The Gift

A while back I had a post about the AK Democrats longstanding inability to field a decent slate of candidates. It's not just that they had Theresa Obermeyer running for statewide office (although that was a terrible embarassment on a statewide scale, which reflected very poorly on the party - on the other hand, it verified the old saw that one would have to be nuts to run against Ted Stevens), it's that they field weak candidates in many races and can't even find candidates to challenge for a number of seats. This is the kind of organizational weakness that feeds on itself - it's a serious problem.

Just how serious may be shown by this election. Team Dorkowski has handed the AK Dems a gift they are not likely to see again soon - through a combination of their incompetence, their lack of ethics, and their tin political ear, Team Dorkowski has alienated a conservative electorate from the Republican Party. This is the Dems' best chance to pick up seats in years, and they likely will pick up some, but they won't take the legislature ... and they could if they were well-positoned to do so. ... them ol' grass roots need some fertilizer, it seems to me...