Why Alaskans need Barack Obama to be the Democratic Presidential nominee.

It is easy to talk about the nomination of Barack Obama and his potential Presidency in lofty terms that seem far removed from the actual day to day problems that are facing each of us in our individual cities and states.

So I thought I would use my own situation here in Anchorage Alaska to demonstrate how important and impactful I believe having Obama run and win the Presidency in 2008 is to me and my state.

For the first time in 40 years we have a politician with a real chance of unseating our eternal Republican Senator Ted Stevens. Stevens has been one of our only two state Senators since 1968. He has done a lot of good things for our state, but he is firmly in the pocket of big oil and big business, and it is past time for a real change.

Now that change is embodied in Mark Begich. Mark has been the mayor of Anchorage for the past five years. He is well respected and has a lot of support here in Anchorage as well is in the surrounding municipality. He is currently working to get his name out to the people living in the vastness of the Alaskan bush community.

In forty years nobody has ever had a chance to unseat Senator Stevens. Every attempt has met with crushing defeat. Ted can snap his fingers and have his election coffers filled to overflowing with money from special interests and friends with deep pockets.

But this year is different. Ted is being investigated by the FBI concerning allegations that he is involved with VECO whose vice president Bill Allen has already plead guilty to bribery and conspiracy charges. . They even raided his Girdwood home.

And if that wasn't bad enough, even Ted's son, Ben Stevens, has been chased out of political office by charges of corruption.

So it looks pretty bad for the 85 year old Uncle Ted in the next election cycle.

But there is one thing that might sabotage this easy road to victory over Senator Stevens, and that is New York Senator and current potential Democratic Presidential nominee Hillary Clinton.
How you may ask? Simple. The Republicans are beaten down and reeling under weight of scandals both sexual and financial. From Senator Larry Craig to our own Congressman Don Young, the Republican scandals are wounds that are gushing both money and support.

The one thing that will rally this scandal ridden organization is the opportunity to run against Hillary Clinton. They have prepared for battle against her since she first started her run for the New york Senate seat. They know they can beat her and that will bring them together like nothing else will. This is not mere conjecture on my part. This has been reported over and over again by journalists who get a peek into the backrooms at Republican gatherings.

So with Hilalry as the Democratic nominee the money will flow into the Republican coffers and EVERY Republican will find themselves with more money and support then they could possible manage to find at this time.

However if Obama wins the nomination everything changes. The Republicans are not ready to run against him. Even if they throw the Reverend Wright "scandal" into the mix it will do little to tip the scales in their favor.

That is why the Republicans nominated John McCain. They think he is literally their only hope of beating Obama. But they are not very confident of that at all.

And Barack's message of hope is exactly the kind of message that many Democrats running for various seats in their states can latch onto and use to raise up their own candidacy as well as link to a powerful politician and his inspiring message.

And it fits in very well with Mark Begich's platform as well. With Obama as our Presidential candidate Alaskan Democrats have a real chance to finally get a Democratic Senator after forty years of Republican domination.

I was an Obama supporter before Begich declared his candidacy. But now that he has I am going to put ALL of my energy toward helping both Barack and Mark get elected.

Remember WE are who we have been waiting for. And I, for one, am tired of waiting.