Month: December 2021

Lisa Murkowski had little hope of reelection in 2022, until her friends devised and implemented Prop. 2.  Her vote to impeach Trump was not an act of courage.  It was a calculated ploy to attract Democratic votes in the instant runoff, which we’ll have under Prop 2’s ranked choice voting.  Prop 2 passed because of millions of dollars from outside dark money groups and aggressive ballot harvesting.  This was ironic since it was sold as an anti-dark money law.  But that was camouflage.  Its real purpose was to help Murkowski get reelected.Sadly, there’s an excellent chance it will work.  Her principle conservative challenger, Kelly Tshibaka, is a novice politician, who succumbed to the temptation to join Trump world.  Trump’s endorsement gave her credibility, and donations, but it came at a high price.For one thing she committed to hire National Public Affairsas as her consultant, at the outlandish price of $50,000 a month.  This is a recently formed group of veterans from Trump’s unsuccessful reelection campaign.  They don’t know anything about Alaska, and have encouraged her to emphasize her ties to Trump.That’s exactly the wrong strategy, but she has made the commitment, and it’s too late for her to walk away from it.   As reported by MRAK, Democratic operative Jim Lottsfeldt has already formed a PAC, Alaskans for Lisa, which will try to convince Alaska Democrats and independents to vote for her.  His pitch will be, a vote for Murkowski is a vote against Trump.  If she emerges from the first round of voting on August 18th as the clear favorite, it will be a severe blow to Trump’s credibility as a 2024 candidate.  If he can’t beat Murkowski in Alaska, how can he claim to own the Republican Party?Lisa Murkowski does not have, and has never had, any business representing Alaska in the United States Senate.  Appointed by her father in 2003, she managed to win her 2024 race only because she successfully, and falsely, claimed to be a conservative.  That avenue was no longer open to her in 2010, and she lost the Republican primary to Tea Party candidate Joe Miller.  But the Anchorage Daily News was able to discredit Miller by setting up a journalistic ambush, allowing her financial backers to succeed in running a write in campaign on her behalf.In 2016 she was ripe to be picked off, but no credible conservative challenger emerged.  Mike Dunleavy seriously considered it, but decided to run for Governor instead.Next year she’ll be more vulnerable than ever.  Her vote against the Supreme Court nomination of Brett Kavanaugh was outrageous.  Her explanation, that he lacked judicial temperament, was a blatant lie.  The real reason was her expectation that Kavanaugh would be the fifth vote to overturn Roe v. Wade.Murkowski has been an embarrassment in the Senate.  She’s capricious, a liberal drama queen with limited intelligence.  She’s no more effective than her father was.  As the Wall Street Journal memorably described him in an editorial, Frank Murkowski was, at best, a utility infielder.  If it weren’t for being so closely tied to Trump, Tshibaka could have beaten her, even under ranked choice voting.  But because of Tshibaka’s identification with Trump, in the runoff Democrats and independents will happily vote for a woman they really don’t respect.If, as expected, Republicans are able to organize both the Alaska House and Senate in 2023, 2022 will be an anomaly in Alaska political history.  They’ll be able to pass a bill restoring political primaries, with only the nominees of recognized political parties competing in the general election, with ranked choice voting.  Independents who win 20-25% of the vote on primary day could also be listed as candidates.  The prohibitions against dark money will remain in place.Actually, a statute might not be necessary, since Prop 2 is probably in violation of Tashjian v. Republican Party.  But don’t expect it to be thrown out before the election.  It’s a similar situation to 1986, when the Alaska Supreme Court declared invalid the closed Republican primary.  That decision helped Sen. Ted Stevens defeat David Cuddy in the Republican Senate primary.  The Alaska Court System is friendly to some candidates, and hostile to others.  We have one of the most politically active courts in the country, and they always seem willing to help out candidates and causes that appeal to them.So, if it occurs the 2022 reelection of Murkowski will have an asterisk by it,  “Made possible because of no political primary.”  But she’ll still have six more years to pretend that she should be taken seriously.If a serious, non-Trump, Republican files by June 1st, her scheme could still be foiled. Distancing yourself from Trump, personally, while endorsing, wholeheartedly, the Trump agenda, is the winning combination.  It worked last month in Virginia.  It will work anywhere.  And there are a number of ways for a senate candidate to attract Democrat votes in the instant runoff.  I’ll volunteer my services if someone electable steps forward..
Fritz Pettyjohn was Frank Murkowski’s deputy campaign manager in 1980, and once had hopes of succeeding him in the Senate.

