In his desperate need to undo everything that Obama accomplished Donald Trump even wanted to change the name of North America's highest mountain, which happens to be in Alaska.

This was from a story in Alaska Dispatch published two ago about Senator Dan Sullivan's appearance at the Alaska Federation of Natives convention.

During that appearance Sullivan shared this anecdote:  

He described an hour-plus meeting that he and Sen. Lisa Murkowski had a few months back with Trump and Interior Sec. Ryan Zinke in the Oval Office. 

"We had maps and we were talking all about Alaska issues. So many issues. Our fisheries. Whaling, the culture of whaling in Alaska. The economy. The military," Sullivan said. 

They brought up Obama administration actions that they said hurt Alaska, such as a block on the King Cove-Cold Bay road through the Izembek National Wildlife Refuge, Sullivan said. 

On each one, Trump asked Zinke: "Can we change that and help Alaska?" 

Trump thought of one on his own. Wasn't the name of a big mountain in Alaska changed by executive order? he asked, referring to Denali, the former Mount McKinley named for the president from Ohio. 

"Lisa — Sen. Murkowski — and I jumped over the desk. We said no, no!" said Sullivan, who is originally from Ohio. 

Why? Trump asked. 

"The Alaska Native people named that mountain over 10,000 years ago," Sullivan said he told him. "Denali, that was the name."

Not that we needed it, but this is just more proof that Trump's presidency is almost exclusively defined by his desire to undo every single thing that President Obama accomplished during his eight years in office.

By  the way you can bet big money that if Murkowski and Sullivan had not seen their political future pass before their eyes at the prospect of being blamed for the renaming of Denali, that Trump would already have written that executive order and christened it "Trump Mountain."

A number of Republican Senators are begging Mitch McConnell to cancel the August recess for fear of what they may face from constituents this 4th of July after failing to make progress on a health care bill.

Courtesy of WaPo: 

An even larger group of Senate Republicans suggested Friday that McConnell should scale back or cancel the chamber’s month-long August recess, given the lack of progress they have made on not just health care but a tax-code overhaul, spending bills, the debt ceiling and a budget resolution. 

Senate Republicans David Perdue (Ga.), Steve Daines (Mont.), Joni Ernst (Iowa), John Neely Kennedy (La.), James Lankford (Okla.), Mike Lee (Utah), Mike Rounds (S.D.), Luther Strange (Ala.), Dan Sullivan (Alaska) and Thom Tillis (N.C.) sent McConnell a letter Friday asking him to shorten or cancel the August recess so they can get more done. 

“Delivering meaningful results was never assumed to be easy, but the millions of Americans who placed their confidence in our leadership expect our full and best effort,” the 10 senators wrote. 

Republicans are steeling themselves for attacks on their health-care negotiations over the July Fourth recess, with progressive activists planning to pressure any members of Congress they see at public events. Most GOP senators were keeping their plans close to their vests, though a handful, including Cassidy, Ted Cruz (Tex.), Susan Collins (Maine), Jerry Moran (Kan.) and Lisa Murkowski (Alaska) have announced town halls or parade visits. 

Collins, a vocal critic of the current Senate draft, had publicized just one scheduled appearance — in the 1,300-person town of Eastport, Maine, near the Canadian border. 

At (Louisiana Senator Bill) Cassidy’s town hall at the Living Faith Christian Center in Baton Rouge, he tried to make the case for transitioning Medicaid recipients into private insurance. But constituents interrupted him repeatedly, prompting him to chastise them for being rude. 

“I’ll tell you what’s rude — kicking 22 million people off of health care in this country,” said a man in the front row after the senator recognized him to speak. 

The audience erupted into cheers. 

Reminding Cassidy, a medical doctor, of his stint treating patients at a hospital for the uninsured, the man continued: “You worked at Earl K. Long for many years. You know what people are like at their lowest.” 

Senate Democrats are staging events aimed at highlighting how the Senate’s draft bill could hurt health-care delivery in their home states. Sen. Heidi Heitkamp (D-N.D.) is visiting at least two rural hospitals over the break to underscore the impact of proposed funding cuts.

Yeah I bet these GOP Senators are absolutely dreading these 4th of July events.  

I think that Alaska's two senators are only planning on attending the parades, but I have little doubt that they will be inundated with demands that they protect Medicaid and work to expand health coverage up here.

I especially think that is true of Lisa, who many see as being much more likely to reject the GOP plan, and who is the subject of a lot of anti-repeal advertising on our local radio and television stations right now.

