Back when the Anchorage Assembly Chair was Dan Sullivan, he presided over a “meeting-before-the-meeting” of the Assembly. This is a meeting they have before their regular Tuesday Assembly meeting to basically get the organizational flotsam and jetsam out of the way…present amendments, new ordinances, etc…so that time isn’t eaten up on Tuesdays with “making the sausage.” Though the “open meeting laws” in Alaska ensure that anyone can sit in on these, at this particular meeting more members of the public were present than usual. You see, the debate over the ordinance that would halt smoking in the hospitality workplaces was raging on and the pro-ordinance side, led by the American Cancer Society among other organizations, heard there might be some hanky-panky going on.

They were right.

Assembly Chair and bar-owner Sullivan invited up several folks to “speak” (provide testimony) to the Assembly members present. He introduced these speakers with much defensiveness behind his words, stating how these speakers needed to be heard because the ordinance could hurt their business and as Chair, he could invite anyone to speak that he wanted to.

One of the Cancer Society folks sitting next to me in the audience said “will any of us get a chance?” Sullivan turned to all of us and snapped, “NO!”

The speakers?

– Then-president of Anchorage CHARR (Cabaret, Hotel, Restaurant and Retailers Association) John Pattee charged with four counts of felony sexual assault in 2009 and recently pled guilty to lesser charges.

– Also speaking on behalf of CHARR, then Legislator Tom Anderson, later convicted and jailed for extortion, conspiracy, bribery and money laundering. At one point during his talk, he made a giggly little comment about how even though he was here speaking against the ordinance, he didn’t want anyone to think he was speaking as a state legislator, because that would be wrong (unethical) for the State to dictate to the Municipality what it should do.

He and a few folks yucked it up over that one. Most sitting in my area didn’t find it funny at all. If only I’d known how much irony was dripping from the rafters at that moment.

Fast-forward to this year’s Assembly race.

Mayor Dan Sullivan made it perfectly clear in multiple interviews with the media including at his official press conferences, that he was making it his personal crusade to get rid of Harriet Drummond, Elvi Gray-Jackson and Mike Guttierez. He even guest hosted the Dave Stieren Show, campaigning for 3 hours. It was also 3 hours in the middle of a work day…kinda questionable when it comes to a municipal employee campaigning on municipal time.

So what exactly is the hysteria over a video of Dick Traini, the second in three generations of union members, at the Anchorage “We Are One” rally held in conjunction with hundreds of rallies across the country in rememberence of Reverend Martin Luther King on the anniversary of his assassination? (Psssst…it was after working hours.)

Part of the reason folks are up in arms was that the contents of this video was recounted (incorrectly) by Assembly Member Ernie Hall:

Assembly member Ernie Hall, who saw a video of the speech, said, “Dick did get a bit carried away.”

Hall reported that Traini said at the rally, “Maybe we can even take him (Sullivan) out in this next election.”

The actual phrase, “send him packing” doesn’t have the same threatening overtone. (…and should be corrected by author of the article, Rosemary Shinohara, but I digress.)

Some questions need to be asked:

– Where exactly did Chairman Traini say ANYTHING about the Mayor that wasn’t absolutely true?

– Why were Chris Birch, Jennifer Johnston, Ernie Hall and Sullivan watching a video on Traini at the April 4th rally when they were supposed to be having a “budget work session?” What was the real purpose of that meeting?

– Why does the Mayor think he can be so self-indulgent as to pick and choose who he works with when Harriet Drummond and Elvi Gray-Jackson are expected to work with the mayor in spite of being his targets? This doesn’t even count their last-minute drubbing at the hands of mayoral puppeteer Dan Coffey and his PAC of real estate businesses who would prefer Anchorage to be one big strip mall.

– And the big question…who is providing the biggest push for the Assembly to select another Chairperson tonight at their meeting?

Debbie Ossiander, another Sullivan lackey, has stated that she would like the job…again…(Pssssst…politics aside, Debbie Ossiander was the worst…chair…ever. She is unable to keep up with the pace of the meeting much less lead it.)

