GOP Senate Lightning Round!
Someone has smoked pot. Someone has committed a crime. Someone got a speeding ticket on the way to a 2nd Amendment rally. It was quite an evening. Alaska’s Keystone Kops of conservatism took to the stage again for the GOP Senate primary debate. Falling all over each other to see who can get more conservative has become almost a sport. Like professional wrestling is a sport. “I’ve been a conservative all my life!” “I’ve been pro-life all my life!” “I’ve been pro-second amendment all my life!” “I challenge you to sign this pledge to keep out illegal immigrants!” Yes, those…
Judge Confirms Lt. Gov’s Incompetence
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…
Hashtag Mead Treadwell Staff Fail
It’s one of the most important and highly watched Senate races in the nation. Alaska is one of five states that went for Mitt Romney in 2012, and for which there is a Democratic Senator up for re-election next year. It’s a power seat, with the potential to tip the balance and change the country. Despite that fact, the Republicans who have lined up to take on incumbent Democrat Mark Begich seem a bit lackluster. And the one lacking the most luster seems to be the one who would be most likely to pose a real challenge to Begich in…
Melting Good; Feds Bad
So, insane flesh-eating bacteria is tied to BP spill tar balls, Fukushima radiation should be hitting the West Coast in the next year or so, and a SuperTyphoon that is perhaps the strongest storm EVER, just made landfall in the Philippines. So, last night I decided to go out and listen to a Republican Senate candidate bloviate about how federal overreach is destroying the country. SPOILER ALERT: This ends with drinking. Mead Treadwell, Alaska’s Lt. Governor, who in that capacity oversees elections, is running for U.S. Senate. Any time a Lt. Governor runs for something in the state (like Current…
Sarah Palin Top Choice for Senate?!
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…
Begich on a Palin Senate Run
Remember that line from Brokeback Mountain, “I wish I knew how to quit you?” Well if Sarah Palin were Jake Gyllenhaal and Alaska were Heath Ledger, she’d have been all, “I’m outta here!” And now that she’s considering a run for the Senate in the very state she quit, the Senator whose seat she’s looking to fill had a few things to say about that. “I don’t know if she’s a resident. She’s been away from Alaska a lot and has probably lost touch with what’s going on… “Most Alaskans I see on a pretty regular basis, but I haven’t…
Chicken & Waffles, & John Boehner?
STRANGE OMEN #1 I should have know something was afoot in the universe when this happened just down the road from my house, begging the question, “Why?” Just to be clear, I have never actually seen a chicken cross the road, nevermind in this visually perfect allegorical fashion. I have never even seen a chicken in my neighborhood at all, though clearly there is now photographic evidence that they exist. About a quarter mile and a few hairpin mountain road turns away from the chicken sighting, is something relatively new to Alaska – a fancy gated community. It is called…
Senate 2014 – Begich v. Palin?!
Here’s a little bright spot for Alaska Democrats. I know, right? How often to you hear THAT? Harper Polling, a Republican-leaning outfit, has done a survey in Alaska of 1157 likely voters. They asked about hypothetical match-ups in the 2014 senate race, in which giddy Republicans are lining up to take on freshman Democratic Senator Mark Begich. The poll was taken on January 29 – 30. After Begich’s narrow win in 2008 over Senator Ted Stevens, who at the time was a 7-time convicted felon, the right has had their knickers in a twist over the “illegitimacy” of Begich’s win….