This new GOP health care bill screws Alaskans royally.

Courtesy of TPM:

This is the average difference in credits in 2020 for people buying insurance in marketplaces/exchanges under Obamacare and Ryan/GOP/Trumpcare. The big difference illustrated here is that in addition to making it dramatically harder to buy insurance, Trumpcare doesn't factor in how costs vary from state to state. 

So if you're from Alaska, you're screwed bigly - and pretty much everywhere else too, but a bit less.

Look we're Alaskans, we are quite used to paying exorbitant prices for just about EVERYTHING.  But this at least twice as much as everybody else in the country.

And if that were not bad enough, and trust me from an Alaskan standpoint it is, the new bill also depletes Medicaid at an accelerated pace.

Once again courtesy of TPM:

By repealing a payroll tax on high earners that provided a critical additional revenue stream for the Medicare trust fund, the GOP's proposed American Health Care Act would speed up the fund’s exhaustion by as many as three to four years, according to estimates from health care policy experts. 

“It’s clear, simple and undeniable that this bill would aversely affect the solvency of Medicare,” Paul Van De Water, a Medicare expert at the left-leaning Center on Budget and Policy Priorities told TPM. 

So even though Alaskans are already getting screwed, older Alaskans will get screwed even harder.

Not that the Republicans give two shits because they have long been dedicated to undermining every social program available to help those Americans in need.

So has this had any impact on support for this bill from Alaska's representatives?

Well Don Young has been largely silent on the issue, while Dan Sullivan has expressed an interest in keeping parts of Obamacare in place, but has not spoken publicly about his bill in particular.

Lisa Murkowski however HAS spoken about the bill and seems to be trapped between a rock and a hard place: 

Murkowski is not yet giving the house GOP leadership's plan her stamp of approval. 

“It's kind of premature to say I’m there or not there,” she said. 

She's one of four senators who sent a letter to Majority Leader Mitch McConnell expressing their concerns about the future of Medicaid. 

“We wanted to just make very clear that we want to be there for our constituents who have received the benefit of Medicaid expansion. Pulling the rug out from under those vulnerable populations is not really the direction we want to go,” explained the senator. 

Murkowski is troubled by parts of the new plan that would give the same tax credits to patients no matter what state they're from. 

“Our costs in alaska are higher than anywhere else in the country,” Murkowski noted.

I don't really see how any of these three can sign onto this bill and then be secure in their chances for reelection.  

There political opponents are sure to use a vote in favor of this bill to paint the three Republicans as heartless, cruel, and disconnected from the needs of their constituents.

But then again being heartless and cruel has certainly never cost Don Young very many votes. 

Having worked their magic in getting Lisa Murkowski to vote no against Trump's Education Secretary appointee, Alaskans turn their attention to Senator Dan Sullivan.

Courtesy of ADN:

Alaskans who spent weeks lobbying Sen. Lisa Murkowski to oppose Betsy Devos' nomination for U.S. education secretary are now turning their attention to the state's junior senator, Dan Sullivan.

But they'll have their work cut out for them. Sullivan, R-Alaska, has made it clear he intends to vote to confirm DeVos. 

Unless one more senator strays across the aisle in either direction, Vice President Mike Pence will be left to cast a tie-breaking vote. It is a situation without precedent. 

And so Alaskans who last week flooded Murkowski's phone lines and inboxes and who showed up at her offices are hoping they can talk Sullivan into switching his vote over the weekend.

I have to admit that I have become pretty jaded by Alaskan politics over the years, and would typically think that everybody was wasting their time in pressuring Sullivan to change his vote.

After all he sold his soul to the Koch brothers long ago. 

But that was before I saw thousands of Alaskan women protesting in the middle of a snowstorm and then inundating Lisa Murkowski's office with phone calls and e-mails until she yelled "no mas" and finally did the right thing.

Sullivan is definitely a harder sell, but if I have learned anything it is to NEVER underestimate the power of a bunch of female protesters wearing pussy hats.

Sullivan's contact number in Washington is (202)-224-3004.

The one in Anchorage is  (907) 271-5915.

And you can find several more by clicking here.

You can also e-mail him here.

Remember it is always better to have tried and failed, then to never have tried at all.

With Trump Administration coming into power Alaska delegation sees new opportunity to open ANWR.

Courtesy of the Fairbanks Newsminer:

Another chapter has begun in the decades-long battle over drilling the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. 