As to the “real purpose” of that meeting with the Mayor and the three Assembly members, credible Muni sources won’t give me on-the-record confirmation, but they report that Mayor Sullivan may be playing the blackmail game by allegedly threatening to deny access to anyone who votes for Traini instead of Ossiander. It’s not a coincidence that Traini has made some comments causing folks to believe he’s planning to run for mayor and that folks give him a really good shot at being able to “take Sullivan down” in the next election.

Threatening to interfere with the workings of the Municipal government to get his way…if true, that’s a serious ethical breach by Mayor Sullivan. But if true, given Sullivan’s completely ethics-free history, I don’t think he cares.

The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC) released their latest commercial for the benefit of Scott McAdams, describing Lisa Murkowski’s mischaracterization of her political stances:

The video is great and the message is spot-on.

This gives me the opportunity to talk about a piece of Senator Frank Murkowski’s history where we can see Lisa following in her dad’s footsteps.

During the Rachel Maddow Show’s visit to Alaska, Lisa Murkowski discussed the time (back in the 80′s) that the Moral Majority took over the Republican Party (5:20 on the video):

What she does NOT discuss is how her father, then Senator Frank Murkowski, reacted.

I was lucky enough back then to forge friendships with some of the most politically savvy and influential women in Alaska. We all worked together in the Pro-Choice Movement and we were of all political stripes. (Most of the Alaska Republican women I knew were pro-choice at the time.) It was through these women that I learned a very important piece of information about Frank Murkowski…he was elected into office as a pro-choice Senator. However, much to the chagrin of the women who supported him, he bowed to the will of the Moral Majority and not only changed his leaning to anti-choice but took on their other “values” as well.

Bottom line…re-election was more important to Frank Murkowski than his integrity.

Sadly, he taught his daughter everything he knows, and she has taken it to heart.

If you are getting that urge right now, go ahead and DONATE HERE to Scott McAdams. If you live in Alaska, VOLUNTEER HERE…there is still LOTS of work to do!

Most of all GET OUT AND VOTE!!!!

Below is the (draft) press release I will be sending out in final form later today.  As you can see, I’ve been working hard in the basement office!

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The Alaska Public Offices Commission accepted a complaint filed by Linda Kellen Biegel. It is against five members of the Campaign to Re-elect Alaska Representative Bill Thomas, Jr. (R-Haines). One of the complaints is filed against the candidate himself.

The complaint is in response to a newspaper advertising campaign consisting of 12 ads which ran in the Chilkat Valley News during the weeks leading up to the primary election. (The ads are attached to the complaint.) Each ad contained the name and address of a Haines business at the bottom in the “This ad paid for by” line. They all had photos, some were of the candidate, some of which (like the Haines “100 years” celebration photo) were taken at public events unrelated to the candidate yet giving the impression those in the photo supported Rep. Thomas. Some encouraged the reader to “vote,” some thanked Rep. Thomas and several had quotes attributed to him. (Several pictured Rep. Thomas together with Senator Albert Kookesh, but it is unknown if Sen. Kookesh gave his permission or was made aware of the ads when they ran in the paper.)

The name or image of Rep. Thomas was clearly present in each of the 12 ads during this election cycle.

Upon further research, it was impossible to determine exactly what category of legal contributions these ads were attempting to fit, if any:

James Studley was the one who coordinated the entire ad buy. He provided the photos, drafted the copy, designed the ads and worked with Ms. Evandon on the buy, but directed Chilkat Valley News to bill each business listed on the ads for payment. Mr. Studley is also a Deputy Treasurer on Rep. Bill Thomas’s re-election campaign and would have been legally able to make a campaign ad purchase. However, that was clearly not the intent because (a) the proper format and wording were not on the ads, (b) while coordinating the purchase, he was not paying for it…he instructed the newspaper to bill the listed businesses, and (c) these businesses were not “individuals, group, non-group entity and political parties” — the only entities allowed to make in-kind contributions to campaigns.

On the other hand, because Mr. Studley was one of Thomas’s Deputy Treasurers and he coordinated the entire advertising buy, this did not appear to qualify as an “Independent Expenditure” because AS Sec. 15.13.135. and regulation 2 AAC 50.270 states that Independent Expenditures cannot be coordinated with members of the campaign.

