Posted on 03/17/2008 5:36:26 PM PDT by Clintonfatigued
The lieutenant governor of Alaska, Sean Parnell, announced today that he's challenging ethically embattled Rep. Don Young (R-Alaska) in the Republican primary, raising the likelihood of a hotly contested fight for the GOP nomination.
Parnell announced his intentions at the state’s Republican Party convention, according to The Associated Press. He will be formally kicking off his campaign at a news conference this afternoon in Anchorage.
Parnell is an ally of the state's governor, Sarah Palin, a reform-minded Republican who unseated former Gov. Frank Murkowski in a 2006 Republican primary. An attorney, he has served in both the state House and state Senate.
Republicans have been concerned about holding on to Young’s seat, given his recent ethical troubles. Young is under investigation by the Justice Department over his ties to oil services giant Veco Corp. and has spent much of his campaign funds on legal fees. He has denied any wrongdoing.
Polling has shown Young would face a serious risk losing his seat if he was the Republican nominee. (See more from The Crypt here.)
(Excerpt) Read more at cbsnews.com ...
Here are the latest poll results on the favorables and unfavorables of Alaksa’s major public officials:
http://www.haysresearch.com/OC031208.htm
At this point, I want Parnell to knock off Young, but I’m going to have to stick with Stevens for 6 more years. Then he needs to retire.
Stevens could still get a serious primary challenge. A number of credible candidates are looking at it.
Stevens will not win reelection if he is nominated. Begich will beat him in the general. Ditto if Young is renominated, he’ll lose to Berkowitz.
I don’t think that Don Young is going to win the primary. His negative ratings are through the roof now, and even most Republicans have distanced themselves from him. As for Ted Stevens, that could go either way.
Here’s a VERY interesting tidbit:
Don Young was present when Sean Parnell made his announcement. He replied, “Sean, congratulations. I beat your Dad, and now I’m going to beat you.” It turns out that Parnell’s father was the Democratic nominee against Young in 1980.
Yeah, I caught that. Of course, Parnell should’ve turned around and said, “Don, you might beat me like you beat my dad, but if you do, the primary will be the last race you ever win.”
I lost my confidence in these polls when I saw the Palin favorables. Almost everyone I know is getting fed up with her. She tried to unseat her enemy Randy Reudrich at the Republican convention this weekend and got beat very soundly. I thought the way Sean announced his run was pretty poor. It smacks of Palin’s way of trying to intimidate her enemies in the press rather than run at them head on.
I’m trying to figure how some freeper from Tenn knows so much about the conservative Alaskan voters pysche? You must be reading a book written in Tenn about Alaska or something. Sounds like flakey logic to me. Only Alaskans I hear going on about Young & Stevens are the minority democrats.
Berkowitz is a Mass lefty sent here in late 90’s with his families $$$$$ backing to get into politics; barely get elected in anchorage inner city districts.
Begich is still trying to live down photo-radar along with other Tax/money shakedown schemes. You should hear my use to be democrat friends talk about his new city sewerage scam.
Both unelectable on a statewide basis. Stevens & Young have proved up over many years and Alaskans don’t forget it. There’s a reason why we don’t have state taxes one on another or gun control like you all do. It’s cause we elect republicans.
Stop reading your san fran lefty family owned Anch daily worker and get real.
This is good news, because the likely Democrat is running well ahead of Young in the polls. If he could be defeated, we should hold the seat.
Democrats are polling higher than Republicans?
I'm touched you're interested in my home state, but I'm also trying to figure how my location invalidates anything I've said. If I had a dime for every red herring repeat of that nonsense by people that have no other argument, I'd have almost enough money to build that bridge to nowhere.
"Only Alaskans I hear going on about Young & Stevens are the minority democrats."
Sounds like you have some impacted wax in your ears. These two have major league problems, and denying the reality only makes you look ignorant or a hack/paid shill for said candidates.
"Berkowitz is a Mass lefty sent here in late 90’s with his families $$$$$ backing to get into politics; barely get elected in anchorage inner city districts."
Actually, Berkowitz was born in San Francisco. He barely won his first race (50%) for an open GOP district, but his other races were between 55-61%. He passed off his seat to a rodent who won by the same amount in his last race (61%). Not exactly a non-success. His exposure in a statewide race helped him as well. His liberal record isn't going to be the issue this year, it's going to be ethics. After 35+ years, Young has gotten arrogant and that is rubbing the people the wrong way. He's not the only one with the problem.
"Begich is still trying to live down photo-radar along with other Tax/money shakedown schemes. You should hear my use to be democrat friends talk about his new city sewerage scam."
And yet he still won reelection by a 56-41% margin in that "rodent bastion" of Anchorage (note that is sarcasm). He also is the son of arguably one of the most revered Democrats in state history. Dismissing his ability to knock off the aged and similarly damaged Stevens is plain ignorant. Tony Knowles was similarly dismissed in the past, and he managed to luck out spectacularly. Had the GOP not taken out Frank Murkowski in the primary in '06, Knowles would be in his 3rd term as Governor.
