- Everybody is aflutter about the Washington Post’s announcement that Mitt Romney and U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz will be coming to our humble backwater to stump on behalf of U.S. Senate candidate Dan Sullivan. From the amount of attention this announcement is getting from the Alaska Commons, the Dispatch, you would have thought we were getting somebody important like David Bowie.
- Senate Democrats are banking on a “Big If” to maintain Senate control. What’s the “Big If”? According to Politico and its Beltway Bandits, technology.
- Who’s got the momentum going into the final days? If you read the papers, it would appear that Sen. Mark Begich does. The News-Miner endorsed him a few days ago, and now the Juneau Empire did also, touting Begich’s seniority. The paper also endorsed Tony Knowles over Lisa Murkowski in 2004. So there’s that.
- Bless her heart, Sarah Palin told Fox Business that she’ll be “hopefully running for office in the future too.” Yep. That happened. The Juneau Empire has a full set of interesting quotes from that segment as well as backstory for those that have been living under a rock for the past decade.
- Over at the gubernatorial race, Bill Walker has a new ad about Buffalos using frenetic camera work. Alaska’s GOP has a 6 second audio clip where Bill Walker says, “I couldn’t be more anti-oil”.
- President Obama’s constant talk about clean energy, renewable resources and climate change issues hasn’t stopped the Department of the Interior from quietly accepting seismic testing for oil and gas deposit applications from oil companies for all along the Eastern seaboard. This is happening despite the government’s own estimation of 138,000 marine animals being impacted. If you’re wondering about California’s long stretch of Pacific coastline receiving the same amount of attention, think again. The Hill has the details behind the politicking.
- The HuffingtonPost has the Gay Man’s Guide to the 2014 Election. According to it, Mark Begich is Britney to Mark Pryor’s Christina.
- With all of the “excitement” over Fairbanks’ U.S. Senate debate, not much love was given to the House debates. Don’t whip out your handkerchiefs just yet, the Fairbanks News Miner has articles about the Congressional House debate between Rep. Don Young and Forrest Dunbar AND District 6 candidates Dave Talerico and Wilson Justin.
- Here is another article (this time by FiveThirtyEight) about why polling in Alaska is wonky.
- While Pres. Obama might be persona non grata for many Democratic candidates running for Senate or Congress, that isn’t necessarily the case with Democratic gubernatorial candidates. The Hill reports that, “observers say the White House might realize that even if Democrats do maintain control of the Senate, another way to advance Obama’s agenda during his remaining time in office is to pursue the state path” (and groom prospective 2016 presidential candidates).
- Put Alaska First has filed an Independent Expenditure FEC for $800,000 in ad buys to support U.S. Senator Mark Begich’s win on November 4. Wonder what the hit’s going to be? Whatever it is, is won’t be pretty. Because what are super-PACs for but to say and do things that candidates can’t and won’t? And as we’ve already seen, Begich will do a lot of things. So expect this to be particularly brutal.
- Public access is always a thorny issue because the right of the public to enjoy public lands like the Chugach State Park butts heads with private property owners right to enjoy their high dollar views. The Dispatch has announced that the DNR commissioner has joined forces with state and local elected officials (particularly those in the Chugiak-Eagle River area) in calling for more protection of private property owners. This pits the common man’s love of mountaineering and Alaska’s beauty in taxpayer supported parks against landowners. I wonder who will win this fight?
- UAS Chancellor John Pugh reflects over his 28 years with the university with the Juneau Empire after announcing his plans to retire.
- Ever wonder how the political sausage is made? Vocativ has just the article for you! Oppositional research has become more important in recent election cycles as everybody has skeletons in their closet, but some skeletons are big enough to sink a promising election bid.
- The Fagan Show’s YouTube channel has posted their interview with Sen. Mark Begich from this morning. In the video, Sen. Begich explains his positions about abortion, women’s access to medical care and other hot-button topics.