This wasn’t the only “coordination with the campaign” regarding these ads. Per the complaint:

4) …At least three high-ranking members of Representative Bill Thomas, Jr’s re-election campaign staff sit on their Executive Boards of some of the businesses purchasing these ads:

- Haines Real Estate (2 ads): Owned by Alaska Resources Consulting, Inc — James Studley, Deputy Treasurer for the Thomas Campaign, is President of Alaska Resources.

- Alaska Resources Consulting, Inc.(2 ads): James Studley, Deputy Treasurer for the Thomas Campaign, is President.

- Oleruds Inc. (1 ad): Doug Olerud is the Chairperson & Deputy Treasurer of the Thomas Campaign and he is President of Olerud’s, Inc.

- King’s Store Inc.: Gregg Richmond, Deputy Treasurer for the Thomas Campaign, is on the King’s Store Board of Directors as a Secretary/Treasurer.

Originally, an expedited hearing was requested but was reconsidered in order to allow APOC to do a full investigation. Per their notification letter, this investigation could end in 1) a civil penalty, 2) a dismissal, or 3) a consent agreement if the APOC staff and Repondents agree to a resolution.

The acceptance notification was received via US mail on Saturday, October 9, 2010. HERE is a link to the complaint and HERE is a link to an amendment (the original complaint did not use the most recent version of the Alaska Statutes). Notification was sent via email today that they will be combining all five complaints into one hearing.

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I took this complaint on because it seemed that the campaign didn’t feel like they had to bother with any rules or regulations…an attitude which has grown profoundly in Alaska over the years.  The SCOTUS Citizen’s United ruling has just made it worse, causing folks to think that there ARE NO rules or regs to follow anymore.  I hope this complaint will be a wake-up call to folks in Alaska.  I can’t even imagine how many other small towns are experiencing the same thing.

By Linda Kellen Biegel

Sarah Palin’s accusations regarding the “Liberal, Lamestream Media” being “out to get her” are no secret, especially after publication of her first work of fiction, “Going Rogue.” However, there is a less-published (by credible sources) accusation that goes like this: There is a so-called “Alaska Mafia” of Democrats who take orders directly from their leader in DC, President Barack Obama. They joined forces with various high-ranking Alaska Democratic politicians to drive her out of the Governor’s office. Even now they are (allegedly) still after her, plotting and scheming.

Sounds insane, right? People have sent us emails here at Mudflats when the craziness has cropped up across the web. We’ve looked…we’ve laughed…we’ve even published one of the videos on our respective blogs.

However, as ex-Alaskan Pete Rouse assumes the job of White House Chief of Staff, it seems that Palin’s Alaska wackiness has been elevated to the level of a White House press briefing:

The Anchorage Daily News Politics Blog answered the voter registration question already. It’s this part that gets me:

TAPPER: OK. And Governor Palin, former Governor Palin has insinuated that Rouse — she suspected Rouse was part of a plot against her. She wrote about this in her book. She’s tweeted about it — tweeted suggestions about this recently. I was just wondering if you guys have any comment on that.

GIBBS: No. I mean, you know, it — it’s a fairly silly accusation that is baseless.

TAPPER: So he has — he had nothing to do with any of the attacks against…

GIBBS: No.

TAPPER: OK. Thank you.

So, Palin’s pack-of-lies from that pile-of-parrot-droppings called “her book” were being treated as credible by at least one reporter? Once again, reality loses out to Palin spin because we luuuuuve a good conspiracy theory!

“Reality” is represented by the photo above of the “Impeach Palin” signs found all over downtown in 2009. I was amazed the first time I saw one, knowing how frightened many people were (and still are) to cross the Palins. I researched into it and discovered that these signs weren’t part of any Democratic conspiracy…no “Alaska Mafia” provided funds. These signs were bought and paid for by a hardcore conservative Obama-disliking Republican who realized that Palin was NOT out for the good of Alaska but for the good of her own fame and fortune. When I spoke to him over a year ago, he informed me that his like-minded friends and former Palin supporters had been dropping like flies from her “fan club” after seeing the way she had been ignoring her duties and treating her state. That was when Palin was spending a great amount of time out of state at self-aggrandizing events. That was the time the Legislature rejected a key Palin appointment, when it was clear she had lost the majority of the Legislature, key Republicans who were former supporters as well as Democrats. (Who later overrode her veto of the stimulus money.) That was also when Palin’s numbers in the Hays poll went from a whopping 80+% favorable in 2008 to a 53% in May 2009 and bottoming out at 46.8% favorable and 47% unfavorable in July 2009 – right about “quitting time.”

