This is the kind of ad I want our Alaska Democrats to put out.

Alaskans respect confident aggressive candidates.

Remember Ted Stevens?

If Scott McAdams were to aggressively define himself and his outrage at the outside interests trying to steal our election he could make a serious impact.  And the same goes for Ethan and Diane.

WAKE UP ALASKA! IT'S ELECTION DAY!

Alright my fellow Alaskans it is time to wipe the sleep dust out of your eyes, slam back a pot of coffee or two, and exercise your constitutional right to help choose your next Republican/Democratic candidate for Senator/Governor/Lt. Governor today!  Can't you just FEEL the disappointing lack of excitement!

Okay so let's run down the list of the major and minor players in today's election day political dramedy.

In the running for Lt. Governor on the Republicans side are Mead Treadwell (Whose first name sounds like a frothy alcoholic beverage, so Alaskans should LOVE that!), Jay Ramras (Who got an early election day gift from APOC when they decided NOT to investigate his obvious violation of state election law until after the election), and rabid Palin-bot Eddie "Rascist" Burke who is running a distant, distant third.(Interestingly enough after being Sarah's major attack dog in Alaska for years Burke has received not one iota of support, or even acknowledgement, from his idol. Welcome to the undercarriage of the Palin bus Eddie!)

On the Democratic side we have the wonderful, and extremely qualified Diane Benson and....well who cares who else is running? Diane Benson in the only viable candidate in my mind. Go get'em Diane!

Next up is the Governor's race.  On the Republican side we have Bill Walker, Ralph Samuels, and Palin political bookmark Sean "The Phantom" Parnell. (Who was SO busy doing his very demanding job that he missed several recent debates, as well as a visit by President Obama last November, and the funeral of Senator Ted Stevens just last week.)

(Whoops! I stand corrected. Sean Parnell WAS at Ted Steven's funeral.  I apologize for that, I was relying on information sent to me by somebody who attended and did not double check.  I apologize to Governor Parnell for making that error.)

The Democrats have an embarrassment of riches as represented by Ethan Berkowitz and Hollis French.  In my humble opinion both of these gentlemen offer substantially better leadership than anything the Republicans have to offer, which makes the choice more about who can beat the Republican candidate in the general rather than who would do the best job as the Governor of our state.

I find both of them to be very intelligent and capable men, so you really cannot go wrong.  Berkowitz has better name recognition, while Hollis might be the more cerebral choice.

This brings us to the race that is getting the most national coverage.  Lisa "Daddy's girl" Murkowski VS Joe "Look, another antler!"  Miller.

Miller has been getting teabagged with hundreds of thousands of dollars from The Tea Party Express for months now, and Sarah "Ram" Palin has taken to Facebook to beg for money on his behalf as well, which means this guy is doomed!   Alaskans HATE for outside people to try and influence our elections, and LOVE to tell them to kiss our ass!  So today they will send a message to Joe Miller, Sarah "I quit, I quit, I quit!" Palin, and the outside agitators to KISS OUR ASS!

Lisa Murkowski is a far from perfect Senator, and I don't agree with hardly any of her choices, but dammit she is one of us!  And that still counts for something up here in the Last Frontier.

So get up, and get showered Alaskans!  We have a democracy to participate in today!

P.S. Don't forget to vote no on Ballot Measure 2 also. (And remember it is on the BACK of the ballot, so you have to flip it over.)

Diane Benson announces run for Lt. Governor.

I just received a call from Phil Munger that Diane announced her candidacy for Lt. Governor at the Bartlet Club meeting jsut a few minutes ago.

I find this to be wonderful news.

I am a big supporter of Diane's and have been badgering her for months to run for Congressman in this next election cycle.

At the Cook Inlet Keepers Muckrakers Ball she took me aside and said that she was going to make an announcement at this meeting. Sadly I could not make it, but I am stoked to hear the news.

Diane Benson is a very strong advocate for woman's rights and has done much to educate people about the history and challenges of the Alaskan native people.

She will be a powerful antidote to the poisonous aftertaste Sarah Palin left in the mouth of the country concerning female politicians in Alaska.

My evening spent with a room full of Muckrakers.

Last night I got the privilege of witnessing my friend, and fellow Alaskan blogger, Jeanne Devon receive the Muckraker of the year award from the Cook Inlet Keeper's.

Shannyn Moore was the "Mistress of Ceremonies" and the place was packed full of bloggers (Celtic Diva, Phil Munger, and John Aronno of the Alaska Commons were there as well), mudpuppies, local activists, and more than a few luminaries.

Jeanne (AKM) gave a great speech in which she talked about the importance of becoming involved in our community and having our voice heard in whatever way suits us, whether it be blogging, writing letters to the editor, leaving comments on established blogs, or even sending e-mails with information alerting bloggers to a new idea for a post. She also discussed the importance of the new media and reminded us that there are some who are working to silence us, after which she emphasised our concerns over Net Neutrality.

