Venturing around the block from Palin-mania

I've discovered life outside of Palin-world!

Actually, I didn't really venture far.

I went looking in the campaigns that in any other election would not stand a chance of being the second, third, fourth story on the news (I mean locally, here, folks).

For instance, the U.S. Senate seat long-ago engraved with the name of Ted Stevens - and I do mean long-ago, like almost 40 years ago - could (should, will) go to our mayor, Mark Begich.

When I was down at the Dem. Convention a few weeks ago, and the primary results came through, people (non-Alaskans) were shocked that Stevens was chosen in the primary. Apparently, they expected that he was not going to get chosen because of the indictment.

We Alaskans were more surprised that they thought he wouldn't win the primary.

In fact, his indictment had less impact than you'd think on Alaskans voting for him. Most of the people I talk to now kind of shrug about - the money he pulls in for Alaska has outweighed the corruption for many. (Not comforting to many of you in the Lower 48, I know, but many of us ARE trying to resolve this!) The latest polling has Stevens only a few percentage points behind Mark Begich. Two major factors are what really have Stevens behind at all - the indictment, and the strength of his opponent.

Begich pulled ahead of Stevens before the indictment even came through - practically unheard of in a race against Stevens. He's a popular mayor (with good reason) of the largest city in Alaska. By largest city, I mean about half of the population of the state lives here. He has his own reputation for bucking the "good ol' boy" network, and comes from a strong political pedigree (His late father, Nick Begich,) with clear stances and actions on some of the state's biggest issues. Some of them aren't even the most popular stances (he is a Democrat in a highly Republican state, after all), but Begich is respected for sticking to his guns, and working with people to figure it out. He will get things done.

Another race that has received limited attention for what it would have been if Palin-mania had not gripped the state, is the nail-biter between Don Young and Sean Parnell in the primary for U.S. Congress. The vote won't be certified until the 18th, but Young's ahead by just over 200 votes last I heard. Talk about another guy who has had the seat since forever.

I'm not as sure about this election. Don Young is also embroiled in scandal and legal issues, but he hasn't brought quite so much to the state as Stevens, and... well, he's just not that likable. I don't know the exact numbers, but he's trailing behind Berkowitz - the Democratic candidate - by quite a bit. This race isn't quite as much about the strength of the Democratic candidate, as is the Begich/Stevens race. Berkowitz is good, but not quite the shining star Begich is. This race, I think, is more about not electing Don Young. Diane Benson, the other strong Democratic primary candidate, was polling ahead of Young too - Young was a good third place.

By the way, I know people outside Alaska aren't seeing them, but Mark Begich wins my "Best Campaign Commercials" vote. He actually talks about ISSUES in them. Hard to detect in what Obama just called "silly season" for politics, but I actually kind of look forward to them.

So far he's addressed corrupt Alaskan politicians (and in a way I never thought possible - without personal attacks!), alternative energy (wind farms on Fire Island), No Child Left Behind, and even a very touching one about his father, and the impact and legacy Nick Begich has left.

Check out the links above for the YouTube versions folks - he's going to be representing Alaskans soon!

And yeah, if you haven't noticed, I'm quite a fan of Begich, even before he was mayor, with good reason. I will be exploring his candidacy when all the to do with Palin has died down at least a little bit. He's got strong positions I really agree with, made some real change in this city, is just plain a smart guy, and to top it off, he and his family have a great record with the Native people in this state.

All right, my own little impromptu ad is over.

But see, wasn't it nice to have a few moments away from the "P"-word?

Everybody loves Begich

Or at least all the convention-goers love Begich! From all across the nation, these Democrats love to talk about Mark Begich.

I assumed people would not know him by name, being an Anchorage mayor. Although everyone is mentioning the Stevens corruption (more on that later in the week,) I figured that Begich would be more known as just "the democrat" that is finally really challenging Stevens - and not well-known outside of Alaska.

Boy was I wrong.

From the more expected places, like the AFL-CIO rep at the delegate meeting (see earlier post) shouting (and I mean shouting!) "God bless Mayor Begich!" - to delegates to press to people we meet on the street and light-rail, the people are rooting for Begich. Some of them have asked us to "Tell Begich, 'Good job!'" or "Tell that Mayor of yours to keep it up!"

I met these two gentlemen (above) when they were talking right by me, and I overheard the name "Mark Begich." The guy on the left, from Trick or Vote (actually a pretty cool idea - take a look) laughed when I interrupted and asked if they were talking about Mayor Begich - "You must be from Alaska!"

But the guy on the right, the one who brought up the name Begich, is from London! (That's like the third guy I've met from London...) He's absolutely certain Begich will take the election.


These are two Texas delegates, and were so excited when they heard we were from Alaska. They are cheering on the "red to blue" movement, but were really cheering on Mark Begich. They gave us some encouraging messages to take back to him (I think everyone also assumes all Alaskans know all other Alaskans,) and actually knew a decent amount of his political and personal background.


Celtic Diva wears a Begich button, to which I've witnessed a few, "Mark Begich... hey, are you from Alaska?"

Just yesterday alone, I talked with people from Wisconsin, Colorado, California, Washington (state), Tennessee, Florida, West Virginia, New York, Rhode Island, Oregon, Iowa, Maryland, Texas and England who all knew of Mark Begich and his run for the U.S. Senate seat, and were cheering on Alaskans to get him there.

