The Trail : A blog on the 2006 Alaska governor's race by Kyle Hopkins

About the blog: The race to become Alaska's next governor is on and it's about to get muddy. Grab your boots and follow the Daily News along the winding campaign trail.

Contact: thetrail@adn.com

Blog : Alaska Politics


Archive

Happy trails - 11/8/2006 8:05 pm

Forty-two - 11/8/2006 8:01 pm

Election hangover - 11/8/2006 10:25 am

Tonight (updated) - 11/7/2006 12:18 pm

Full Moon - 11/6/2006 7:11 pm

Fishy photos? - 11/6/2006 12:08 pm

Smelly deal? - 11/5/2006 3:31 pm

Sunday best (part two) - 11/5/2006 3:18 pm

'It's going to be madness' - 11/4/2006 8:33 pm

Final push - 11/4/2006 8:26 pm

Ivan Moore - 11/4/2006 1:45 pm

Furrowed brow - 11/3/2006 2:20 pm

New poll (updated) - 11/3/2006 2:00 pm

Berkowitz - 11/3/2006 10:29 am

Predict the future - 11/2/2006 10:53 pm

Live debate (updated 9:37 p.m.) - 11/2/2006 8:19 pm

More on the e-mails - 11/2/2006 7:14 pm

Channel 7 debate (updated) - 11/2/2006 7:12 pm

Round two - 11/2/2006 4:20 pm

Read the e-mails - 11/1/2006 9:45 pm

TV debate tonight (updated) - 11/1/2006 11:02 am

Anchorage Rotary debate - 10/31/2006 4:58 pm

full archive »

Deleted scene (UPDATED: Democrats complaint, RGA response)

Posted by thetrail

Posted: September 26, 2006 - 1:32 pm

UPDATE:
The Alaska Democratic Party says it plans to file an APOC complaint against the Republican Governors Association and against Palin. The Democrats say the RGA ads about Palin are not "issues" ads at all but can only be seen as a call for people to vote for her. They also say it appears the Palin campaign and the RGA coordinated on the ad, which isn't allowed. The RGA says the complaint is a political stunt, that the Democrats know the ad is legal, and that there was no coordination involved.

In today’s story on third parties and campaign funding, Palin argues that it’s inconsistent for Knowles to blast her for tolerating soft-money ads on her behalf because he benefited from such ads in his 2004 U.S. Senate race. The Knowles campaign said that the national Senate race resonates outside the state - unlike the governor’s race - so you can’t compare the two elections. (They also say Knowles spoke out against soft-money ads in the 2004 race too.)

Whether you believe it matters or not (Palin’s people say it does, Knowles’ people say it doesn’t), here’s an example of a “527” group that did spend money on Knowles' behalf in the 2004 race:

Citizens for a Strong Senate paid for about $305,000 in TV ads, according to a post-race analysis by University of Alaska professors Carl Shepro and Clive Thomas.

I’d wanted to include that number in today’s story, but left it out because I didn’t have a solid source for it at the time. (Shepro sent over a copy of the report today.)


  5     September 26, 2006 - 7:46pm | tlamb99503

Heads or Tails: APOC will decide it

I saw the ad ........ Hmmm.

As for Palin being involved in coordinating the ads, if the APOC finds nothing, then Tony is done like dinner.

Where is Kushner when you need him.....

| flag this »

  4     September 26, 2006 - 7:27pm | realworld2

the end of innocence

The Palin crowd is fair game. Here is Bitney in the UA article you just published:

"We don't have oil money, we don't have special interest money to have a big machine," Bitney said. "We're a lot of volunteers, and our contributors are just a lot of volunteers writing in and contributing to us."

Really? I actually don't think of the RGA as a "lot of volunteers...". Well, you can't have it both ways. You are either benefitting from special interest dollars or you aren't,and if you claim you aren't, then you can expect that someone will point it out when you are.

I'm less worried about who buys tv time than I am why it is this nominee for governor seems unable to articulate her position on anything. Slogans like "take a stand" or "new energy" just aren't cutting it with me. Nor all this protestation of innocence in the face of nationally paid advertising...

| flag this »

  3     September 26, 2006 - 4:10pm | akisok2

I haven't laughed that hard in a while...

