Posted by Jeanne Devon on June 1, 2014 · 8 Comments
The job of Alaska’s Lieutenant Governor really has only two duties to speak of. 1) Care and maintenance of the state seal. Not the animal – that would be hard, and require lots of work. I’m talking about the little round metal disc that turns stuff official. I don’t really know what care and maintenance that seal requires, but I’m guessing there might be buffing involved, or maybe some kind of chemical paste and a soft lint-free cloth. Perhaps it’s nestled in a velvet-lined wooden box, and needs to be checked on from time to time, to make sure nobody’s…
Category Alaska, Alaska Politicos, Alaska Senate Race, Election 2014, Elections, Ethics, Headlines, Mark Begich, Mead Treadwell, Native issues, Ohio Dan Sullivan, Rural Issues, Sean Parnell, Skulduggery, Strategery, Vitamin Democracy, Voting · Tags Alaska Division of Elections, Alaska Senate Race, Begich for Senate, Koch brothers Alaska, Mark Begich, Mead Treadwell, Treadwell for Senate, Voting Rights Act Alaska
Posted by Jeanne Devon on March 28, 2014 · 9 Comments
US Senate hopeful Dan Sullivan (R-OH–>DC–>AK) has decided to boost his nonexistent Alaska cred by campaign-branding the most traumatic event in Anchorage history. In addition to slapping his logo on the Good Friday Quake, Dan pours on the “we remember.” Given that the quake hit our city roughly 8 months before Sullivan’s birth in Ohio, his precocious, in-utero grasp of geological phenomena like the shifting of tectonic plates must have been impressive. The actual Alaskan in the Senate race shows our visitor from Ohio/DC how it’s done: Translation: “There’s no need to explicitly remind you I was born and raised here….
Category Alaska, Alaska Politicos, Alaska Senate Race, Election 2014, Elections, Headlines, Mark Begich, Municipality of Anchorage, Ohio Dan Sullivan, Republicans, Voting · Tags Alaska, Dan Sullivan, Election 2014, Good Friday Earthquake, Mark Begich, midterms, US Senate
Posted by Zach Roberts on March 26, 2014 · 16 Comments
Earlier this week Jeanne Devon documented the hilariously unfortunate copy and paste job of Dan Sullivan’s website. “Carpetbagging Republican Senate candidate Dan Sullivan (OH->DC->AK) is running against incumbent Senator Mark Begich (D-AK) this fall. When serious and professional candidates run for office, they usually hire someone to develop a website for their candidacy.” The Mudflats has now uncovered some new issues on his site. This time they’re not just from out of state, they’re from the other side of the planet. New Zealand, in fact. Most Alaskan politicos have their own stock of photography from their years in Alaska –…
Category Alaska, Headlines, Ohio Dan Sullivan, Uncategorized · Tags 2nd amendment, Alaska, Anchorage, Dan Sullivan, DC Dan, gun rights, made in alaska, Mark Begich, new zealand, ohio, Oil & Gas, Sean Parnell, Senate, Shannyn Moore, The Mudflats
Posted by Jeanne Devon on February 27, 2014 · 18 Comments
(This is Part one of our Day of Resistance coverage. You can read Part Two here.) The date 2/23 was originally chosen for “Day of Resistance” rallies across the US because the .223 is the ammunition used in the popular AR-15 semi-automatic rifle. Alaska organized events in both Fairbanks and Wasilla this year, protesting the federal government’s attempts to regulate firearms and showing support for the 2nd Amendment. The Fairbanks rally at Veterans Memorial Park was organized by The Oath Keepers, a pro-second amendment group made up mostly of veterans and headed up by David Luntz and Donny Meeks. Luntz maintained a Facebook page promoting the…
Category Alaska, Alaska Legislature, Alaska Politicos, Alaska Senate Race, Education, Election 2014, Elections, Fairbanks, Headlines, Joe Miller, Lisa Murkowski, Mark Begich, Public Safety, Rallies and Events, Republicans, Rural Issues, Sean Parnell, Second Amendment, Veterans · Tags Aaron Bennett, Alaska 2nd Amendment, Alaska Libertarian, Alaska NRA, David Luntz, Day of Resistance 2014, Donny Meeks, Fairbanks Tea Party, Joe Miller senate, jury nullification, Mark Begich, Militia Alaska, tea party Alaska
Posted by Jeanne Devon on February 25, 2014 · 1 Comment
With the governorship, a US senate seat, our lone Congressional seat, and SB 21 repeal all on the statewide ballot, 2014 is a critical election year in Alaska. Given recent gerrymandering and the influx of outside political money, the state represents significant challenges for Democrats. The Mudflats spoke with Democratic Party Chair Mike Wenstrup about the state of the state, his party, and its future. Alaska doesn’t seem to be a very hospitable place for Democrats these days, so what compelled you to want to run the state party? Alaska values are Democratic values: Respect for personal privacy, government restraint, maximizing public benefits…
Category Alaska, Alaska Governors Race, Alaska Legislature, Alaska Politicos, Don Young, Election 2013, Election 2014, Elections, Headlines, Joe Miller, LGBT, Mark Begich, Mayor Dan Sullivan, Mead Treadwell, Redistricting, Republicans, Resource Development, Sean Parnell, Voting · Tags 2014, Alaska, Dan Sullivan, Democrats, Don Young, election, Joe Miller, Mark Begich, Mead Treadwell, Mike Wenstrup, Sean Parnell, state party, US House, US Senate
Posted by Jeanne Devon on January 22, 2014 · 8 Comments