Our sign-buyer couldn’t take it anymore and spent his hard-earned money to make a point.

Here’s the reaction on July 23rd, after she announced she was quitting:

No “Alaska Mafia” did that to Sarah Palin, she did it to herself.

But facts are so limiting and they often are too boring to make good stories.  So, in comes the Palin spin, which actually found an audience beyond her devotees during her book tour. That evil “Lamestream Media” in the form of a Time Magazine Cover Story about her quitting and then again in their blog Swampland back in July of 2009, repeated Palin’s accusations from the book. They even got a response from Press Secretary Gibbs:

Palin and her Alaska circle find evidence for their suspicions about the White House in the person of Pete Rouse, who lived in Juneau for a time before he became chief of staff to a young U.S. Senator named Barack Obama. Rouse, they note, is a friend of former Alaska state senator Kim Elton, who pushed the first ethics investigation of Palin, examining her controversial firing of the state’s public-safety commissioner. Both Rouse and Elton have joined the Obama Administration. White House press secretary Robert Gibbs scoffed at the theory. “The charge is ridiculous,” he said. “Obviously there is no effort … From my vantage point, a lot of the criticism she is getting from others seems to be generated from self-inflicted wounds.

However, the blog went beyond that by printing an interview with then-spokesperson Meg Stapleton:

Meg went a step further at one point telling me, “I just hope to God Rahm Emanuel isn’t using taxpayer money to come after Alaska.” That’s the way they think about it: that these Alaskans filing ethics complaints have been hoodwinked by Obama operatives into wasting the Alaskan government’s time and resources.

Are you kidding me?

This whole thing is so simple to research it’s ridiculous. I find it amazing how Time Magazine, that pillar of journalistic ethics, didn’t actually talk to someone about such a serious accusation as using federal money to “come after Alaska.” They also didn’t deem it important enough to contact one of the people being smeared by these lies like, say, someone who actually filed a complaint!

Palin and her blogger minions keep repeating these fantasies to the press. They have even helped to expand on these falsehoods through unintentionally amusing videos. Of that alleged “Alaska Mafia,” it seems that Jeanne Devon, Shannyn Moore and…well…yours truly are three of their favorite targets. (Ohmygosh…there’s three of us…and we’re women…that must mean…):

MACBETH!

This video is more humorous than anything but highlights some of the recurring lies – not only do they claim we were “organized” by the Obama Camp but that we were also paid.

Oh, if that were only true…I’ve never received a dime from any famous billionaires, Alaska politicians…public figures of any kind. However, I am perfectly willing to negotiate!

Of course, it seems that many of the now-Palin blogs, shall we say, “came to being” at the same time McCain supporters were providing the means. It’s an effective Rovian technique to accuse the other guy of doing something that you’ve already done.

The latest video isn’t humorous, so it’s only irritating. It makes tons of inaccurate assumptions and inferences based on how many of us know each other and IT USES MY PHOTOS!

This video was made for and by folks who know nothing about Alaska.

1) Probably the biggest lie perpetrated by these people is the one about Senator Kim Elton. According to the Palinista lore, he started “Troopergate” at the behest of the Obama Camp, and organized all of us against Palin. For that, he was supposedly given a spot in the Obama Administration.

There are several pretty large roadblocks to that EVER being true:

– The Calendar: The Alaska Legislative Council decided to investigate the Monegan firing on July 28, 2008, a full month before anyone had any inkling of a possible McCain tap – a month before Sarah Palin’s VP candidacy is revealed.

– AK Legislative Rules: Senator Kim Elton did not launch nor lead the “Troopergate” investigation. It was launched by the entire Legislative Council, which is bipartisan and, at the time, was made up of a majority of Republicans. It was led by a hired out-of-state special investigator, attorney Stephen Branchflower. The closest Senator to the investigation was Chair of the Senate Judiciary Committee, Hollis French.

