The Mudflats

It’s time for Republicans to start eating their Young. 

Don Young, that is.

It seems that our “Congressman for All Alaska” decided to vote with his feet on Thursday and showed up with bells on to Michele Bachmann’s “Superbowl of Freedom.”  That’s right, we’ve only got one U.S. House Representative and  he shows up at this “Superbowl of Freakdom” where protesters held aloft signs with photos of piles of the naked Holocaust dead, comparing it to the Democratic health care plan.  He also compared the upcoming Health Care Bill as “bobbing for apples in an outhouse,” because “the harder you look, the more waste you find.”  How would he know what happens when you bob for apples in an outhouse, we wonder? Perhaps that’s how he got his infamous moniker “Yon Dung.”  But despite his apparent experience with that activity, I think this time he got it wrong.

Bear in mind that the State of Alaska just voted in Democratic Senator Mark Begich.  The state was considered a toss-up in the presidential election before Palin entered the race.  The state legislature is fairly evenly divided.  We are not as “red” as we may appear.

And yet, our lone congressional representative doesn’t show up for the State of the Union address, but thinks that being present to support Bachmann’s teabag-fest is an appropriate use of his time.  Instead of running as fast as he can from the radical conservative crazies that threaten to render the GOP irrelevant sooner than later, he embraces them.  This man is running now for his 20th term in the House, and yet his radical ideology would make him unelectable in this state if he were starting out today.  And, of course  there are legal bills topping $1 million, and his looming indictment as the not-too-hard-to-identify ”U.S. Representative A” in the oil corruption scandal still plaguing the state.

Did I mention that there’s going to be a fundraiser next week for State Rep. Harry Crawford (D) who is running for that one lone seat in congress?   Circle your calendar for Thursday, November 12 at 5:30 and do it with an extra wide Sharpie.  See the Events tab above for details.  Now is the time and the time is NOW.

As the sentencing for former Veco CEO Bill Allen looms, a new strand in the web of corruption that rocked Alaska’s political world has been discovered.  It’s not much of a discovery really, but it’s been made official.  Bill Allen has formally fessed up and admitted that his company gave gifts and payed for lavish fundraisers for Congressman Don Young.  His famous “pig roast” fundraisers  celebrated Young’s ability to bring home the pork.  The giant commercial barbecue grills with the Veco oil services company logo on the side at these events should have been a clue.

Allen has pleaded guilty to bribery charges and he is scheduled to be sentenced next week. In preparation for his sentencing, his defense team released documents including a 2007 summary of “stipulated facts,” in which Allen confessed to “additional criminal activity.” In that agreement, Allen said that from 1993 to 2006, he and another VECO executive “authorized the use of VECO funds to pay for the annual expenses associated with a yearly fundraiser for United States Representative A.”

You’ve got to chuckle at the attempt to preserve Congressman Young’s identity.  Alaska only has one United States Representative, and Don Young has held that seat for 19 terms.  It would kind of be like referring to “President of the United States “A.”  It doesn’t take much imagination to sort that one out.

According to the document, each year of the annual event, the VECO executives “arranged for the purchase of catering expenses, liquor, equipment rentals and other associated costs for a fundraiser … these expenses were paid using VECO’s corporate funds, and amounted to approximately $10,000 to $15,000 each year. The total monies paid by VECO for these fundraisers thus totaled approximately $130,000 to $195,000.”

The document also alleges that in 2006, Allen paid about $1,000 for a set of golf clubs that were given as a gift to Young.

Young’s financial disclosure report for 2006 does not indicate that he received a gift that year.

I guess we now know where the more than $1 million that Don Young has paid lawyers in the last couple years has gone.   He has not yet been charged with any wrongdoing, but this is going to make for an interesting run up to his bid for re-election, seeking his 20th term in 2010.

He’ll be challenged from within his own party by former legislator Andrew Halcro, who also ran as an independent against ex-governor Sarah Palin in 2006, and challenged from the opposite side of the aisle by State Representative Harry Crawford (D).

“I am confident that the cloud that hangs over me will eventually clear as I know I have done nothing wrong.” – Don Young (12/08)

It’s always nice when a poll backs up what you know, and proves that there are still things out there that aren’t even close. Nor should they be. What we found out today is that the residents of the Bristol Bay watershed don’t want the Pebble Mine. They think that clean water, and wild fish, and jobs that already exist, and subsistence are actually more important than the risk of mining.

Read the press release below and you will understand why Pebble Mine is a deal breaker for many voters. Anyone running for office in 2010 needs to pay close attention before they sell Bristol Bay down the river in favor of foreign mining interests.

Anchorage – A new poll released today finds an overwhelming majority of Bristol Bay residents strongly prefer their subsistence lifestyle to the promise of jobs at the proposed Pebble Mine.

The poll, which is the most in-depth survey of local Alaska Natives’ opinion on the Pebble Mine, found that 79 percent of respondents believe the mine, located in the headwaters of two of the region’s largest salmon-spawning rivers, would damage Bristol Bay’s wild salmon fishery – a key resource that many residents depend on for income and food.