U.S. Sens. Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan introduced legislation Friday that would open a section of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to limited oil and gas exploration, according to a news release from the U.S. Senate Energy Committee on Energy and Natural Resources. 

 The proposed Alaska Oil and Gas Production Act would allow development of 2,000 surface acres in the refuge’s coastal plain. When the refuge was expanded and renamed under the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act in 1980.

1.5 million acres — often referred to as section 1002 — was designated as a deferred oil and gas development sigh that requires congressional approval to be developed. Oil and gas exploration would occur within the 1002 area. 

“For nearly 40 years, Alaskans have proven that we can responsibly develop our natural resources while protecting the environment,” Murkowski said in the news release. “Alaskans overwhelmingly support responsible development in the non-wilderness portion of ANWR and there is no valid reason why we should not be allowed to proceed. Allowing development would create new jobs, reduce our deficits, and protect our national security and competitiveness for a generation.”

Of course as every Alaskan knows this is the holy grail of Alaskan politics, and no politician, on other side of the ideological fence, can be elected without voicing support for the opening of ANWR. 

However the article also mentions that by the time oil was discovered, drilled out of the ground, and ready to send through the pipeline ten years would have passed.

That is ten more years of progress with renewable energy research around the world, ten more years of moving away from fossil fuels, and ten more years of oil prices dropping until it is no longer financially viable to explore and tap new sources of crude oil.

I think that this is a pipe dream. (Pardon the pun.)

I am not saying that it cannot pass with a GOP majority in the House and Senate and Trump in the White House, I am simply saying even if it does pass it is unlikely that Alaska will see any revenue from new oilfields in ANWR.

I also think that many of our politicians already know that and are only playing this game because they feel they have no choice.

It is rare that I get the opportunity to say something positive about Alaska's two Republican Senators. But now I can.

Courtesy of The Hill: 

Alaska’s two senators have resigned from leadership posts in their state’s Republican Party after denouncing Donald Trump, according to a new report. 

Sens. Lisa Murkowski and Dan Sullivan voluntarily stepped down over the weekend as honorary members of their party’s state central committee, The Associated Press said Wednesday. 

The AP said it confirmed the pair’s decision Tuesday with Murkowski campaign spokesman Robert Dillon. Party officers are expected to back party candidates.

Murkowski and Sullivan both sharply criticized Trump last weekend following the release of a controversial recording of the billionaire.

“I cannot and will not support Donald Trump for president,” Murkowski tweeted last Saturday, one day after the tape’s emergence. "He has forfeited the right to be our party’s nominee.” 

“I will continue to campaign for Republican candidates across Alaska and the country,” Sullivan said in his own statement after the footage’s emergence.

Look I am not going to pretend that this is not a political calculation on the part of these two, especially Sullivan who I don't think makes a move without a Koch brother pulling one of his strings, but having said that this is still a good thing deserving of at least a little praise.

However what is even more interesting about this move on the part of Murkowski and Sullivan is that they surely did a little internal polling to see how this would affect their future in Alaska politics. (Remember Murkowski is running for reelection in 2016.)

The fact that they went forward with this indicates that they felt there was more of a positive to doing so than a negative.

Now I am not saying that Alaska is going to go blue for the first time since 1964 (Oh please, oh please, oh please!), but it most certainly means that Trump's support among Republicans up here is disappearing faster than those SarahPAC donations.

Alaska Senator Dan Sullivan, another dedicated Koch sucker, gets a prime time speaking slot at the GOP national convention.

Courtesy of Alaska Dispatch:

Alaska U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan has nabbed a prime-time speaking slot at this year's Republican National Convention. 

Sullivan will take the dais Tuesday evening with nine of his freshman Republican Senate colleagues in a bid to recount the party's 2014 wins that allowed Republicans to capture the Senate majority, which they hope to retain this year, according to the senator's office. 

Sullivan will deliver a speech onstage.

I personally have heard so little about Sullivan since he was elected that I almost suspected he might be in a witness protection program somewhere.

I actually had to go to his Senate page to find out what he has been up to and the answer is as little as possible.

Essentially Sullivan hasn't done dick.

And if he did that it's because one of the Koch brothers slapped one against his cheek and told him to earn his keep.

This guy is NOT an Alaskan, he is NOT working for Alaskans, and the only reason he has a speaking slot is because the people whose ass he kisses want him to have one.

Mayor Dan drops out.