- The National GOP has a video called, “Road to Six-Alaska”. It targets Sen. Mark Begich using background music and cutaways that are reminiscent of the SAW horror movies. Pretty timely since Halloween is right around the corner.
Contact Amanda Coyne at amandamcoyne@yahoo.com
I have listened closely to debates, recorded speeches and other public presentations by all the governor candidates this year. Here’s a simple observation: Mr. Walker is not a good public speaker, at least extemporaneously. From what I have heard, he rarely completes a full sentence without a bumble or stumble. Add that to his intentional waffling and pandering on a variety of issues, and you should expect him to be subjected to these sorts of things. It just goes with the territory. After listening objectively to him for a year or so now, I don’t trust a single thing he says, except that he wants to be governor, and he’s sure he’s the answer to all our problems. It is quite possible that he wraps up the worst characteristics of Sarah Palin and Barack Obama in one package. I hope we don’t fall for that again.
The Democrats are getting a bit testy and now describing the Republicans as unethical. Are you kidding me? The GOP has been steadfast intelling the truth. They just don’t like hearing how Begich’s campaign has been named as one of the biggest liars by the LA Times, Time magazine and PolitiFact.
Their gubernatorial candidate left his values on the side of the road and is rudderless, switching positiions multiple times from group to group. Begich and Walker are dishonest politicians.
@joe blow: What war? Have you heard of the 1700 American military contractor in Iraq? How about the nation building we’re doing as a benevolent tyrant in Afghanistan? You have SERIOUS political amnesia going on. Obama didn’t end squat. He’s escalated America’s presence in Africa and Australia. American empire building overseas is doing fantastically well thanks to voters like you.
Parnell’s campaign is the dirtiest we’ve seen in a Governors race for a long time. They doctored the audio and then released it to the republican party in order to keep their noses clean. The level of deceit to Alaskans is unbearable. I was there and Walker misspoke, but it was clear to everybody in the room that he meant just the opposite. Who can support a candidate that has a team with no ethics. Parnell and his campaign staff just keep knowingly telling lie after lie and hope something sticks. It all falls on Parnell because he is responsible for their actions too. He can’t even be a leader with his campaign. How can we trust him to lead our state?
What war? Obama ended all that, remember?
@Anonymous: Mitt Romney is more than just an elitist, he’s to the left of both Bill and Hillary Clinton. So what do you call that? Wonder what happened to the REAL Republicans in government. That’s right: they’re now called RINO’s.
@Garand Fellow: Afghan Dan and the Republicans are a bunch of warmongering d*bags. And although I’m a REGISTERED Republican, I’ll be voting for Mark Begich. It’s time for the wasteful wars to END, and I don’t think, in fact I’m fairly certain that neocon warmongering Afghan Dan will vote with the RINO Grahams and McCains in the senate in favor of more nation and empire building and wasteful spending overseas. After all, he’s a CFR stooge just like his role model Condy Rice. Mine will be a protest vote. And I can assure you, there are many like mine in Alaska. At least, Begich can be counted on to not vote with the RINO’s.
I cannot speak for anyone but myself. I am worried. Clearly Afghan Dan is the right person for the job, and the Obama-Reid-Begich team has been terrible for Alaska but the Democratic Party has pumped millions upon millions of dollars into this race. Armies of outsiders have been brought to Alaska for this race alone. Union leaders (as opposed to members who pay the dues) have worked hard for this ticket and for the Walker-Mallot ticket (feeding at the Outside money trough).
So yes, I am worried that Outside money and Outsiders coming to Alaska to campaign may skew the results. It was crooked attorneys in the US Justice Dept. that brought Begich to this office, and I worry that this time this illegitimate senator might once again squeak through. If Romney and Cruz can rally the troops for the last big run over the hill then great.
Amanda I love your funny cultural tie-ins with the news. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to see either of the Marks the same way again. Great combination of information and fun.
So Mitt Romney, the elitist, is traveling to Alaska to support Dan Sullivan. Why does this not surprise me. The Republicans are more worried about this race than they let on.