I also had a very interesting conversation with Anne Kilkenny, who did not know who I was at first but became fascinated with the story of my outing this last summer. Surprisingly she told me that she had received NO death threats which I found remarkable considering how many the bloggers have received over the last year or so.

I also congratulated Diane Benson on her wonderful portrayal of Elizabeth Peratrovich, in the amazing documentary "For the Rights of All". Which VERY person in this country should watch. It is an eye opening, and brutally honest look at how the Alaskan natives were treated, and mistreated, by the Americans since the purchase of Alaska from Russia, and how the native people fought to be treated as equals.

Diane also invited me to the Bartlett Club meeting on December 17, where she said she will be making a very special announcement. (Hmm, I wonder if this means what I THINK it means?)

All in all, I had a great time. I ate good food, had wonderful conversations, and watched my very good friend receive an award that she deserves more than anybody. (As you can tell because they named it after her.)

If you want to read AKM's account of the evening, you can do so by taking a hop skip and a jump over to Mudflats.

Update: Here is Phil Munger's account of last night over at Progressive Alaska.

Author Joe McGinniss, Diane Benson, Mr. Whitekeys, and the "Celebrity table".

As I drove out to Palmer for the "Friends of Mat-Su" fundraiser, I took a moment to drink in the beauty of Alaska in early October.

The trees were exploding with color, the ash colored clouds drifted lazily across the sky, and the snow dappled mountains seemed to painted in bold brushstrokes against the horizon. The majesty of Alaska that constantly surrounds me occasionally catches me by surprise, and today was such a day.

When I arrived in Palmer I was at first surprised, and then pleased, to find that after ten years it had not changed one little bit. The open meadows, and rustic buildings that have always defined Palmer in my mind, were exactly where my memory expected them to be.

Unlike its neighbor, the now gaudy and over developed Wasilla, Palmer still retains its unique identity and welcoming ambiance.

I turned onto the Palmer fairgrounds which, with the all of various booths lined up along the fence, looked desolate and a little lonely. It was not long before I arrived at Raven Hall for an evening with the one and only Mr. Whitekeys.

I have seen Mr. Whitekey's shows numerous times in the past and have always found them enormously entertaining, and tonight would prove no different.

I found the table that our host Phil Munger had reserved for us and sat down with some of his other guests, who I did not know, but who turned out to be fans of both IM and Mudflats. (Oh did I mention that AKM was with me?)

Soon I was introduced to author Joe McGinniss, who is up here researching HIS Sarah Palin book, and who also turned out to be a huge fan of both AKM's and I. (I swear I will NEVER get used to hearing that.)

Mr. McGinniss entertained us with tales of the colorful characters he has met while doing research for the book he is currently working on and back in the 1970's for his novel Going to Extremes.

About then the lights dimmed and Mr. Whitekeys and the Spamtones took the stage. For over 90 minutes Whitekeys had us roaring with laughter as he pounded his keyboard and told endless jokes (often with an adult theme) about the sometimes dumb and colorful things that make up the history of Alaska.

For me the highlight of the show had to be when Whitekeys was joined by the Sarah Palin impersonator, who had us all in stitches as she struck a pose and burst into song about her trials and tribulations in attempting to run our state. AKM, who had never seen a Whitekeys show, was literally tearing up with laughter.

At one point, to the surprise of us all, the screen flashed this picture:



Which loyal Mudflatters will recognize from a May 14, post on Mudflats concerning possible titles for Sarah's new book. (Yes my friends you guessed it, Mr. Whitekeys is indeed a Mudflatter.)

During the show somebody mentioned that our table was occupied with far more people than the other tables in Raven Hall, since it contained AKM and spouse, myself, Phil Munger and his wife Judy, Diane Benson and her husband, Joe McGinniss, and a few other local friends of Phil's.

This inspired somebody to remark that our table was the "celebrity table", at which time AKM nudged me and said "Look, we are at the celebrity table". I leaned over and whispered "You do know that one of the reasons it is considered the celebrity table is because YOU are sitting here". AKM's look of horror and sudden realization was pretty darn funny. All night long people had been coming up to her to congratulate her on her Rachel Maddow appearance and to say what fans they were of the Mudflats, but it had still not occurred to her that she had attained the status of "celebrity".

I also managed to have another one of my conversations with Diane Benson about her plans for running against Congressman Don Young in 2010. She has become so used to these conversations that she actually walked up to me to initiate it instead of waiting for me to corner her as is the usual.

We did talk a little about that subject (no commitment yet), but she also wanted to talk about a small independent film she made called "For the Rights of All". About the Alaskan natives struggle for racial equality and the bravery of Elizabeth Peratrovich, who Diane portrays in the film. It sounded very interesting and I will be keeping an eye out for it.

When we had all said our good byes, it was time for the long drive home, at which time I pondered the amazing journey the Alaskan Bloggers had embarked on, and wondered where it would all lead.

(BTW here is AKM's take on the evenings festivities.)