Oh no they di’int! It’s been quite a week for the gum-flappers, the yammerers, and the makers of opinion – some good, some bad, and some that make you just want to slam you head on the desk until they go away. Let’s dig in. Sarah Palin on Race What better way to start the week in which we celebrate civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr. than with a little race baiting from our ex-half governor? Not sure if judging someone by the content of their character is really where she wants to go. Rush Limbaugh on Chris Christie…
Category Alaska, Alaska Legislature, Alaska Politicos, Alaska Senate Race, Anchorage School District, Barack Obama, Education, Election 2014, Environment, Fish & Wildlife, Headlines, Joe Miller, Lisa Murkowski, Mark Begich, Mead Treadwell, Municipality of Anchorage, Nation, Pebble Mine, Republicans, Sarah Palin · Tags Alaska snake, Barack Obama, Begich Pebble, Bridget Galvin, Dawn Zimmer, Joe Miller, Kasilof Snake, Limbaugh Zimmer, Lisa Murkowski, Mark Begich, No Pebble, Palin race card, Pebble Mine, Rush Limbaugh, Sarah Palin, Steller Secondary School
Posted by Jeanne Devon on November 21, 2013 · 22 Comments
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid finally went nuclear. Using a rare procedural move, Reid and a majority of Senators voted 52-48 to overhaul a filibuster rule which had largely worked for decades, but which Republicans had so abused since the beginning of the Obama administration, that judicial and cabinet appointments that once would have been routine, became dead in the water. The numbers speak for themselves. The vote was largely down party lines, with 3 Democrats breaking ranks. But at least one Republican we know, who had a history of supporting the concept of the up-or-down vote, cast her vote…
Category Alaska, Alaska Politicos, Barack Obama, Headlines, Joe Miller, Lisa Murkowski, Mark Begich, Nation, Republicans, Strategery, Teabaggery, Vitamin Democracy · Tags Filibuster reform, Filibuster vote, Harry Reid, Lisa Murkowski, Lisa Murkowski filibuster, Mark Begich, Mark Begich filibuster, Senate filibuster
Posted by Jeanne Devon on August 24, 2013 · 36 Comments
In the never ending edge-of-your-seat boredom that is Sarah Palin’s future “political career,” we’ve got some hot breaking news! Remember how she wasn’t considering a senate run in Alaska? Then, she was… unless someone other than Joe Miller and Mead Treadwell stepped up to run. Nobody has. Still just them. Yet now she says she currently has no plans to run. Someone else can do it. But she’s also not ruling anything out. She’s not closing the door. Back in the day, an open door was God’s message to “plow through.” Now, it’s merely an option. It’s just there, open,…
Category Alaska, Alaska Politicos, Alaska Senate Race, Bang it, Election 2014, Headlines, Mark Begich, Nation, Roll your eyes into it, Sarah Palin, Your Head · Tags Alaska Senate Race, Begich 2014, Begich for Senate, Greta Van Susteren, Mark Begich, Palin 2014, Palin for Senate, Sarah Palin
Posted by Jeanne Devon on August 1, 2013 · 17 Comments
The Republican Party, after crushing defeats in the last two Presidential elections, and seeing newly elected members of Congress display racial intolerance, homophobia, and misogyny the likes of which have not been seen in recent history, has had to really sit down and do some soul searching. To their credit, Republican voters seem to have given some real thought to the condition of the not-so-Grand Old Party, and how it might be changed as they move forward to remain relevant, and serve the will of the majority in an evolving America. src=”http://ap.lijit.com///www/delivery/fpi.js#?z=186829&u=themudflats&width=300&height=250″> In that spirit, they’ve decided that Republicans simply…
Category Alaska Governors Race, Alaska House Race, Alaska Legislature, Alaska Politicos, Alaska Senate Race, Barack Obama, Don Young, Election 2013, Elections, Headlines, Joe Miller, Lisa Murkowski, Mark Begich, Mayor Dan Sullivan, Mead Treadwell, Nation, Republicans, Sarah Palin, Sean Parnell · Tags Alaska Tea Party, Begich for Senate, Joe Miller, Lisa Murkowski, Mark Begich, Miller for Senate, Palin for Senate, Republican party, Republican Party of Alaska, Sarah Palin, Scott McAdams, Tea Party
Posted by Jeanne Devon on July 30, 2013 · 63 Comments
Stay calm. Just sit for a minute. If you’re an Alaskan, do not start loading up the motorhome for your political asylum road trip to Canada. If you are from the Lower 48, do not stop reading here and put a big red Sharpied ‘X’ over Alaska on your desktop globe. Let me explain. A few weeks ago, the ex-half-governor unhinged her maw, and some words fell out. Seemingly, she is considering a run for the U.S. Senate against incumbent Democrat Mark Begich. Pollsters tilted their heads to the side like a dog who hears a whistle. Then they got…
Category Alaska, Alaska Governors Race, Alaska House Race, Alaska Politicos, Alaska Senate Race, Barack Obama, Don Young, Election 2014, Elections, Ethan Berkowitz, Headlines, Joe Miller, Lisa Murkowski, Mark Begich, Mead Treadwell, Nation, Sarah Palin, SB21, Sean Parnell · Tags Alaska politics, Alaska Senate Race, Begich for Senate, Bill Wielechowski, Daniel Sullivan DNR, Don Young congress, Hollis French, Joe Miller Alaska, Mark Begich, Matt Moore, Mead Treadwell, Miller for Senate, Palin Begich, Palin for Senate, Palin Joe Miller, Palin Poll Numbers, Palin Treadwell, Parnell for Governor, Public Policy polling, Republican Party of Alaska, Sarah Palin, Scott McAdams, Sean Parnell, Treadwell for Senate