Though Alaskans generally don't care for federal Democrats, they have their single best shot at grabbing a majority of the federal delegation since 1970. We can stop that dead in its tracks by sending Young and Stevens to retirement. Fail to do that, and we'll have to put up with those 2 liberal bozos for who knows how long. This will be the real test of leadership for Palin. Will she be the Governor that saved the party from its own ignorance, or be the one that allowed 2/3rds of the GOP delegation to be lost on her watch ?
"Both unelectable on a statewide basis. Stevens & Young have proved up over many years and Alaskans don’t forget it. There’s a reason why we don’t have state taxes one on another or gun control like you all do. It’s cause we elect republicans."
Knowles wasn't a Republican. Neither was Cowper, Sheffield or Egan (Hammond was a RINO and Wally Hickel couldn't make up his mind). Frank Murkowski was up there for many years and the party had the good sense to show him the door before we needlessly lost the governorship again.
"Stop reading your san fran lefty family owned Anch daily worker and get real."
Look in the mirror and tell that to yourself. If Stevens and Young, both well past their prime, get renominated, they lose in November. It's. Just. That. Simple. I'm sorry you don't want to hear it, but this is not just about Alaska, it's about who runs Congress, and that effects the whole country. We can't afford to needlessly lose a single race.
That’s good, right?
I will say that begich & berkowitz are both viewed as ultra liberals by most Alaskans. Neither could buy an election outside of Anch or Juneau; and there not win by landslides.
You see there are as many libitarian minded conservatives that are not registered Republicans as there are Registered Repubs. That is why we had 2 governors from the Alaska Independence Party over the years, Ya, they beat out repubs & dems. Same reason why Palin beat out sitting repub governor in primary.
No conservatives in Alaska are talking negatives about Young or Stevens, just the politicians & we figure politics as usual. All the talk comes from Lefty newpapers and actually, nobody up here really pays them mind anyway. Both our incumbents are still held in high regard by most Alaskans; you know what you got with those guys and they have sure BROUGHT HOME THE BACON TO ALASKA, people see the proof everywhere they look too. Alaskans read lower 48 predictions, laugh uncontrollably; but then realize you all just believe/parrot everything you read anyway; lack common sense logic that is quite apparent when you live here in Alaska.
So you can think what you may, just learn your lesson once this time when they get re-elected. Only way a dem can get elected to gov or fed congress is when the conservative vote is split by AIP & Registered Republicans, how phony Tony got elected in the first place. Not in the cards this election cycle.
Thanks. I stand 100% on what I said. You can continue to ignore the reality, but you folks tend to disappear once I’ve proven myself right and I don’t care to say “I told you so” at the expense of 2/3rds of the Alaskan delegation. I had the same folks berating me when I told them Katherine Harris wouldn’t win in FL. “But she’s a Republican, and FL is a Republican state and she wins !” Wa wa wa. Like I said, ignore the facts and high negatives of your candidates, and don’t come crying to me when they lose. We lost Hastert’s seat in IL because we ran a massively unpopular RINO. “But it’s a Republican seat !” Wa wa wa. He lost to a rodent.
By your reckoning, Frank Murkowski should’ve won renomination and reelection, but that didn’t happen, now did it ? And he “brought home the bacon”, too in his 26 years in the Senate and Governorship (by the way, ole Frank lost to Nick Begich back in the ‘70s, and “that wasn’t supposed to happen !” either). You fail to separate the pork from the ethics (although in ruthlessly going after the former, the latter tends to be sacrificed). The issue ain’t gonna be about Conservative vs. liberal, it’s going to be about old ethically challenged candidates that have been in federal office for 35 and 40 years respectively vs. new “reformers.” We either can be the reformers in the primary or we can stand by and watch our old crooks flushed out by a couple of liberals in the general who can successfully argue “it’s time for a change” when the rodents haven’t won an AK House race since 1972 and a Senate race since 1974 (for Stevens’s seat, not since 1966).
Stevens and Young are no longer in the majority, no longer chairmen. A lot of FReepers were convinced Lisa Murkowski was going down in 2004 against Knowles, but I assured them then she would not lose, because that would be a vote against Stevens. They now have no reason to vote for him, and the corruption surrounding him and his son (his heir apparent for the seat, now no more) have rendered large chinks in his formerly invincible status.
Like I said, subscribe to fantasyland beliefs or you can get with the program and recognize the problem and be a part of keeping all 3 of our federal seats in GOP hands. It’s up to you. But they won’t stay with Stevens and Young.
Most Alaskans realize that one vote out of 435 means exactly zip - but seniority means everything.
I see Don going back again, and for Ted - if he dies, they will stuff him and send him back anyway.
Young got me ticked on his stand on immigration. But the folks running for the seat are a disaster waiting to happen......
Loren Leman needs to get into the Senate race ASAFP. I absolutely believe Young and Stevens are finished if they make it to the general (they might get to the high 40% range, but they’ll still lose). Nobody thought the legendary Ernest Gruening was going to be defeated, either, but Mike Gravel dispatched him in the ‘68 primary when he was 81. Stevens will be 85.
We’ll see - won’t we.
I’m dreading having to look... :-\
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