Best ADN Quote

This has to be an all time best, from ADN's front page story on Alaskans at the RNC:

"Isaacson ... had never been in New York before. From what he had heard, the town was full of Democrats and muggers, the kind of place where crazy people lived."

Democrats and muggers ... indeed, NYC is a modern-day Sodom.

In an earlier post, I bemoaned the lack of Democratic candidates (who are not wackos) on the primary ballot. A Knowles staffers fielded a theory that the Democrats don't field a good slate of candidates because the legislature is essentially a political "farm system." As relatively few Democrats have been elected in the last ten years, goes the theory, relatively few Demoncrats have learned the ropes as Legislative Aides, and we see that reflected on the ballot.

I can't say I agree with this explanation. First, we had a Democratic governor for eight years, with plenty of opportunities for young Ds to "learn the ropes," and, more importantly, to get some statewide name recognition.

More significantly, the whole "farm system" idea does not seem quite on point to me. Sure, LA positions allow young future politicos the chance to cut their teeth on government jobs, but these people are learning skills and making connections not to support future runs for office, but rather to be included in future campaigns and thus to be part of the field of candidates for the patronage jobs that go with elective office. I don't have hard numbers on this, but my guess is that relatively few LAs go on to elective office, but you'll find a lot in, say, the Dept. of Administration.

This is not to say that it is unimportant for the Dems to have a group of people who know how the game is played - to the contrary, it is very important.

But it doesn't explain why nobody reasonable is willing to run against Don Young (Anger Management Poster Child for All Alaskans!), or why so many Rs are running unopposed.

This is a significant issue. As we saw in the primary, there is a real sense of anger growing in this state against the arrogance of the Majority. (I'm referring to Bob Lynn's primary battle, by the way). People - Alaskans especially - don't like government operating behind closed doors. They don't like blatant cronyism and nepotism. The Rs have simply let the arrogance of power get hold of them, and they aren't even bothering to hide it. It's an incredible opportunity for the Democrats - beneficial districting combined with the voters' "throw the bums out" anger - and they can't even field a candidate - ANY candidate - in some races.

This is a problem with the party's organizational structure. They need to get out recruiting and supporting candidates for EVERY OFFICE - from Senator to School Board.

If you're not talking, you can be sure nobody's listening.

Stand up for Your Cronies!

A Screeder writes in on Gov. Dorkowski's latest:

"This is just another indication that the governorship really is just about plunder for Frank Murkowski.

We have had a judicial appointment system that has worked in this state for over 35 years. Now he apparently wants to revise it so that he can appoint one of his cronies to a judgeship. To do so, he is apparently willing to make the argument that Alaska doesn't need the "most qualified" candidates for judgeships - we only need "qualified candidates." In other words, the best is too good for this state if it will interfere with Frank's "rewards" system.

I wonder if this is another signal of Frank's DC alienation from much of the rest of Alaska Republicans. Several of the judicial committee members are Republicans, but they apparently failed to see the urgent need to provide Frank with a wholly partisan slate of candidates.

Has anyone ever explained why Frank wanted to be governor? Was it simply to appoint his daughter and give her a head start in the race against Knowles? Will he really live in Alaska when he retires?"

Right on the money. Indeed, cronyism seems to be the only principle Gov. Dorkowski is willing to stand up to protect.

Now, for the record, Scott Nordstrand (the Dorkowski partisan to whom the Gov. wanted to gift a judgeship) is a nice guy, and an experienced attorney, and I was surprised that he didn't make the cut. This is nothing against him.

But he didn't make the cut, and that's the judicial council's call. Frank's already had plenty of input onto the JC - he's appointed members, he's bullied it by threatening to cut its funding, blah blah blah. His present fit of pique is just a childish show of disrespect for the public and for the existence of an effective, non-partisan process. Because nothing is non-partisan with a man like Dorkowski ...

Trust dem folks

The AK Supreme Court's decision on the "Trust the People" initiative has been released (warning: .pdf). Clearly underscoring the decision, and never given any real play by our local "Liberal Media," is the absolute poverty of Lite Gov. Leman's and Political Shill General Renkes' legal position.

I'll have more to say in a later post about the Republican Party's lawyerization of politics, but, simply put, the notion of serving the public interest and of respect for the rule of law seem to have less than no meaning for these people - it is the Party's political interest that they serve, first last and always. They've never had any plausible argument to keep this initiative off the ballot. And if Gov. Dorkowski didn't want to have this argument, he never should have appointed his daughter in the first place.

