Independent gubernatorial candidate Bill Walker is on the air, making him the first candidate in the governor’s race who has bought television time. The ads, four in all, three of which so far are on TV, highlight Walker as a man of action, a family man who isn’t afraid to take risks. The best one, I think, is the one below that’s running in Fairbanks. It isn’t the slickest commercial, but the question Walker asks in it is very good one. Watch here:
The answer for most residents is a resounding “No.” Fairbanks is not better off than it was six years ago. Home heating costs have skyrocketed in Fairbanks. The air is not cleaner. The quality of life is not better. It’s a stretch to say that Parnell is responsible for all that ails the Interior city. But that Fairbanks sits only a few hundred miles from the largest energy fields in North America, and yet some residents are being forced to choose between food and heating oil, is if nothing else, a stark display of lack of leadership, which appears to be exactly Walker’s point.
Mr. Walker’s message is spot on. In fact Fairbanks is now the third largest city in Alaska after Juneau which is now number two. I suppose when, despite having line item budget veto authority, Governor Parnell allowed record amounts of government spending by our out of control legislature the capital city will grow faster than a city like Fairbanks which is historically the center of resource development. I was in Fairbanks a couple of weeks ago when the last oil from the Trans Alaska Pipeline (TAPS) was diverted to the North Pole Refinery.
We are in a serious fiscal crisis and I frankly am sick of hearing about the latest “wonder project” that is just around the corner to save us right after we re-elect all of those who got us into this mess. Parnell has had five years to, if not prevent serious deficit spending, then to certainly produce the alternate source of revenue to protect us from spending our cash reserves at the rate of 7 million dollars per day.
Most Alaskans, including myself, describe themselves as politically independent. Bill Walker is running as an independent so the majority of Alaskans have a real choice for Governor and Walker is worthy of consideration. .