Alaska Girls Kick Ass & Midterms Matter
If you live in Alaska, you’ve seen that bumper sticker a hundred times if you’ve seen it once. I wasn’t quite sure what to make of it when I arrived in the Great Land. As the years passed, I did things I’d never have done if I had stayed in east coast suburbia. I camped in bear country, and wolf country; I sailed in high seas in the Gulf of Alaska; traversed mountain passes with a baby on my back; almost tumbled into a gorge on a 3-wheeler; pulled up my share of halibut from the deep sea; had Thanksgiving in…
Obama!
Me: Hey, Republican! Would you like some delicious ice cream? Republican: Yes, I would. I love delicious ice cream. What kind? Me: What kind would you like? Republican: Hmmm… Do you have Rocky Road? Me: Yes! Would you like some delicious Rocky Road ice cream? Republican: Mmmmm. Yes, please. Me: Hey, did you know that Barack Obama also enjoys a nice bowl of Rocky Road ice cream? (buzzing short-circuit noise) Republican: I… I… I changed my mind and suddenly remembered that ice cream is from the devil! Me: Hmm. I think it’s a little too warm down there to make…
Money Machine Steamrolls Alaska
This week I received an email from a Republican friend. (Yes, I have those.) She requested a different kind of column from me this week. “Instead of adding to all the ugly, negative political comments out there why not a column about the economic stimulus this election is having on Alaska with all the Outside money coming into the state?” Really? Yeah! We have Outside money trying to get a guy elected that wants to get rid of Social Security! That’s the opposite of economic stimulus. So the short answer is, no. I won’t be riding that unicorn this week….
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…
Ohio Dan Gets Cocky, Goes to Ohio
There’s nothing like a couple polls giving you a slight edge in an Alaskan political race, to make the inexperienced Alaska politician feel a little cocky. U.S. Senate candidate Dan Sullivan has spend the entire election cycle so far dodging accusations he’s a carpetbagger from Ohio, who moved to Alaska for a Senate seat which will be purchased for him by the Koch brothers, and his wealthy family and friends in the Buckeye state. Sullivan turned up Sunday as the dreaded “empty chair” at a candidate forum that was attended by incumbent Senator Mark Begich, and Libertarian candidate Mark Fish. That’s two marks…
Carpetbagger Flees Fish
I’m guessing that Dan Sullivan was the kind of kid who “stayed home sick” when he forgot to study for a test. Because he just did that. He declined to attend the candidate debate on fisheries in Kodiak. That’s like declining to attend your phD dissertation, or declining to attend your wedding rehearsal dinner, or a Presidential candidate declining to attend the foreign policy debate. It isn’t done. The reason that isn’t done is because this is a candidate’s opportunity to prove he or she is credible. If you’re running for Senate, this is your big chance to prove that even…
Big Brother Feels Bad. Really.
Remember 1984? The book, not the year. You probably read it in high school. It’s a dystopian novel, published in 1949, that takes place in a world of perpetual manufactured war, state sponsored torture, omnipresent and intrusive government surveillance, and propaganda posing as news, all controlled by an elite and privileged “Inner Party” bent on squashing independent thinking and dissent in order to keep itself in power. The whole shebang is controlled by a powerful, merciless entity called “Big Brother,” who may or may not be just one person. No really, it’s just a novel. The hero of the story,…
Sullivan – The Deadliest Fail, Homer Edition
It’s almost become a sport now – like shooting fish in a barrel. In the primary debates, and now as we head into the general election, there is a new kind of question being presented to Senate candidates. It falls under the genre “How Alaskan are You?” In the primary debate between Mead Treadwell (the most Alaskan), Joe Miller (the next most Alaskan) and Dan Sullivan (the DC beltway guy from Ohio for whom these questions are intended) there were questions like: Have you eaten salmon this week? Have you ever been to Koyuk? Kipnuk? Kake? Will you retire in…
Wannabe for AK Senate Shoots Stuff
A DC operative from the Cleveland metro area, whose candidacy is responsible for gazillions of dollars worth of outside negative campaign ads flooding Alaska’s airwaves, is a little miffed that his opponent’s candidacy will also result in gazilions of dollars worth of negative campaign ads flooding Alaska’s airwaves. Now that the GOP establishment Senate candidate, Dan Sullivan, has dispatched with Tea Party candidate Joe Miller, and Alaska’s milquetoast Lt. Governor Mead Treadwell in the primary, he’s decided that anyone using Outside money to talk smack about his own candidacy is unacceptable. Because he doesn’t like that, and it makes him…
Top 10 Deleted GOP Sullivan Tweets!
The internet is forever… especially when you see stuff and grab it before it’s deleted. For progressives and left-leaning voters all three GOP senate candidates were nightmares on social issues. It got down to splitting hairs about which combination of mother or baby should be allowed to die while denying a medically necessary abortion. And in a state like Alaska where a rapist is allowed to sue for custody or visitation rights of his offspring when he gets out of jail (yes this is really true), you wouldn’t think anyone would want to force women to have those babies if…