Posted on 04/02/2009 12:00:26 AM PDT by SolidWood
GRUSSENDORF: Party plans to give slate of 3 new names to governor.
JUNEAU -- The Alaska Senate Democrats on Wednesday rejected Gov. Sarah Palin's appointment of legislative aide Tim Grussendorf to the state Senate.
The decision came during a two-hour closed-door meeting in the office of Senate Majority Leader Johnny Ellis, an Anchorage Democrat. Around 50 people -- legislators, lobbyists, and news media -- jammed into the Capitol hallway outside Ellis' office when word came out that a decision had been made.
The Democrats were tense and tight-lipped as they left the office, referring all questions to Ellis -- who refused to say which senators opposed Grussendorf's appointment, how many, or what happened in the meeting that decided his fate. "At the end of the day, after a very sober discussion and consideration there was not enough support to seat Mr. Grussendorf," Ellis said.
"There were lots of pros and cons, it was an executive session to discuss a personnel issue, so it would be improper for me to go into the details of that," Ellis said.
Ellis said there were concerns about Grussendorf's party affiliation. Grussendorf was a registered Republican until just weeks ago. He changed his registration to Democrat to qualify for appointment to the seat that opened when Juneau Democrat Kim Elton resigned for a job in the Obama administration.
(Excerpt) Read more at adn.com ...
They are such a—holes!
If a long-term Democrat switched parties to qualify for an appointment by a Democrat governor, the GOP would justifiably be more than a little skeptical. Unless there is more to the story, in this case, I can’t blame the AK Dems.
Where the hell is it written the Democrat bastards have to like it??
In fact - I’m always disturbed when the bastards are happy.
Kertulla, a rabidly anti-Palin Obama hack.
Governor Palin was calling them out by picking Grussendorf.
Now they are squiriming and bring forward three other choices.
If the dems want to play politics, we'll play along.
She ought to appoint Todd’s lead sled dog, just so the Dims won’t be too intellectually outclassed.
What am I missing here?
Does Palin need them to endorse her pick?
Democrat senator Elton got a post in the Obama administration.
His vacant seat has to be filled by a Democrat. The Democrat senators can bring forward recommendations for the Governor to pick. Since they only brought forward Oboob, anti-Palin hack Kertulla, Governor Palin picked Grussendorf, who is (now) a Democrat.
Any pick the Governor makes has to be approved by a simple majorityn (5 of 9) Democrats.
Pull a Blago on ‘em Sarah!
The new open goobermint, holding closed door sessions on what should be a simple confirmation.
Obama is not about change, he is Goobermint on Steroids.
Why is this shocking? The Dems are in power and they don’t have to play nice. They aren’t expected to play nice, so, once again, why is this shocking?
It will not be much of a fight if the AK Senate Majority Leader is a Democrat.
So, if they do not approve any pick?
They have nothing?
Looks like Governor Palin's slick maneuver triggered a nasty behind-closed-doors Rat brawl. Outstanding!
Now, all she has to do is run out the clock on them.
Well then the Dem senate seat is empty. Unless there is a rule for a deadline or something.
Although, when your fighting someone whose religion is the state, then it is a tough battle.
Article II, § 4 of the Alaska Constitution: “A vacancy in the legislature shall be filled for the unexpired term as provided by law. If no provision is made, the governor shall fill the vacancy by appointment.” Absent a law to the contrary I don’t see where the Democrats have a say in who gets to fill out the term. Shut up and say ‘Hello’ to State Senator Grussendorf.
Well, the rest of the story is that the Rats traditionally give the governor a list of three acceptable choices, under Alaska law, to take over Kim Elton's seat, who got a plush Interior Department appointment as his reward for keeping Troopergate going through the election.
Instead, they sent her only one name, that of House Minority Leader Beth Kerttula, one of Elton's Troopergate cronies, and told Palin to essentially take it or leave it.
Kerttula is a Rat of the slimiest order, having admitted to driving by the governor's mansion at night to see if any lights were on so that she could report Palin's presence or absence to the press. She also as admitted to hanging around the women's restroom at the Capitol in Juneau so that she can corner Palin and try to goad her into a "Kyra Phillips" moment. She was a Rat stalker in every sense of the word.
The Rats, in their arrogance forgot one thing, specifically that Palin is a popular and powerful governor and holds all the cards. In a truly Lincolnesque maneuver, she sent them Grussendorf's name as her choice, throwing it back in their face and boxing them into a corner. Now they look foolish, are a seat short, and only have two-weeks left in the session, which Governor Palin has no intention of extending.
That's what happens when you forget who's the duly-elected boss of the state and dump on her...!
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.