Alaska Politics Blog : Here we go ...

Alaska Politics Blog

This is the place to talk about Alaska politics -- state, local, national. Public life in the Last Frontier has probably never been more interesting than right now -- the governor as candidate for vice president, the broad and still-evolving corruption investigation, a big election, powerful members of Congress under scrutiny, and the usual hardball Alaska politics. Come here for news, tidbits and information, and join the discussion. Keep your comments civil and on point. Avoid personal attacks. Do not use profanity. Posts that violate the Terms of Use will be deleted. Repeat offenders will be banned.

Contributors

Erika Bolstad

Erika Bolstad covers Alaska issues, including the congressional delegation, from Washington, D.C., for McClatchy Newspapers. Before joining the bureau in 2007, she spent seven years as a reporter at the Miami Herald, where she covered politics, government and the state legislature. E-mail Erika at ebolstad@adn.com.

Sean Cockerham

Sean Cockerham writes about Alaska state politics. He spent three years based in Juneau for the ADN before joining the Tacoma News-Tribune to write about Washington state politics. He went to Iraq twice for the News Tribune, and previously wrote about Alaska government and politics for the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner. E-mail Sean at scockerham@adn.com

Kyle Hopkins

Kyle Hopkins covers politics and other stories for the ADN. He covered the 2006 campaign for governor, has blogged extensively about Alaska politics, covered Anchorage city government and was a reporter based in the Mat-Su. He grew up in Southeast Alaska and previously was a reporter at the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner and Anchorage Press. E-mail Kyle at khopkins@adn.com

Features

SECTION

Alaska political corruption

The FBI raided state legislatures offices in Aug. 2006, and the fallout since has been epic in Alaska's political world.

Here we go ...

Posted by Alaska_Politics

Posted: August 26, 2008 - 1:03 pm

From Kyle Hopkins in Anchorage –

Happy Election Day. You see the campaign sign chaos at Northern Lights and the Seward this morning?

We’ll be blogging from Election Central tonight. Meantime, I’ve been out trying to shoot a few quick interviews outside Anchorage polling places.

This is Tracy Walden, who moved to Alaska in December and doesn’t know what to make of Ballot Measure 4:

...

Here’s Bob Brewer, who’s voting yes on 4. “I’m a commercial fisherman and I want to make sure I can fish out there a long time.” Here he talks about Stevens and Parnell – who he knows from high school:

...

And here’s Ray Patterson. He works for the school district and is voting No on Ballot Measure 4. “What we have in place right now is adequate,” he said.
Here’s his take on the Senate primary:

login or register to post comments

10 August 26, 2008 - 11:28pm | Stags_Leap

Yougn will by 1000 votes or less

Parnell will demand a recount. Yada Yada. First Dude is seen snapping photos of voting stations. Blah blah blah.

If Parnell manages a victory, it's pathetic no matter how you frame it....the guy was ahead by double digits in the polls just weeks ago.

August 27, 2008 - 2:44am | Gus_Davis

post a link...

post a link..from the headlines... that leads to this link...

August 27, 2008 - 10:21am | Cartman3_15

It doesn't exist.

Ignore him. Making stuff up seems to be his M.O., and the ADN gives him a free pass on the rules.

August 27, 2008 - 12:35pm | Stags_Leap

I "made it up" last night

when Parnell was still ahead by 700 votes.

Young is now in the lead. The remaining district votes to be counted are all RURAL -which bodes well for Young. The absentee ballots are predominantly seniors -which also bodes well for Young.

If the absentee vote counting process is legit -then Young is sitting pretty. I would monitor the absentee ballot counting rigorously -to mitigate possible future legal claims by the cry baby.

if Young wins -this is a HUGE BLOW to Sarah Palin -politically speaking.

