ to the far north. First, we learned that Lisa Murkowski has employed the services of a certain Ben Ginsberg for her legal team dealing with the vote count. If you haven’t heard of Benjamin Ginsberg, let me illuminate you. He was one of Bush’s attorneys working on the Florida recount in 2000. He was also one of the attorneys behind Swiftboat Veterans for Truth, the 527 group whose purpose was to assassinate the character of John Kerry. This is who’s in Lisa Murkowski’s corner….
Voices from the Flats – Kill Moloch.
The Urgency of Campaign Finance Reform: A Meditation on Election Day, 2010 by Elstun Lauesen Let me begin with a little Ginsberg: I saw the best minds of my generation destroyed by madness, starving hysterical naked, dragging themselves through the negro streets at dawn looking for an angry fix; Angel-headed hipsters burning for the ancient heavenly connection to the starry dynamo in the machinery of night. Yeah. Word up. Here’s what I see. I see the best candidates of my generation destroyed by other people’s madness; people who are well fed and well-dressed, driving through the paved exurbs and hillsides…
Lisa Murkowski: She’s changed, we haven’t.
The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) released their latest commercial for the benefit of Scott McAdams, describing Lisa Murkowski’s mischaracterization of her political stances: The video is great and the message is spot-on. This gives me the opportunity to talk about a piece of Senator Frank Murkowski’s history where we can see Lisa following in her dad’s footsteps. During the Rachel Maddow Show’s visit to Alaska, Lisa Murkowski discussed the time (back in the 80’s) that the Moral Majority took over the Republican Party (5:20 on the video): What she does NOT discuss is how her father, then Senator Frank…
Making History: Murkowski Candidacy Unites the AK Democratic Party & the GOP
Monday morning, I received an email press release that the Alaska Democratic Party was announcing that they would be joining the AK GOP in a lawsuit against the State of Alaska Division of Elections. The suit alleges that the Division of Elections is violating its own regulations (specifically 6 AAC 25.070(b)) by allowing voters to look at a list of write-in candidates with their names and political party affiliations: The DOE’s unprecedented listing and posting of Murkowski’s name violates Alaska law. The ADP filed the lawsuit seeking to prevent the State from illegally providing information about write-in candidates, to ensure that…
Voices from the Flats – AFN Diary: Day 3
AFN Diary: Day 3. Stop the Bullying and Let’s Be Family Again! By Elstun Lauesen This morning the long list of Resolutions were considered by the delegates and the Chairman of the AFN Resolutions Committee, Trefon Angasan asked if there were other matters to be brought before the body. A young man from Ft. Yukon, Edward Alexander, who looks to be in his mid-20s, took to the microphone on the floor and made a motion to suspend the rules. Immediately another delegate seconded it. Mr. Alexander announced that he wished to introduce a resolution asking for certain changes to the…
Voices from the Flats – Brad Friedman
AK DEMS: State Division of Elections Inappropriately Aiding Write-In Voters in U.S. Senate Contest. by Brad Friedman As you may know, the U.S. Senate race in Alaska between GOP nominee Joe Miller and Democratic nominee Scott McAdams, Mayor of Sitka, has been thrown into what’s quickly turning into a potential three-way toss-up with Sen. Lisa Murkowski’s write-in bid for the seat. She and her father have long been insider fixtures within Alaska’s political establishment, and so now both the state Democrats supporter McAdams and Miller’s campaign are accusing the Department of Elections, run by the state’s Republican Gubernatorial administration, of…
Lisa, Liar, Pants on Fire! Murkowski Makes False Claims About Endorsements.
Lisa Murkowski has been the first to complain about the other candidates lying. She says Joe Miller distorted her voting record (which he did), and she says that Scott McAdams lied about her voting record (which he didn’t). But Lisa Murkowski sent out a nice glossy colored mailer that went out to Alaska households and arrived in mailboxes across Anchorage this morning, and it was full of lies. Under a banner that said “Alaskan Democrats Who Are Voting for Lisa Murkowski – and not Scott McAdams” was a list of people who supposedly fit that category. This one was absolutely…
Voices from the Flats – An AFN Diary. Day One.
By Elstun Lauesen I will begin with the end of the suspense. Rumors had been hanging like streamers from the Carlson Center in Fairbanks, making the day enticing to the drama-addicted media from the far reaches of Boston and New York. The closeness of the U. S. Senate race has made Alaska interesting again. Would Joe Miller dare to show up at the Alaska Federation of Natives Convention being hosted by his hometown Convention and Visitor’s Bureau? Would the rumored dissidents from the Tribal rebel resistance blow the Federation Mothership sky high? Would the delegates (many informally expressing anger at…
More Early Voting Hanky-Panky. Poll Observers needed! (UPDATED w/ link)
You may remember this story from AKM on Tuesday: In Homer, apparently, reports were received that each booth had a written list of the write-in candidates posted. This is electioneering, and absolutely illegal. If you see anything irregular when you are early voting, please take a picture of it. The above picture is courtesy of KTVA’s Matt Felling from a message he put out on Twitter. The Alaska Democratic Party was sent this picture by an early voter in Homer who saw the list when he walked into the booth. Sure enough, the list was in all of the booths. …