“What Anglo American’s CEO told us when we met in London earlier this year was that if local communities did not want Pebble mine, then Anglo American would not build it,” said Bobby Andrew, spokesperson for Nunamta Aulukestai, a coalition of eight village corporations that commissioned the survey. “A majority of local people know the mine will pollute and destroy subsistence, commercial and sport fishing and adamantly oppose it.

“We are asking Anglo American to honor its promise and withdraw from the Pebble project,” Andrew said.

Andrew and the three other local Alaskans who met with Anglo American executives and shareholders earlier this year in London sent a letter today to the company’s CEO, Cynthia Carroll, along with the survey results. They asked her to adhere to promises she made in a private meeting that the company would abandon the Pebble project if local communities rejected it.

The letter dated September 22, 2009, stated: “Opposition to the mine is overwhelming and unwavering despite significant outreach efforts by Anglo American and Northern Dynasty over the years…. With that in mind, we ask you to keep your stated commitment to forego development of the Pebble mine given the ongoing community opposition.”

“We are not going to risk our subsistence way of life, which has sustained our families for generations, on the Pebble Mine,” said Lydia Olympic, an Igiugig native who joined the group that met with top company officials in London in April. “Mining is not the answer.”

“Sustainable development can only be based on our wild salmon, clean water, and renewable energy – not on a mine that will pollute our land and water with toxic waste,” Olympic said.

The poll released today was conducted by Anchorage-based Craciun Research, which sampled 411 Bristol Bay residents from six parts of the Bristol Bay region between May 18, 2009 and June 2, 2009. It was statistically drawn to get an accurate assessment of opinion in each of those areas: Alaska Peninsula, Lake Iliamna/Lake Clark, Nushagak Bay, Nushagak River, Togiak, and Kwichak Bay. The margin of error was plus or minus 4.8 percent.

Among the survey’s main findings:

· The vast majority of residents favored renewable energy development (94 percent), value-added fish packing (89 percent), and tourism that Alaska Native communities could be involved (82 percent) in over mining.

· Survey respondents agreed almost unanimously (97 percent) that maintaining subsistence-lifestyle resources and their subsistence lifestyle is important.

· Seventy-two percent of those surveyed reported that a significant part of their diet came from fish, game, berries and other subsistence sources.

· Only 8 percent of survey respondents supported the Pebble mine project, less than the one-third the number that support oil and gas drilling.

· The strongest opposition to the mine was in the Nushagak Bay area, but even in Iliamna-Lake Clark area, where local businesses benefit more from current exploration activities, 73 percent of survey respondents oppose the mine.

· A majority (78 percent) thought Pebble mine would damage commercial, guided or subsistence fishing.

· A majority of respondents agreed that most jobs created by the mine would go to outsiders, not locals.

· Few respondents thought that mining could be done without harming the environment.

One of my favorite panels at Netroots Nation was the panel discussion entitled Turning Red Districts Blue: Organizing for Change. Panelists were David Atkins (moderator), Darcy Burner, Adam Lambert, Democracy for America’s Arshad Hasan, Matt Browner Hamlin, and Eden James.

Matt Browner Hamlin spoke about his time as Mark Begich’s online communications director in the 2008 campaign.

MBH:  The challenge in Alaska is how do you get from a population which is only 23% Democratic to a vote of 50% +1. It was a big hurdle. Most Alaskans are registered as Non-Partisan. What helped the Begich campaign was the narrative that this was a “change election.” The nation, but Alaskans in particular, were ready for some accountability in their state government. This is a message that we wouldn’t have heard 2 years earlier.

The Obama campaign had 35 staff in the state of Alaska. There was lots of internal polling that put Obama up 2-3 points or down 2-3 points between March and August of 2008. The campaign didn’t ever put resources in the state in a public way, but they were feeling optimistic about taking the state. Even if they hadn’t won, it would have forced McCain to spend money in a traditionally red state. “Instead,” he laughed, “they nominated Sarah Palin and used the VP pick to secure those 3 electoral votes.”

Q. “You think you’ve got a candidate. What does it take? How do you message and win in red districts?”

Darcy Burner:There are two ways to do this. 1) Try to find ways to answer questions that won’t be offensive to anyone. There are candidates who win using this. 2) The other way is to be clear about your values, and hope they appreciate that you are principled and honest, because there aren’t many politicians like that. But you must make a choice of one way or the other. You can’t do both. And once you make the choice you have to stick to it. You can’t start wishy-washy and then go principled because people won’t believe you. And it works the same the other way.

Either way, it’s always helpful to focus on the things you have in common.

Q.  How do you change the way people think? There’s a difference between electing a Dem and turning a district blue.

MBH:He thinks that Mark Begich missing a huge opportunity to fundamentally change how Alaskans think about the Democratic Party. His campaign chose to go for getting 50% +1 of the vote instead, and worry about reelection in 6 years.