August 27, 2008 - 1:32pm | rfn

I'm having difficulty

in finding any intellect in whines of 'Cry Baby" in light of the proceedings in the last two national elections. In those, the Democrat supporters of folks like Mayor Mawk and Mr. Berkowitz-Pelosi, went down kicking their little heels on their bedding and screaming mightily. Yet their antics were applauded by the "faithful". Is it somehow different when it's "only" a House of Representatives matter?

Or is this what us common folks call "hypocrisy"?

August 27, 2008 - 10:52am |

Removed

This post was deleted for being off topic or violating the ADN user agreement. We encourage readers to "flag" offensive or off-topic comments for review by ADN staff.

August 27, 2008 - 10:35am | rfn

All things are possible

when one is a sufficiently dedicated subscriber to the party line on the boy mayor.

9 August 26, 2008 - 7:39pm | hey_georgie_girl_98

Diane Benson

Diane Benson has what it takes to win in November and she'll work hard for Alaskans in Congress.

8 August 26, 2008 - 4:15pm | diggens

Who will step in for Stevens?

That's the BIG question. If Cuddy comes in second by the night's end, shouldn't he be awarded a crack at Mark Begich in the general election when Stevens gets convicted or resigns next month? If not, I see a HUGE fight between Republicans, enough to rip the Party apart. And all this stuff I'm hearing about John Binkley is pretty depressing. How could the Republican Party front a candidate who has served-up fundraisers for so many Democrats? I think the Republicans will be shooting themselves in the foot with a big cannon if they select Binkley.

7 August 26, 2008 - 3:20pm | erak

Hard to do worse than Biden, but you never know...

Here is what the Financial Times says about #6 of 20 of McCain's VP possibilities:

First term governor of Alaska, with an approval rating above 80 per cent; Solid conservative; Considered the brightest female prospect in the Republican party; Mother of four and wife of a commercial fisherman, giving her populist appeal.

-- Relatively inexperienced; Comes from a politically peripheral state.

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/bf4141de-ea34-11dc-b3c9-0000779fd2ac,dwp_uuid=729ab242-9cb1-11db-8ec6-0000779e2340.html

August 26, 2008 - 3:30pm | Stags_Leap

McCain - Powell 2008

McCain knows that little Sarah would be roasted by the national media, once they get a glimpse of her inability to hold public debates or have a command of the issues.

Powell, Lieberman, or Romney. One of those three. Sarah is not national material.

6 August 26, 2008 - 3:20pm | Stags__Leap

Palin for VP

In a post today, The Conservative Hawk blog had this to say about our awesome governor:

"Popular with the conservatives, pro-life, very good looking, young and a woman, Palin has done a great job as Governor of Alaska. She has more executive experience than either Obama or McCain, but then again, any Governor who has served for one day does.

Palin worked to unseat a corrupt Congressman, Don Young ... She took out a corrupt Governor, Frank Murkowski, and she fought against her party when she saw the corruption breeding itself within the Alaska Republican Party. She is cleaning up her party and her state. By all rights, she would be a perfect choice for VP."

August 26, 2008 - 3:31pm | blue_in_AK

Oh, the "very good looking" part

has a lot to do with being a good governor. Could they be any more shallow?

5 August 26, 2008 - 3:01pm | Stags_Leap

AP reports

quoting from a piece on McCain today:

"Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin waded into Alaska’s congressional primary earlier this summer, endorsing Lt. Gov. Sean Parnell’s challenge to longtime incumbent Rep. Don Young.

Now, says the Anchorage Daily News, “Young appears to have clawed his way back into contention in a race in which many political pundits had pronounced him dead.”

A defeat for Parnell in today’s primary would be a significant symbolic setback for Palin — and for the reformist brand that got her elected governor and put her on the national political map."

Go LeDoux and Young!!!!

4 August 26, 2008 - 2:22pm | palmeranian

I voted for Parnell

Because he is the only one with a chance to beat Berky berk.

August 26, 2008 - 4:23pm | diggens

Bezerk.........

o'wits

August 29, 2008 - 2:42pm | onadime

Bezerkowitz is really

SON OF SAM..............