... like I did today when I read Kyle's story about the 527 ads.

"Smith, the Palin spokesman, said the Palin camp didn't work with the RGA and that there's typically an armada of cameras around his candidate whenever she speaks in public."

You have got to be kidding me. First off, an armada of cameras is a stretch. Her most televised press event so far (other than the primary) had an armada of three cameras -- all of which had these little things known as call letters right on the side of each camera: KTUU, KIMO, KTVA

And second - for those of you who have seen the RGA ad - does the Palin camp really expect us to believe that nobody noticed a professional two-man film crew getting all sorts of footage while Sarah acted natural and talked to voters? You don't think someone in the campaign approached the film crew and at least asked what they were doing at the Palin event depicted in the RGA ad?

And third, is it any coincidence that a two-man film crew was walking around downtown Anchorage capturing footage and filming passers-by? And doing all of this right at the front door of the Palin headquarters?

| flag this »

  September 26, 2006 - 5:41pm | justintime

"Oh My"

"Oh....hello Mr. Cameraman - you must be one of my admiring fans. Or are you part of the Armada for the day?" SP on the people following her.

| flag this »

  September 27, 2006 - 11:31am | akisok2

Armada for the day...

... you almost made me spit my water out as I was reading this. Thanks! :)

| flag this »

  2     September 26, 2006 - 3:34pm | mike_l

Why APOC should care about the RGA

read the news link yourself:

http://www.wral.com/news/3704131/detail.html

sound familiar? And this is just one campaign. The RGA has done this numerous times.

| flag this »

  1     September 26, 2006 - 2:33pm | dfagan

Knowles pot calling kettle black

Tony raises three times the soft money during his senate race and now he calls Palin on soft money. What's next, he'll criticize her for having a tan? Palin by 14 points.

| flag this »

  September 26, 2006 - 5:52pm | lauriejo_6

Please God No!!!

I hope this in no way implies that Dan Fagan supports Palin's bid for Governor. That is the "kiss of death" in Alaska politics.

| flag this »

  September 26, 2006 - 3:36pm | leslie

Correction

Dan,
Tony Knowles did NOT raise soft money during his senate race. That's blatantly illegal and you're wrong.
In 2004, 527's (soft money) did come to Alaska. We did not want them here nor did we invite them. In several cases, we had no idea where they came from or who they represented. They simply appeared on the airwaves.
We asked Lisa Murkowski to tell Americans for Job Security (the same 527 that helped elect Frank) to leave our state. She didn't.
We didn't like 527's (soft money) then and we don't now. They raise soft money from lobbyists, insurance companies, tobacco companies, and the like.
The difference between the two candidates now is that Tony Knowles still believes 527's (soft money)don't belong here and Palin said she thinks they're ok.
Thanks.

| flag this »

  September 26, 2006 - 3:09pm | mike_l

Fagan

Sharon should kick your butt for saying those kind of things. What's next? Are you going to play golf with Jerry Ward and Thomas Higgins?
When you take soft money, there are rules. Palin's camp didn't follow the rules. The RGA has rules too, which it has a track record of NOT following. As such, filing a complaint with APOC should be expected.
Secondly, if the hot-chick candidate supposedly leading by 14 points in the polls -who sells herself as a grassroots-new-guard-of-the-republican party reverts to old-guard politics and uses out-of-state money - I would call her a hypocrite too. Personally, I don't think its Sarah herself making these decisions, but an inept campaign staff and an ultra-right inner circle.

| flag this »

  September 26, 2006 - 4:05pm | salmonshark

Ask SE Dem Chair Kim Metcalfe

Get it srtaight from her, as when I asked for a grievance involving contract violations and letter of the law ethics violations. She will Clarify for you as she did for me:

"RULES DON'T MATTER"

And speaking of hypocrit, SE DEM Chair, Kim Metcalfe as an AFSCME Business Agent refused to do anything about a hostile work environment involving a supervisor that attacks women. Then she makes up for it by receiving an award from the AWARE shelter. True Hypocracy there at the Democrat camp.

They needed to clean house long ago but still haven't. Knowles inner circle is made up of these type of people- described in editorials as socialist hypocrits who have never produced a good or service in their lives. I find that an accurate description.

| flag this »