Arshad Hasan – You have to listen to voters. You must go out into the district and see what is important to people, whether it’s property taxes or schools or whatever? Organize people where they are. If you figure out what people want., you may find commonalities even in conservative districts.

Adam Lambert – Take what you hear about shared values and figure out how to connect. Why are you any better than the one that’s in there now? You’ve got to find a way to do it without ticking off someone who has voted for an incumbent 10 or 12 times, and also not alienate your party.

Eden James – In a red district it’s imperative to change the psychology of your supporters. They will feel like it’s hopeless. It means challenging the conventional wisdom. Have the data to support what you’re saying and message it to everyone and tel them to message it to their friends. If you reflect the message back to the district and tell them the campaign is people powered, they will start to believe it. It may take more than one election cycle, because it has to be about the people not the candidate.

Darcy Burner– We need to learn how to use more carrots and fewer sticks. We’re happy to whack people who don’t do what we want, but they don’t get thanks enough when they do the things we do want. It won’t work with every Representative, but we can’t have them feel like “I’m all alone because teabaggers are out there but my friends are not.” If we’re not there for them to protect them, then they won’t want to take big risks for people who are not adequately thanking them.

Arshad Hasan – We can call and email, whether we use carrots or sticks. We need to flex our muscles. We can be supportive, or we can be annoying, but we must be there. Primaries are the ultimate “stick.” We can give pressure from the other side by supporting progressives who more accurately reflect our message.

Q– How do you know when you’ve got a good candidate who isn’t just treating the netroots like an ATM machine?

Darcy Burner – Running for office is an enormous amount of hard work. The question I ask is “Are they willing to do the work?” Most people really aren’t. “If you find someone who is wiling to do the hard work, give them everything you’ve got.”

Arshad Hasan – Yes. That’s more important than issues, or what they have in their bank account. If you aren’t willing to commit your life, then we shouldn’t be willing to commit to you. Back someone FIRST who will put in the hours.

Matt Browner Hamlin– The other thing to look for is a candidate who will spend a lot of time talking to bloggers. They need to have meetings with bloggers to talk about how the campaign is going. There is value in candidates hearing from the progressive base. People are influenced by who they talk to. Don’t work for anyone who doesn’t treat the online community with the same respect as they do traditional media.

Adam Lambert – To a number of candidates outside the bubble, we’re just this unknown mass of people who can be loud and intimidating. But, we are the same activists and the same grass roots people they know, but we have access to a lot of other people. The online activists can use email, blogging or any other social media tool. They need to realize it’s the same grass roots but with exponential power. We’re not all that scary.

Eden James - People who donate $25 to the campaign make an important psychological step in commitment to the campaign. Democracy for America runs a grass roots All Star Competition. You can sign up to win with benefits to the candidate.

Moderator – Go to a DFA training, and encourage candidates to go too!

Arshad Hasan – It’s helpful to build local progressive institutions. Before you call in the DCCC or whatever, go to unions or faith based organizations, or clubs.  Get a network of people to go out. Both parties have used the “out of state donations” as an albatross around the neck of a candidate. Don’t fear the national organization.

Darcy Burner – There was a candidate who went door to door throughout his entire district identifying party members and creating an email list of names, which made him very successful in grassroots organizing.

Arshad Hasan – People should be running to win. Find an individual who is really motivated. Also, ask progressives to run for non-partisan offices.

Eden James – One thing to always remember is that sometimes “sacrificial lambs” actually win. Why? Because they are on the ballot. The incumbent can screw up at any time. Even a losing sacrificial lamb gets basic information they can give to the party.

Q. How do we fight against reflexive voting? There are people who vote for Republican just because they’re Republican. They don’t want to learn.

Matt Browner Hamlin – Push Republicans into a position where they say something stupid.

There was no “blogosphere” in Alaska a year and a half ago. You never know when those kinds of situations are going to arise.  Thanks to the likes of Mudflats, Shannyn Moore and Linda Kellen Biegel and others, Sarah Palin is no longer in office.  Don’t underestimate that force.

Darcy Burner – If the math is such that you can actually meet everyone in your district, do it.

Arshad Hasan – If you go door to door, you can rule out those who would always vote, or who would never vote and really focus on everyone else. Remember that we are dealing with generational and gender prejudices too.

Matt Browner Hamlin – You need to give someone meaningful ways to engage in the campaign, not just send them newsletters or just ask for money. It’s all about building community, meeting up, and going out. Supporters will take you up on opportunities if you give them.

Eden James – Build a blog team. Have weekly conferences with them. Make blog team part of the campaign.

Darcy Burner– The netroots is already good at changing the media narrative around a campaign. Reach out to local bloggers to frame things. “They can also be a good source of fundraising over the long haul. If you’re not willing to invest in building the relationships, it won’t work. It’s not instant. Spend money to make videos to give bloggers and start the relationship building. Those are the only two things we have proven. And those are two very big things.