Courtesy of the Newsminer: 

Former Anchorage Mayor Dan Sullivan withdrew from the race for U.S. Senate today two weeks after he made a last-minute surprise entrance into the Republican primary against incumbent U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski. 

Announced in a statement posted to the Alaska Republican Party’s website, Sullivan said “conservative leaders” encouraged him to enter the race the day before the June 1 filing deadline, and he filed to “keep that option open as I vetted whether or not that would be the best path forward for my family and for Alaska.” 

In the statement, he said after consideration he wanted to keep his focus on local and state issues. 

"However, after evaluating that information and discussing options with friends and family, I have decided to withdraw from the August primary election,” he said. “I believe I can best serve Alaska by staying in Alaska and working on local and statewide issues.”

In other words he does not want to get his ass handed to him by Lisa Murkowski in the primaries, which is absolutely certain to happen.

It's kind of too bad actually, I would really like to watch that happen.

As for the best way he can serve Alaska, well that would be by getting the hell out of Alaska and taking his sleazy politics with him. 

Ex-mayor Dan Sullivan has chosen to lose against Lisa Murkowski in the Republican primary.

Courtesy of AK Public Media: 

Former Anchorage Mayor Dan Sullivan is running against U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski in the Republican Primary.

Sullivan filed minutes before the 5 p.m. deadline for getting on the ballot. It took the state Division of Elections some time to include Sullivan’s name on its list of candidates.

Nobody likes Dan Sullivan, and I mean NOBODY. 

Oh he'll get some support from the teabaggers and some holy rollers, but he will be crushed by the GOP machine up here.

As I have said before for all intents and purposes Murkowski is bullet proof up here, and even though I am a Democrat I have little faith that either of the potential Democratic challengers will fair any better than Mayor Dan.

Besides if Sullivan won, both of Alaska's Senators would be names Dan Sullivan.

How stupid would that be?

Just another difference in having a Democrat as mayor of Anchorage.

Our old mayor, Dan Sullivan, would have likely had one of his minions run around town trying to find a match for the key so he could steal it and sell it off for parts.

In case you didn't notice, not really a fan of Sullivan.

Koch brother paid-for Alaska Senator Dan Sullivan endorses Koch brother paid-for mayoral candidate Amy Demboski.

Courtesy of Alaska Dispatch: 

U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan endorsed Anchorage mayoral candidate Amy Demboski in a statement released by her campaign Thursday, and a Republican state senator from Anchorage, Lesil McGuire, came out in favor of Ethan Berkowitz in a radio ad that began running the same day. 

Sullivan, a Republican, appeared at a fundraiser for Demboski earlier in April. He made his endorsement official Thursday.

This of course would probably count as the least surprising news of the day, since we know that Sullivan is a Koch brother lackey who readily jumps through Koch brother hoops.

What is somewhat more surprising is that fellow Republican Lesil McGuire came out in support of Ethan Berkowitz, the Democrat.

In the ad supporting Berkowitz, McGuire, who worked with Berkowitz in the Alaska Legislature, speaks directly to listeners. The ad was produced by Berkowitz for a Better Anchorage, a union-funded independent expenditure group. 

“As a Republican, I want a mayor that gets the basics done right,” McGuire says. “Good roads, great schools and strong public safety. In this election we can also have someone with vision and integrity and a proven record of bringing people together.” 

She describes Berkowitz as a “gifted public servant who will work with all sides” and a small business owner.

I have had some issues in the past with McGuire but she shows some backbone here is refusing to support the candidate supposedly on her side of the aisle and instead supporting the one that can actually do the job. 

Ethan is indeed a talented and ethical man, and as yesterday's post proves Amy Demboski is neither.

Election day!

Well today is election day here in Anchorage, Alaska.

Perhaps the most important choice is for a new mayor to replace Dan Sullivan, possibly the worst mayor we have had in the last twenty years.

The choices for that position are as follows.

• Jacob Seth Kern 
• Dustin Darden 
• Amy Demboski - Anchorage Assembly member 
• Timothy Huit 
• Christopher Jamison 
• Samuel Joseph Speziale III 
• Ethan Berkowitz - Former Alaska House of Representatives Minority Leader 
• Andrew Halcro - Former Alaska House of Representatives member and 2006 Alaska gubernatorial candidate 
• Dan Coffey - Former Anchorage Assembly member 
• Paul Bauer - Former Anchorage Assembly member 
• Lance Ahern 
• Spencer Halgren

If you know any of the names on that list it is most likely that you will recognize Andrew Halcro, who ran against Sarah Palin and  Tony Knowles for Governor back in 2006, and then became a blogger for a time, and Ethan Berkowitz who ran against Don Young in 2008, and lost after an aggressively disputed tally of the votes.