3 August 26, 2008 - 2:15pm | Stags_Leap

The reality

is that 85% of voters rarely are up to-date on the candidates. They generally don't read newspapers or watch the news. Probably 98% don't even read this blog. As such, Parnell should win...even though he is a joke of a candidate running a joke of a campaign funded by money from the east coast.

If you think Young was hard on the little guy in the primary, it ain't nothing compared to what the Dems are going to unleash in the fall.

I still think LeDoux or Young are truer conservatives than Parnell will ever be. I can't trust Parnell. He is an extension of Sarah Palin.

2 August 26, 2008 - 1:52pm | Stags_Leap

Vote NO on Parnell, Menard and Gatto

we have enough Palinbots running around claiming to be REPUBLICAN conservatives who are in truth more like liberal DEMS.

August 26, 2008 - 3:54pm | predictable

Agree...

I have to agree. Gatto has gatto go.
Parnell, I believe isn't going to be able to hold on.
Young has too much depth in the state and Parnell has played "Silent Bob" behind Palin too long. He should have come out more in the public eye and spoke on issues before his announcement to run.

BTW - We all know who the real Stags is.

1 August 26, 2008 - 1:11pm | Stags__Leap

I voted for Sean Parnell

because he's the only Republican who can beat that California liberal Berkowitz.

Come on, Republicans. Let's get it right today!

August 26, 2008 - 8:34pm | Cartman3_15

Hilarious!

LMAO.

August 26, 2008 - 2:10pm | skinny_gal

HA!!!

I voted for Young because Berko polls better against him than Palin's little baby boy Sean.

August 26, 2008 - 2:02pm | ilikepolarbears

...and I voted for Diane Benson

because she's the only Democrat who can beat that clueless lapdog Parnell.

August 26, 2008 - 2:18pm | blue_in_AK

Diane could beat either of them.

Should Berkowitz win the primary, I don't think he'll be so lucky in the general.

August 26, 2008 - 2:22pm | skinny_gal

Are you drunk?

Would you like to reference a poll that supports this ridiculous statement? Simply thinking something does not make it true.

August 26, 2008 - 3:38pm | LilysDaddy

It appears blue_in_AK

can't reference anything; she appears to have trouble with hyperlinks.

Oh, and proof, too.

August 26, 2008 - 3:50pm | blue_in_AK

Are you stalking me, Lily'sDaddy?

What do you want proof of now? The Ivan thing? The fact that I know a lot of people who have voted for Diane Benson? What?

Look -- my opinions and observations are as valid as yours. I don't need to hyperlink everything I say here, and I'm not going to. Freedom of speech and all that.

August 26, 2008 - 4:16pm | LilysDaddy

Since you appear to have trouble with this

let's go through it slowly.

"I think Diane could beat either of them" would be an opinion;
"All my friends have voted for Diane" would qualify as an observation;
"Diane could beat either of them" constitutes fact.

(S)kinny_gal asked: link us to the poll supporting that fact. My observation was that you appear to have trouble creating hyperlinks, allowing blog readers to view your facts.

Everyone is entitled to their opinions; everyone is free to post their observations.

No one is entitled to make up facts.

August 26, 2008 - 2:31pm | blue_in_AK

No, I'm not a drinker.

Obviously we hang with different crowds. :) Among the people I know, support for Benson is very strong.

Incidentally, if you're relying on polls done by Ivan Moore, who up until a week or so ago was actively fundraising for his neighbor and good friend Ethan Berkowitz, while pretending to be an unbiased pollster, I think your faith is misplaced.

August 26, 2008 - 1:48pm | blue_in_AK

We were waving our Diane Benson signs

among a group of Sean Parnell's supporters this morning. They seemed like nice folks. Good luck to you guys.

August 26, 2008 - 3:29pm | Rockin_Mel_Slurrup

Hungry? Visit Harry

Harry Crawford, that is. I just received word that he's running a grill at the corner of Northern Lights and Boniface.

Search Jobs | Place an employment ad