A big couple of days, with surprising political news.

First, a hearty congratulations to the Republican primary voters in Kenai and the Talkeetna area. Their votes have rid us of those political carbuncles, Bev Masek and Jerry Ward - two very commendable results.

If I don't seem to be leaping for the sky in celebration, well, I'm not. Sen Waggoner will likely remain in the Kenai seat as a reliable vote for Gov. Dorkowski and the reactionary boobs in charge of the Majority, and the leader in the Talkeetna race is a fellow who's claim to fame is having been hand selected for Dorkowski's phony "Conference of Alaskans" - although I don't know much about him, that is hardly a high recommendation. Nonetheless, Masek and Ward represent the worst of Alaska politics: reactionary, thuggish, ill-informed, and, most importantly, corrupt. We're a better state without them involved in government.

As for Sen. Ogan's (R - Evergreen) resignation - I must admit to being somewhat shocked. I had, frankly, judged him as a man incapable of recognizing the public's best interest if it bit him on the ass (see my earlier post on Ogan), but perhaps I was wrong. Whatever his reasons (and I can't help but think that his poor health did not have something to do with this), it was a stand-up decision, and the right thing to do. A recall campaign could only have been devisive and bitter, and a successful recall would have cast a long shadow over the State's elections for years to come. So (gulp), well done, Mr. Ogan. You should be proud of yourself.

Back in the Saddle

After a two-week hiatus, I am refreshed and ready for ... er ... for whatever this is.

It's primary day in Alaska. Will the Democrats ever be able to field a full slate of reasonable candidates? I often wonder how the collection of reprobates in our legislature ever got elected, and then I look at the competition ... and I stop wondering.

The Party Gasline

It's always surprising to me when I speak to relatively intelligent people who have accepted the notion that opening ANWR to exploration will be this huge economic boon to the state (and thus rank political candidates according to their stand on the issue), but give no thought to the natural gas pipeline.

NPRA has been open for some time and is geologically similar to ANWR, yet there has been no rush to exploration there, nor any major discovery ... the majors have all announced that they will not be spending resources on new exploration anywhere in Alaska, including ANWR ... where exactly will this "ANWR boom" come from? ANWR is, for the most part, a political fiction - a red meat issue for both sides.

The gas, though, is there, and we know it. The market for the gas is also there, and we know it (in Alaska and the lower 48 for the gas, and in Asia for LNG). Whether you're for or against it, this is the only resource issue where real money is in play for Alaska right now, and any public figure's position on the gas line has a lot to say about them.

One such figure that comes to mind is Scott Ogan (R - Evergreen), but Borealis has the take on this one already.

When Scott Ogan (R - Evergreen) was first accused of ethical improprieties in relation to his "consulting" work, he was steamin' mad, lashing out at those ne'er do wells who dared accuse him. Soon thereafter, though, he adopted a tone of resigned patience, as of a parent with a troublesome child. In the midst of the original burst of pubicity, he appeared on Nellie Moore's "Talk of Alaska" with the stated goal of "educating" people about why it should be just fine that a company involved with a highly technical and controversial resource extraction technique should want to hire him - a rural cabinetmaker - as a "consultant," when that company had a major financial incentive in legislation crossing his desk. Hard to say which was the better choice, PR-wise.

I won't spend much time undermining Ogan's half-baked reasoning in defense of his position, or making the obvious points that his work gave rise to a clear conflict of interest and an appearance of impropriety. I really want to look at two other points.

The first is that Ogan really seems to believe that all this is and should be perfectly acceptable (just like Baby Hulk does on a much larger scale). Ogan even acknowledged that he was being paid for his "knowledge of the way the system works;" in other words for his insider connections and know-how. But that's what lobbyists do. It's bad enough that lobbyists get trained on the public's dime in the first place - but doing it while you're in office? And not seeing that it's a problem? I guess that's what happens when a political party becomes too closely aligned with an interest group - the distinctions among the Alaska Republicans, the Legislature, and the extractive industries are just not clear anymore, even (or maybe espeially) to those in the mix.

The second point is that I'm nonetheless uncomfortable with the whole recall effort - call it the Gray Davis Blues, but I'd rather see Ogan go down the same exit ramp as ol' Jerry Sanders.