Dan Coffey is the guy caught on tape talking about buying votes and Amy Demboski is the Anchorage Assembly member who introduced an ordinance in response to our new pot legalization law to forbid the sale of marijuana within city limits.  So you can imagine how popular she will be.

Currently it is suggested that the race is too close for one candidate to emerge victorious after today's vote, which means we can all look forward to a runoff election, one that will most likely have Berkowitz facing off against Halcro. 

Personally I think we desperately need a Democrat in the Mayoral office, after eight years of Dan Sullivan, and will vote accordingly.

There are also several bonds on the ballot, and several school board candidates to choose from.

Whatever your political affiliation and position on the issues please make sure to vote today. 

P.S. You can find more about the candidates and bod initiative here.

Koch brothers plan to spend 889 million dollars in 2016. Did anybody else's blood just run cold?

Courtesy of Politico: 

The Koch brothers’ political operation intends to spend $889 million in the run-up to the 2016 elections, according to an attendee at the operation’s annual winter donor gathering in the California desert. 

The spending goal, shared with donors at a Monday morning session at the Rancho Mirage Ritz Carlton, reflects the sweeping ambition of a private conservative political network that in many ways has eclipsed the power of the official Republican Party.

The $889 million spending goal dwarfs the $404 million the Republican National Committee spent during the 2012 election and the $188 million it dropped during last year’s midterm campaign.

Almost a billion dollars spent by one family in an attempt to buy elections. That should frighten just about everybody. 

Unless of you are the beneficiary of that kind of spending of course.

From this same gathering comes this quote:

“Americans have taken an important step in slowing down the march toward collectivism,” Charles Koch said in his speech, seemingly in reference to the Republican takeover of the Senate during the 2014 midterm elections.  

“But as many of you know, we don’t rest on our laurels. We are already back at work and hard at it! In fact, the work never really ends. Because the struggle for freedom never ends,” Koch said.

You know there is a part of me, a hopeful part of me, that wants to believe in the American voter and trust that they cannot be swayed by enormous ad buys in local markets by outside groups.

But then I remember what happened up here in Alaska this last election cycle, and I know I am being naive.

There is simply no way that Dan Sullivan should have beaten Mark Begich, and simply pit without the Koch brothers and Karl Rove he wouldn't have.

Since the Citizens United decision politics has become a numbers game.

In many ways it has ALWAYS been a numbers game, but these days it is not the number of voters that seems to count, it is the number of dollars spent for each of those voters.

Alaskan blogger Amanda Coyne accepts job with newly minted Republican Senator Dan Sullivan. Say what?

Courtesy of Pipeline:  

Amanda Coyne accepted a job as a speechwriter and senior adviser to U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan, she announced over the weekend on her popular Alaska political blog. 

Coyne, who spent more than a decade reporting in Alaska and co-founded the Alaska Dispatch website, will move to Washington for the new job. 

“I’ll still be in and out of the state, and anything can happen,” Coyne wrote in what she described as a final post. “So it’s not goodbye — something more like au revoir, as Hollis French might say.”

This move has not gone over well with the team for the man who Dan Sullivan, and his corporate masters, defeated for the job of Alaska Senator, Mark Begich:

“This is an unfortunate decision after Sullivan paid Coyne thousands for Internet ads,” wrote Max Croes, a former Begich spokesman. “After the election it’s now clear Sullivan had her resume in his hands while basking in favorable coverage from an ‘independent journalist.'”

And Begich is not alone in feeling a little disgusted about this. Here is what our pal Rep. Les Gara had to say yesterday on Facebook:

Hmm. Finally an answer?..To Amanda Coyne's periodic drive-by attacks on certain Democrats, including Yours Truly, and her almost unfailing fawning over Republican top legislative brass? She's now Policy Adviser for Senator for all Corporations, Dan Sullivan. Because, cough, of what she calls his "honesty" and "integrity" - I guess like when he repeatedly tried to create the misimpression SB 21 would double North Slope oil production and make us rich, when he claimed he had no position on the Pebble Mine, which he granted permit after permit to move forward.

I have to admit that I am feeling a little sick to my stomach as well, since during the Palin drunken brawl brouhaha I drove quite a bit of traffic her way, and introduced hundreds of new visitors to her blog. (It's really not that popular.)