Red White and Green

The "green" efforts during the past year really don't need any emphasis. You can't walk through a grocery store without seeing that it is definitely one of the bigger issues being addressed, not only in the campaign, but by people nationwide. I just got my umpteenth cloth grocery bag - mostly because I can't remember to bring the bags in when I go shopping.

The green efforts of the Democratic National Convention are nothing short of incredible - the DNCC has really bent over backwards to present a convention that makes a low impact on the environment. They created a "green delegate challenge," including service work by delegates in the Denver area. I've received about three gazillion press releases from them on the different green efforts going on, from Coca Cola being the "official recycler" of the convention (and sorry, it is a LITTLE funny that Coca Cola is the official recycler in the Pepsi Center... maybe not "ha ha" funny... I digress) to alternative fuel, biodiesel or hybrid transportation.

That the Democratic Party is the eonvironmental party is not exactly news, but it was worth it to me to look a little more into the candidate's environmental stances. I really believe we are going to see true lifestyle changes on the part of America, due to environmental efforts, and our next leaders need to be leaders in this area. I don't think you have to be a "radical environmentalist" to care about the environment - just responsible with what we were given.

Presidential Candidates

Sen. Barack Obama has a pretty strong record with the environment, especially as a state senator. He was given a 100% "Environmental Voting Record Award" from the Illinois State Council. His page on the environment. He carries endorsements from the League of Conservation Voters, Friends of Earth Action, Sierra Club The League of Conservation Voters has scored him generally in the 90th percentile each session, hitting 100% for the year 2006, though it dropped down to 67% the last session - mostly due to absences during the votes.

Sen. John McCain has a pretty bad record when it comes to the environment, and generally has voted in favor of big business over environmental concerns, especially with oil and nuclear concerns. His page on climate change. He has a pretty dismal score of 10% with the League of Conservation voters, though a 0% the last session.

Senate

Hard to top 10%, but Sen. Ted Stevens was scored a %5 by the League, though for pretty much the same reasons as McCain. His issue statement on the environment.

I've been impressed with a lot of the things Mayor Mark Begich has done in the city in regards to "greening." I especially liked the light post switch. Sometimes it's the simple things that get overlooked - but end up making a big difference. He has actually done many practical things to get the energy conservation and the environment a priority - all really practical, "That's a good idea" kinds of things. His issue statement on the environment, and an article about how his mind got changed on the environment in the Huffington Post.

Congress

Diane Benson and Ethan Berkowitz didn't have too much information on their sites about their positions - or plans - regarding the environment, and I don't recall either of them speaking about it much. Benson's issue page on the environment - not too detailed, and Berkowitz' issue page - a little more about oil and "watching" things going on about the environment.

Don Young - well, Young's issue statement about the environment was probably the least helpful, period. It's mostly a rant about "radical groups" and having no proof that emissions has anything to do with... well, anything. Feel free to read, but it's mostly about securing energy bills. He was scored a 0% by the League of Conservation Voters, but I think if they could have given him a negative score, they would have. Looking at his environmental voting record, I'm not sure Young believes there should be an environment... a little scary as the "ranking member of the natural resources committee."

Indictments, earthquakes, caribou, attack ads - what on Earth?

I have finally recovered from an attack by my old nemesis - strep throat - and had to do a double take once I joined the real world again. But then I had to make sure I was in the real world.

Stevens, older, not younger, is indicted. Not a surprise maybe in that it was going to happen, but certainly in the timing (more on that later). But in the middle of all this, the only thing being reported was an earthquake - in which nothing happened. Nada.

Over a hundred caribou are slaughtered up north, and left to rot. Despite the onslaught of Native-hate this brought out, I can't tell you what this feels like as a Native person. Being taught respect for animals - especially the animals you hunt - is no joke.

Sadness and disgust are doing a little battle for prominence in my emotions over this, and I can't help but think what this says about the people - looks like young men/boys - who did this. What were they taught? Where did they go so horribly wrong? Did they have no respect for their village? And if they were Native men, did they have no respect for their people?

On top of that, McCain has lost his mind. I generally don't like the negative talk about the opposite side, much less giving his ad more mentions, but McCain made me absolutely crazy today. Let's put a picture of Obama up with Brittany Spears and Paris Hilton, and call that responsible and mature debate. With serious problems going on, worldwide and local impact being felt all around, this is how he chooses to show us what he's made of.

When questioned about the ad, McCain's campaign even laughed about it, calling the ad one of the most "entertaining" things he's seen on TV. Entertaining! This from grown men! Despite being considerably "more experienced" than Obama, as he likes to point out, this is one of the most immature attacks I've ever seen.

But the kicker isn't that he's insulting Obama - he's insulting Obama supporters. Surely people can't be trusted to select a candidate based in his merits as a politician and man - we must all have been seduced by his personality to mindlessly follow him around, despite his A-plus intelligence, well-thought out plans, proven ability to lead and organize, and a few dozen other leadership qualities.

On McCain's count, a running list of Obama's crimes:

He talks about hope too much.

He talks about change but doesn't have real plans (please disregard all his published plans.)

He's too young and "healthy" (today's message from the campaign complains about the fact that Obama expected healthy foods to eat. Dare he!?)

And now...

He's too popular.

Serious accusations, each. Well, I know that after eight years some of these things are hard to recognize in presidential material, but some of us actually think those are, you know, GOOD to have in a candidate. I'm not the most politically savvy, but Obama appears to be practicing DIPLOMACY.

We could use some in our leadership, and McCain, you've shown what we can expect from you.