Mr. Wrong is Right, and Other Strange Tales from the Alaska Senate Rabbit Hole
We should all be used to it by now. Alaska politics will turn into something far more complicated than we believed was possible. The Corrupt Bastards Club, the Ted Stevens trial, the Don Young Coconut Road fiasco, some half-term governor run amok in the Lower 48, and now this – the Alaska Senate race of 2010. It’s always interesting when you find yourself with a strange bedfellow. That happened quite a bit when Palin had the VP nomination. People who were following the race from Alaska will remember that there were local Republicans a-plenty who wrote some really great scathing…
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….
M-U-R-K-O-W-S-K-I v. The Letter of the Law – Joe Miller Sues!
One of the two Republican attorneys vying for the U.S. Senate seat in Alaska is suing. (Hint: It’s the one with the half-beard, not the one who failed the Bar exam four times) Yes, Joe Miller filed a lawsuit today, just hours before the write-in ballots are due to be counted in Juneau. What he wants, he says, is for the state to follow “the letter of the law” when determining which write-in ballots should count, and which ones should be chucked. Miller’s attorney, Thomas Van Flein, said the campaign is seeking a hearing on the matter as early as…
An Open Letter to Lisa Murkowski
By Elstun Lauesen Dear Senator Murkowski, Congratulations. You made history. You persuaded 10s of thousands of Democrats and Independents who otherwise would have voted for Scott McAdams to write you in. We will see what the final count is, but it appears that your margin is substantial and may well carry you forward for another six-year term. One of the persistent arguments that we heard from your supporters during the campaign was that you were going to be independent, because the Party leadership ‘threw you under the bus’ (though it is difficult to see how supporting the nominee of the…
The Alaska Senate Race – Round Two. Ding!
Here’s a quick update on the Alaska Senate Race for those of you still playing along at home. As it stands right now “Write-In Candidate” is 13,439 votes ahead of Joe Miller. We don’t know how many are actually for Lisa Murkowski, but we can presume it’s a large percent somewhere in the neighborhood of all of them. How many will be thrown out because of error? History tells us about 7%. What kind of spelling deviations will still be allowed? Where is the thin bright line between voter intent, and close but no cigar? What happens for people who write…
Oyster Roundup
~Thick and fast they came at last, and more, and more, and more! Neighbors and Cupcakes and Bears – Oh, my! For the faint of heart, and the thin of stomach lining, the ADN’s Julia O’Malley got a peek at the first episode of Sarah Palin’s Alaska, and she watched it so you don’t have to. Between carrying on about the neighbor, and trying to shoo boys out of Willow’s room, you can get all the details about what it takes to go fishing in “bear country.” Just to clarify what you may already be thinking – yes, all of…
Alaska’s View from the Hill With Senator Mark Begich
Once again Matt Felling of KTVA sits down for a conversation with a member of Alaska’s congressional delegation. This time it’s Senator Mark Begich (D). He remarks about the surprisingly low turnout in Alaska’s election and the large number of Alaskans who remained undecided until the last moment. He’s calling the race for Murkowski. “I think she’ll have a small drop off, maybe 5 percent, maybe 10 percent — what you see is an end result of an election where she still wins.” He talked about how the money given to Murkowski by Native Corporations had impact, and has some…
Live Q&A at The Washington Post
I’ll be online today, Wednesday November 3, at 2 p.m. Eastern Time, 11 a.m. Pacific, 10 a.m. Alaska time to take questions on the election results in Alaska, and how they will impact the state and the rest of the country. You can submit questions for the queue HERE. I look forward to discusssing what is perhaps the most interesting senate race in the country. It is certainly the most complicated. ***UPDATE*** I got some great questions from Washington Post readers today. I didn’t get the chance to answer them all, but you can read the Q&A by clicking HERE.
Voices from the Flats – New Poll Shows Alaskans Must Vote Their Values AND Their Fears!
By Elstun Lauesen In an alternate Universe, Lisa Murkowski listened to her wiser angels and did not run a write in. She then pursued a higher calling, along the lines of post-politician Fran Ulmer, and Lisa found a sinecure in an academic bunker and lived happily ever after. In that same alternate universe, Scott McAdams faced off with Joe Miller, conducted an effective persuasion and attack campaign and went on to win the U.S. Senate seat by roughly the combined anti-Miller vote of THIS universe, beating Miller 63% to 37%. McAdams goes on to become a great U.S. Senator and…
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…