I even let her go on television to talk about the Throwdown at the Hoedown, when the opportunity was first offered to me. (Dammit! I could have been a star.) 

In my opinion the least patriotic thing that real Alaskans can do politically these days is to be associated with Dan Sullivan, who essentially bought that Senate seat with money from the Koch brothers and stole it from a man who has always put Alaskans first.

Just another sad day for Alaska bloggers.

P.S. I wanted to make it clear that it is not the fact that Coyne is secretly a conservative that is upsetting me. Actually I did not know, nor care about her politics when I linked to her during the time that the Palin brawl information was just coming to light. 

My problem is that she is working for Dan Sullivan, which I think is a slap in the face to Alaskans.

If she had decided to work for Lisa Murkowski, or a Republican state senator, it would not have bothered me very much at all.

But not Sullivan. It is not about politics, it is about integrity.

The duplicity of Lisa Murkowski, and why moderates should wash their hands of her.

This editorial was written by Fairbanks resident and political activist Sean McGuire. And it comes to us courtesy of the Fairbanks Newsminer:  

Let’s go back four years to August 2010. In what many view as the biggest upset in Alaska political history, Sen. Murkowski was defeated in the primary by the far-right candidate, Joe Miller. She was beaten fair and square. 

What did she do? She spent the next two-plus months running around Alaska pleading with Native Alaskans and moderate Democrats to save her political life with a write-in campaign. She promised she would represent those moderate voters’ interests. Sen. Mark Begich didn’t attempt to interfere; he let Alaskans decide who they wanted. In the end, Natives and Democrats did indeed save her. 

During the next six years, Alaska’s two senators apparently worked well together, collaborating on many issues and voting the same way more than any other split-party senators in the nation. 

Fast forward four years to this election. Sen. Begich, the champion of the Natives — overwhelmingly endorsed by AFN, and a true moderate — was fighting for his political life. 

What did Sen. Murkowski do? When Begich was most vulnerable, she stuck a knife in his back, going on TV and saying she didn’t have a good partner in the Senate. And just as dishonorably, she betrayed all those moderate Democrats who had come to her rescue when her political life was hanging by a thread. 

Politics is a nasty business. But in my opinion, the dishonor Sen. Murkowski displayed is several levels deep. It’s not only that she betrayed those who saved her. There’s a longstanding tradition in the U.S. Senate: you don’t turn on your colleague in an election.

There's more but I think that this really captures the meat of Mr. McGuire's point.

And it is quite a valid point.

Murkowski has demonstrated herself to be a cagey political operative, who quickly calculates where she needs to position herself in order to retain her Senate seat and garner support for the future.

When she needed moderates, she was moderate. And when she believes she needs conservatives, well...she IS still daddy's little girl.

Clearly she recognized that the Republicans would most likely capture the Senate in this elections cycle, and positioned herself accordingly. I am sure in her mind Begich's lost Senate seat is simply an acceptable casualty in her strategy to gain more power.

And she has indeed gained that power.

She will now be given the chairmanship of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, which will allow her to once again campaign for the opening of ANWR, even as we are faced with information about climate change which should dissuade any reasonable person from even entertaining such an idea. (To be fair Mark Begich also promoted the opening of ANWR. You really cannot get elected up here if you are against it.)

The President will of course veto the proposal and it will never happen, but it is once again a move that puts her in alignment with the Republican platform.

And there she will remain right up until it works against her in retaining her seat, and then my friends we will see the Murkowski's political chameleon act once again.

We deserve better that is for sure, however I reiterate once again that Murkowski will undoubtedly hold onto her seat right up until she no longer wants it, or until some unforeseen scandal knocks her out of the running. 

Because that's just the way things work in Alaska.

After day of counting absentee ballots AP calls Alaska Senate race for Dan Sullivan.

Courtesy of Politico:  

Republican Dan Sullivan has won the Alaska Senate race, ousting Democratic incumbent Mark Begich, according to The Associated Press, which called the race for Sullivan late Tuesday night following the first day of counting early and absentee ballots. 

Sullivan leads Begich by 7,911 votes, according to the latest tally. Even though Begich gained some ground on Tuesday, and thousands of ballots are left to be counted, the AP said “the results indicated that Begich could not overcome Sullivan’s lead.” 

