Republican Senate candidate Dan Sullivan attacks Mark Begich for "pretending to ride a snowmachine" in campaign ad. Really?

Courtesy of The Wall Street Journal:  

Alaska Democrat Mark Begich drew high praise from fellow Democrats and Republicans for his TV ads that have, among other things, depicted him riding a snowmobile across his state’s frozen tundra, then hopping off to tout his support for oil drilling. 

But Republican challenger Dan Sullivan’s campaign isn’t so sure that it’s actually Mr. Begich. The former state attorney general is out with an advertisement Wednesday that says the Democrat is “pretending” to ride a snow machine, as the vehicles are known in Alaska. 

And it’s not the first shot at Mr. Begich’s authenticity and dedication to Alaska, which the Democrat has made the centerpiece of his re-election bid – his slogan is “True Alaska.” Last month, Americans for Prosperity knocked Mr. Begich for missing votes in the Senate, an effort to undercut the heart of his message.

Here is the ad that inspired this attack on Begich.
Of course Begich took umbrage at the attack to his honesty and had this to say in response:

But Begich said Wednesday that Sullivan, who’s challenging him in one of the most critical Senate battlegrounds of the cycle, should “pull that ad. It’s not factual.” 

In an interview, Begich described the lengths to which he went to shoot the spot. 

“One guy for example, wore an AR-15 around his shoulders because the area we were going to is where polar bears are, and he wanted to make sure we weren’t going to be attacked,” Begich said. “To say that I wasn’t on that snow machine riding it? I rode it for a long time out there and in weather that was very cold that day to the point where I frostbit part of my ear.” 

You know attacking Begich for political points of view is fair game, but the man is a tried and true Alaskan. And he doesn't have to shoot a gun, wrestle a grizzly, OR ride a snowmachine to prove that to any of us. 

I met Mark when he was a pimply faced high school kid, and even then he was involved in politics. There was never any doubt he was going to run for something when he grew up.

Both my daughter and Dennis Zaki have made commercials up here so I am well aware of the tricks of the trade, and it is pretty clear that Begich is indeed out in the elements. And since driving a snowmachine is not that hard I have little doubt that was he was one of the three snowmachiners riding up to the camera as well.

And by the way I find it a little insulting to my intelligence that the same ad where Sullivan  attacks Begich for fake snowmachine riding, ends with footage of Sullivan fake running in a area that I doubt he has ever even visited before.