Don Young has run for Congress 25 times, and lost once, in 1972, to incumbent Nick Begich, who was killed in a plane crash three weeks before the election. He beat Emil Notti in 1973, and then, successively, State Senators Willie Hensley, Eben Hopson and Pat Rodey. After defeating Pat Parnell and Dave Carlson, he faced Begich’s widow, Peggy, in 1984 and 1986. Then he crushed Peter Gruenstein in 1988, but had a serious challenge from Valdez Mayor John Devens in 1990 and 1992, winning with less than a majority the second time.

Young then breezed through reelection until 20008, when he faced Lieutenant Governor Sean Parnell (son of 1980 opponent Pat Parnell) in the Republican primary, and won by only 304 votes. In the general election he defeated Ethan Berkowitz 50-45. He hasn’t been seriously challenged since.

Now he’s in Donald Trump’s crosshairs, and of all the targets of the former President he seems the least concerned. His sin is bucking Trump and voting for the infrastructure bill, giving President Biden a much needed win. But if given the opportunity, Young will always vote for any bill that brings federal money to Alaska. He’s the king of pork, and the proud sponsor of the infamous “bridge to nowhere”, which was so outrageous it helped bring an end to congressional earmarks. He never has, and he never will, pay a political price for bringing the bacon home to Alaska.

Working as a team with former Senator Ted Stevens, the Alaska Congressional delegation routinely brought home a billion dollars a year in federal largess, providing both needed projects and economic stimulus. As Chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, Stevens had a reliable partner in the House in Don Young, crediting him with never failing to secure House passage of projects that came over from the Senate.

Don is now 88, and unable to get around as he once did. Some speculate that he isn’t serious about running for his 25th term, and may pull out of the race at some point. But now that he’s the target of Donald Trump’s ire, that is far less likely. Don relishes a good fight, and bowing out under pressure from the Trump brigade would be an ignominious end to a brilliant political career. I suspect the attacks from Trump will only energize him, and make him more determined than ever to go out a winner.

He sure didn’t seem concerned at the infrastructure signing ceremony outside the White House, joking around with President Biden, and complaining to him that his speech was too long, and Don was getting cold. Is Don Young afraid of Donald Trump? I don’t think so.

In fact, 2022 may spell the effective end of Trump’s influence in the Republican Party. He is so humiliated by his loss to Biden that he won’t let go of his claim that the election was stolen, even though no court in the land has given him any reason to think this can be proven. Every day of Biden’s miserable, disastrous Presidency is a rebuke to Trump, personally. He’s responsible for this. He lost to this guy?

A month before the 2016 election he was revealed as a sexist pig by the Access Hollywood tape, and he was written off. But then eleven days before the election James Comey of the FBI reopened the probe into Hillary Clinton’s emails. As he subsequently admitted, this decision was influenced by Comey’s confidence in Trump’s defeat. Even though the probe was concluded before the election, the damage had been done. Trump the Improbable was elected President.

Trump beat, by a whisker, one of the most disliked and mistrusted Presidential nominees in history, Then in 2020 he lost to a man who clearly had no business running for President, as his brief tenure in the White House has amply demonstrated.

Donald Trump is a lousy politician. He’s one of the most divisive men in American political history, roundly despised by half the country. He’s unelectable, and only manages to stay in the spotlight by encouraging speculation that he’ll run again.