“I am deeply humbled and honored to be chosen by my fellow Alaskans to serve them in the United States Senate,” Sullivan said in a statement. “From day one we told our supporters that we would run a campaign that Alaskans could be proud of, and that’s what we did.” 

Begich’s campaign is not conceding, the AP reported. 

As I think some of you are aware I essentially determined that Mark Begich did not have a chance of  pulling out a victory here the day after the election.

In response I received a rather ugly e-mail accusing me of essentially being a traitor and of hurting his chances by writing him off before the ballots had been counted. I am not sure how my post could make ballots magically disappear but apparently I have incredible powers of which I remain blissfully unaware.

Look I doubt there are too many people up here that wanted Mark to win more than I did. Hell I even had the only Mark Begich sign for several blocks around.

But facts are facts, and as progressives we respect the facts.

This election was obviously for sale, and in the end the Democrats simply did not have the money to compete.

It is clear to everybody that Dan Sullivan is a Koch whore, and he is certainly not the only one representing us in Washington.

And look who finally came out to connect her name to Sullivan now that it is no longer a political liability.

It's time to face the facts.

Courtesy of Alaska Dispatch:  

Republican U.S. Senate candidate Dan Sullivan appeared to grab an insurmountable lead over incumbent Democratic Sen. Mark Begich early Wednesday, with all of Alaska's precincts reporting. 

With results from all 441 precincts counted, Sullivan led 49 percent to 45 percent. The margin remained essentially the same from the first returns early in the evening. 

Speaking just after midnight at his election night party in a packed ballroom at the Hotel Captain Cook, Sullivan praised his supporters and told them: “We are taking back our country!” 

“We’re still going to be respectful of the process,” Sullivan said. But he nonetheless touted Republicans’ successes in Senate races across the country Tuesday, and to hearty cheers, he proclaimed that the party had sidelined Harry Reid, the Democratic leader in the Senate.

Look I am as much of an optimist as you could expect from a liberal living in Alaska, but currently Sullivan leads Begich by  over 8,000 votes with all precincts having reported in.

Even if EVERY SINGLE uncounted absentee ballot had the circle next to Mark's name colored in it would probably still not be enough to give him the victory.

I understand why Mark does not want to concede yet, and I seriously doubt it has anything to do with his faith that he can still pull this off.

He can't. And as much as I hate to say it out loud, it looks like the Koch brothers bought themselves a Senator from the once great state of Alaska.

I am incredibly disappointed in my state right now. And while many of the election outcomes put a smile on my face, this one was for all the marbles, and the voters just did not make the right call in my opinion.

Now I could bitch about the political strategy of making distance between the candidates and President Obama, I really feel if they had embraced the successes of the last six years and bragged about the accomplishments of the Affordable Care Act and saving the economy that might have made a difference, but this is no time to throw stones or trot out "I told you so's."

No this is the time to learn from our mistakes and move forward. 

So that is what I am going to do. But first I want to say that I was proud of having helped elect our first Democratic Senator since Mike Gravel was elected back in 1974. I think Mark did a good job, and the reason he lost had almost nothing to do with him, and everything to do with corporate money and the irrational hatred for our President.

Hold you head up high Senator Begich, ya done good.

Sarah Palin brags that Ted Cruz came to her house for dinner, and encourages people to get out and vote. Finally, something we agree on.

Courtesy of the Ted Cruz groupie's Facebook page:

In Alaska, even the moose help with "Get Out The Vote" efforts. This little guy has been door-knocking since summer! Even our friend Senator Ted Cruz got to see him in the yard this weekend when the Senator stopped by for a bowl of moose chili (I assured him he wasn't eating this adorable ungulate's kin!). 

All over the political spectrum it's so important we all exercise our right to vote. Our democracy is the envy of the world, and to protect it our country's bravest have sacrificed more than most of us will ever know. To honor their service, please vote.

 - Sarah Palin

First off let me say that in NONE of the coverage of Cruz's visit to Alaska to stump for Dan Sullivan, was Sarah Palin's name mentioned. 

However it is clear that Palin was not about to let this opportunity go by without serving Rafael Cruz her infamous moose slop, and giving him a tour of the part of the house that Todd is forced to live in.

Gee I wonder why Palin was not standing with Cruz and Romney while they were stumping for Dan Sullivan? You would think that they could not keep her away if they tried.

Or perhaps they could, and did.

Dark money in politics and the honesty of Senator Mark Begich.

Courtesy of TPM:

Republican dark money groups are outspending their Democratic counterparts by an incredible margin, according to data from the nonpartisan Sunlight Foundation. 

