Days until the General Election — 4
Hot Rumor — We are hearing from many, many sources a rumor (and it is ONLY A RUMOR) that Governor Bill Walker is resigning at a 1:30 press conference today because he has cancer. There is a presser scheduled for what the Governor’s office is calling a “brief personal announcement” and we are told the Governor’s family has flown in to attend and he will be meeting with his cabinet just before making the announcement public.
We are buying the Governor may have a serious medical issue, but announcing his resignation 4 days before an election? No. That would be a political earthquake the total fallout of which no one can predict.
On the conspiratorial side, it is worth noting today is exactly two years since the Governor took office. If there was a backroom deal to split his term with Lt. Governor Mallott, today would be the day to make the change.
Stay tuned.
***UPDATE***
The Governor says he has a treatable form of cancer…He is not resigning:
Just A Second — We know Democrats around the state have a warm fuzzy all over after viewing several recent polls showing Hillary Clinton close or ahead in Alaska,
After viewing the polls, their methodology, and the pollster’s track record Fivethirtyeight.com’s Nate Silver found them all to be heavily skewed in Hillary’s favor. Here is how he sees their real results:
Sorry Dems.
Polling Rumors — Charisse Millett says she has a poll showing her up by 12 points, though she hasn’t released it. Lance Pruitt is said to have a poll showing him up by 7-10 points. We also hear Harriet Drummond has a Hayes poll showing her up 20 points. Do we believe they have the polls, yes. Do we believe the polls….eeeehhhhh.
Smoking Gun — Remember back when Alaska Republican Party Chairman Tuckerman Babcock said the weekly email and blog the Party had paid their communications director Suzanne Downing to create and administer was no longer affiliated with the Republican Party?
Well check out what a loyal reader recently noticed. When you sign up to receive the weekly email associated with the blog you are sent this notice:
As you can see the email list is still identified as being for the Alaska GOP. Oh, and that button that in the center that says “continue to our website”, where do you think it takes you when you click on it? To this page:
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Seeing as how the site and emails have openly solicited money for the party and its candidates as well as advocated against opposing candidates and has no “paid for by” notification, we wonder if APOC will punish Downing for this kind of duplicity.
They are toothless, so probably not.
Media Movement — You probably already heard that longtime TV newsman Steve Macdonald is retiring. Also moving around local newsrooms is John Thompson, who has jumped back on TV to cover sports over at KTVA. Thompson will continue his duty on Anchorage’s iHeart Radio stations, including News-Talk 650 KENI.
International Affairs — Rep. Lance Pruitt is having a rough week. First several of his constituents noticed the Halloween flashlight trinket he was doling out wasn’t even made in America. It has a big ole made in China sticker on it.
Things are actually worse for Pruitt on the international front with this nasty mailer hitting his district this week:
Is It Really Better Late? — Yesterday, the Alaska Division of Elections put out this press release announcing their “2016 General Election Media Guide now available”:
Did we mention it is five days until election day and thousands of folks have already early and absentee voted? The Governor and Lt. Gov have to do something about DOE management after the election, they just have to.
Best Campaign Ad We’ve Seen So Far —- Cute and effective.
On The Move — With the election right around the corner we are hearing a few legislative staffers have already lined up post election work. We hear Sen. Lesil McGuire’s staffer Jesse Logan is headed to work for Dean Westlake, Sen. Charlie Huggins’ staffer Jody Simpson will be moving to work for Senator-elect David Wilson, and another former Sen. Charlie Huggins staffer Ashton Compton is going to work for newby legislator Chris Birch.
Too Far — This week Alaska Dispatch News columnist and Alaska Public Media host Charles Wohlforth wrote a piece published in The Daily Beast this week titled “Why Hillary Clinton Could Actually Win Alaska Over Donald Trump.“ In it he says this about Joe Miller and Alaska conservatives::
“Alaska is very conservative, but in an ideological way that leans toward libertarianism and, for a good portion of the Republican base, toward nuttiness. Murkowski wasn’t conservative enough for Republican primary voters in 2010 and was defeated by Joe Miller, whose brown-shirted security detail put a Jewish reporter in handcuffs at public event.”
Have we really reached a point in our public discourse where mainstream media types can openly call a candidate and conservative voters in general Nazis and no one calls foul?
We will. Wohlforth is usually a thoughtful writer, but that paragraph went too far. He owes Miller an apology. Granted, Miller may surround himself with some characters, there’s no neo-Nazi element around.
Midnight Sun On The Air!!!! — Master of Morning Radio Rick Rydell (AM 650 KENI) has asked us to come on every week and share Friday in the Sun with his audience. So listen for our inside scoop every Friday morning at 7:35.
Both Ways — Last night KAKM held their “Debate for the State” with one hour segments dedicated to the race for U.S. House and U.S. Senate. It was the first time many Alaskans were able to watch all four of our major candidates for U.S. Senate go at it this cycle. Debates aren’t about scorekeeping they are about moments. It doesn’t matter who wins the overall event, it matters who had the moment that sticks.
Here is what we think is that moment from last night. It came during a back and forth between Sen. Lisa Murkowski and Libertarian Joe Miller over the Supreme Court nomination of Merrick Garland:
Murkowski thinks she can have it both ways on issues? Get used to that audio, we predict you will be hearing it a lot to attack Murkowski for many years to come.
Election Night — Here is what we are hearing is going on election night
We’ll be at this election-watch party held at Bear Tooth Theatrepub getting underway at 8PM.
The Alaska Republican Party is having their event at the Top of the World at the Anchorage Hilton.
Anchorage Democrats are holding their own watch party at Williwaw beginning at 5:30 (oddly early…)
Sen. Lisa Murkowski will be at 49th State Brewery in Anchorage.
Talk radio station KBYR will be hosting their own watch party at the downtown Hilton.
And pollster Ivan Moore will be hosting his own party next door at the historic Anchorage Hotel.
Political Fly Into The Sun — If you have morsels you’d like shared in this column, please email us at [email protected].
I don’t see anywhere that Wohlforth called conservative Alaskans Nazis. What he did do was call Joe Miller’s security “brown shirts” and mentioned that the reporter they handcuffed is Jewish. So yes, there was an inference that Joe Miller and/or his staff are Nazi-ish, but nowhere does it even remotely infer that conservative voters are Nazis. That was all you.
Anyway, I have to agree that handcuffing a reporter who was only trying to do his job is a very Nazi-like thing to do……….him being Jewish probably had nothing to do with it, but Miller was definitely trying to control the press.
By the way, I got my first presidential poll call of the season today. I’m pretty sure it was a robocall sponsored by Trump though, because as soon as I indicated that I was voting for Hillary, it asked me if I was Hispanic. It then asked me what religion I was, including Muslim.
Wouldn’t it be weird and amazing if it all hinged on Alaska’s three electoral votes?
Wohlforth is hardly a “thoughtful” writer. He’s a one-note Johnnie who writes through obvious ideological blinders that too often keep him from seeing the big picture. The quoted passage rings with observational authority he has not earned. It is too bad he gets to speak for the state that way to a national audience.