You think Don Young is worried about Donald Trump? With ranked choice voting, he’s in a stronger position than ever. In addition to his longstanding ties with, and service to, the Alaska Native community, he’s always been a reliable vote for organized labor. Against a Republican backed by Trump, he’ll prevail in a runoff with virtually the entire Democrat vote.

So get ready for two more years of one of the last true characters in American politics — the Indestructible Don Young of Alaska. When he finally does exit the stage, we’ll all miss him.

Former Alaska state legislator Fritz Pettyjohn once briefly thought about running against Don Young himself. Very briefly.

New Jersey Senate President Steve Sweeney will soon be accepting donations to the think tank he is founding in Trenton, New Jersey. Some of the big money donations he’ll be getting will be from the dark money people who are fighting campaign finance reform in this country, people like George Soros and the Kochs. Their coming donations explain his sponsorship of ACR 222, which repeals a campaign finance law that Sweeney voted for a few short years ago. The donations are a thinly disguised bribe.

Nick Begich III seeks to represent Alaska in Congress, as his grandfather did from 1970 to 1972. Even though Young Nick is a conservative Republican businessman he is suspect in the eyes of many Republicans because of the politics of his uncles Mark and Tom. A better place to look for Young Nick’s inspiration is to look at the all too brief career of the Original Nick Begich.

Elected to the State Senate in 1962 at the age of 30, in 1970 Begich beat Republican Frank Murkowski 55-45 for the right to succeed Republican Representative Howard Pollock, . (Pollock ran for Governor and lost). At this time development of the oil field discovered at Prudhoe Bay in 1968 was stalled because of Alaska Native Land Claims.

As a freshman Congressman in 1971, Begich worked with Alaska Natives and with Senators Ted Stevens and Mike Gravel on legislation to settle these claims and allow construction of the Trans-Alaska Pipeline System. For Alaska this was, and is, the most important law passed since statehood. Working closely with House Majority Leader Hale Boggs of Louisiana, Begich won passage of the Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act. Thirteen regional Native Corporations were established, and given the rights to 40 million acres of Alaska lands. This critical bill passed the House 343-63, and the rush to the Arctic was on. This was the birth of modern Alaska.

Boggs was in line to become Speaker of the House following Carl Albert of Oklahoma. He was so impressed with Begich that he flew to Alaska in October of 1972 to help him win reelection. On a flight from Anchorage to Juneau their Cessna 310 went down in mysterious circumstances and was never found. House Majority Whip Tip O’Neill took over for Boggs as Majority Leader and Don Young was elected to replace Begich. In 1977 it was O’Neill, not Boggs, who became Speaker after Albert.

Who knows how far Begich could have gone if he and Boggs had not been killed? He was destined for leadership in Congress, and was poised to become a great asset to the people of the State of Alaska. If his grandson needs a role model, he will not be looking to his uncles. All he needs to do is walk in the steps of one of the founders of modern Alaska, the Original Nick Begich.

The issue of federal lands in Alaska has not been settled to Alaska’s satisfaction to this day. In fact, the federal government still owns 61% of Alaska lands. Why? There’s no satisfactory answer to that question. In his 2016 campaign for President, Sen, Ted Cruz promised to support transferring federal lands to the states. His opponent, Donald Trump, was opposed. His son, Donald Trump Jr., acting on behalf of Safari Club International, convinced him to adopt this position, and in an interview with Field & Stream magazine he said he didn’t trust the states with the land. The wealthy trophy hunters of Safari Club fear the states, if given title, would give hunting preferences to their residents. Cruz was able to campaign and win on this issue in northern Nevada, Alaska, Idaho, Wyoming and Utah.

In the 2024 Republican presidential primaries this question will resurface, as candidates compete to win delegates in the mountain west. As Ted Cruz proved in 2016, it’s a winning issue. As a result, if a Republican other than Donald Trump wins the Presidency, Alaska and the other states of the mountain west will almost surely have an ally in the White House as they seek to reduce federal landholdings in their states. Who better to represent Alaska on this issue than the namesake and grandson of the Original Nick Begich?