During this cycle, conservative groups that do not disclose their donors have spent more than $94 million, while liberal dark money groups have spent more than $28 million.

The data this cycle confirms Republican dominance of dark money spending. In the 2012 election cycle, about 80 percent of dark money spending backed Republican candidates.

Of course as we know there has been untold millions spent up here in Alaska in support of Dan Sullivan, hell anybody trying to watch a You Tube video, listen to the radio, or watch television can tell you that. 

And when asked about that Dan Sullivan ran away like somebody was trying to take his lunch money.

Now undoubtedly Mark Begich has received some money from outside groups, and some of those are certainly from shady PACs that don't want to disclose their donor list.

However Begich is not one to shy away from scrutiny as evidenced by the fact that he has voluntarily provided documentation as to how his campaign money is spent.

This from ABC News:  

Senate campaigns aren't required to tell us by Election Day--they submit spending reports to the Federal Election Commission on paper, a seemingly antiquated system that prevents reporters and the public from being able to dig effectively through their latest receipts and expenses. For most campaigns, sortable expense data is only available through June. Weeks or months later, we'll get a fuller picture. 

But Sen. Mark Begich, D-Alaska, apparently out of the goodness of his heart, has been filing his disclosures electronically since October 2013, giving us a window into how Senate campaigns are spending their millions of dollars these days. 

Since Oct. 1, 2013, Begich has spent $7.3 million, a middling total for campaigns. Alaska isn't the most expensive state in which a candidate can run, and it's outside the top 10 this election cycle for candidate spending, although, including outside money, it's the sixth most expensive of all 2014 Senate races, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.

Can anybody imagine Dan Sullivan being this transparent? Nope me either.

As if we needed another reason to support the only REAL Alaskan running for the Senate in 2014.

While Mark Begich works his ground game Dan Sullivan brings in the old and the crazy.

Courtesy of the Fairbanks NewsMiner

From the Alaska Dispatch: 

Begich and the Democratic Party have a roughly tenfold advantage in paid staff on the ground in Alaska, and their schedule for the next few days doesn’t include any particularly flashy events or guests -- Begich is campaigning in the Mat-Su, Anchorage, and Fairbanks, while his wife and mother make stops in rural Alaska. 

Sullivan’s campaign, meanwhile, is relying on Cruz and 2012 GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney, who’s holding a rally Monday in Anchorage with Sullivan and Republican Gov. Sean Parnell. 

The visit from Cruz, who’s stumped around the country for Republican Senate candidates, helps Sullivan’s campaign to stoke its conservative base and even generate enthusiasm among Libertarians, whom Cruz mentioned in a video he posted shortly after his arrival in Alaska. 

Saturday’s event in Fairbanks was a showcase for that strategy. 

“In three days, we’re going to retake the U.S. Senate and retire Harry Reid as majority leader,” Cruz said to sustained applause from the Chrysler showroom, telling the crowd that Begich’s support for Reid amounts to “a vote that says, ‘I hate oil.’” 

“Let me tell you, in the fight for this country, for the direction of this country, Alaska is ground zero,” Cruz said.

Yeah Raphael Cruz is full of shit here.

While I agree that Alaska is grown zero in a lot of ways, there is NO politician elected in this state that hates oil.  

After all that is the lifeblood of Alaska right now, and without it we would suffer greatly. Mark knows that quite well.

However I am sure that Begich realizes that it will not last forever, nor should it, and that it is time to start seriously finding alternative fuel sources.

Having said that I can certainly attest to the powerful ground game being used by the Democrats in support of Mark right now. I have personally been visited a whopping seven times by door knockers making sure that I am voting, and voting for our current Senator. (I actually voted earlier today, so maybe I'll put a sign in my yard attesting to that fact.)

I have seen NOBODY from the Sullivan campaign in my neighborhood, and if he is relying on those out of state funded ads and the likes of Mitt Romney and Ted Cruz to give him a boost I think he might be in for a very unpleasant surprise tomorrow evening. (Assuming of course we know anything by tomorrow evening.)

By the way Begich referred to Cruz as "the king of the government shutdown." which I think is too perfect.

Well I for one am responsible for at least three Begich votes. No I did not vote three times, but my family members did come to me for guidance and I think I set them on the path of righteousness.

So if you have not voted yet, make sure you do tomorrow.

It is not just your responsibility, it is your right. And keep in mind who is working to take that right away from many of you.