2) Alaska has a grand total of about 600,000 people. Anchorage itself has about 300,000 folks and is the primary hub for many things, including air travel. I’ve always joked that if you want to meet Alaskan celebrities and politicians, just hang out at the Safeway/Carrs grocery store at Minnesota Drive. It’s the closest one to the airport and the closest one to the old-monied neighborhood of Turnagain (Hickel mansion, Sheffield mansion, etc…) I met the late musher and Alaskan hero Norman Vaughan there and have seen numerous politicians.

It’s just a fact…Alaskans tend to personally know their politicians. If they don’t, it’s not due to a lack of opportunity.

3) If you are a politically active Democrat in Anchorage, you have regular opportunities to meet ALL of your statewide politicians because this is also the fundraising hub for everyone, Democrat or Republican. Most of the pictures used in this video were from the Annual Statewide Dinner and fundraiser for the Democratic Party. Another series of photos was from a fundraiser for one of the 2009 Anchorage mayoral candidates held at Senator Begich’s house. Many of the Anchorage Democratic politicians have fundraisers for others in their homes…especially for the folks out in Rural Alaska.

Ooooh…how conspiratorial…

4) Regarding the “ethics complaints,” I am also the only Alaska blogger (that I know of) who filed an ethic’s complaint (Arctic Cat). Only two other registered Democrats (that I know of) filed ethics complaints – one each. The rest were all filed by Independents and Republicans. The Alaska Executive Branch Ethics Act, one of the most poorly written documents on the planet, is pretty vague in the “how to” department when it comes to writing a complaint. Therefore, the only way to really figure it out is contact someone who has previously filed one. I contacted Andree McLeod (Republican) when I decided I wanted to file a complaint to see if she had some sort of template I could use. Several other folks contacted me for the same reason. While there is some level of comradarie through our shared experience (think of circling the wagons), none of the filers I know are in the same social circles…especially during election season! (Remember, most filers were Republicans and unaffiliated.)

The most intriguing part about all of this Palin-Rouse paranoia is that those of us fully acquainted with Sarah Palin’s antics know that she doesn’t go seriously on the attack about something unless there is potential damage to her brand…and for Sarah, “on the attack” means incoherent ramblings on Twitter!

Alaska’s Pete Rouse (@ least he claims to be “Alaska”)finally comes out of the shadows; Obama looks to appt him COS;strange doings in the WH
11:44 AM Sep 22nd via Twitter for BlackBerry®

(Rahm’s the smart one…bailing before Nov) Now, check out possible COS Pete Rouse. His background, voter reg in AK,etc. It’s a small world
11:47 AM Sep 22nd via Twitter for BlackBerry®

Alaska media slept on the job for how many years re: Obama senior advisor Pete Rouse’s claim to be AK resident and “local” voter? For shame.
1,285,653,886,000.00 via Twitter for BlackBerry®

Wow! Three whole tweets on the subject – this is serious! I wonder what Pete Rouse has (or what she thinks he has) on her?

Hmmmmm…

The supporters have been rallied, the big announcement has been made and Senator Lisa Murkowski is off and running on her whirlwind write-in campaign!

So what are her actual chances of winning?

1) There is the problem of her name.

Lisa Murkowski…doesn’t exactly roll off the tongue or the pen.  However, it looks like a write-in won’t be as stringent as was once thought.  Just “Lisa” would not be enough according to outgoing Lt. Gov. Craig Campbell. However, voters would not need to spell Murkowski’s name correctly if “intent could be ascertained” according to Division of Elections Director Gail Fenumiai…even “Lisa M” is a possibility.  However, there are rumblings of problems (see item 4).

2) There is the problem of the “oval.”

Alaska uses the cards and card-reading machines. So, even though a voter may have written Lisa Murkowski’s name perfectly, it doesn’t count if they don’t color-in the oval next to it for the machine to read. This particular issue is of concern to those who have questions about machine tampering — the only way to catch a ballot that does have the dot colored in but was somehow unread by the machine is in a recount.

3) There is the problem of history being against her.

A Smart Politics analysis of data from the Clerk of the U.S. House of Representatives and State of Alaska Division of Elections finds there have been eight general election write-in campaigns for statewide office in Alaska over the past 26 election cycles dating back to 1958.

Two of these campaigns were for U.S. Senate seats.

The highest percentage went to Wally Hickel in 1978 — he managed to get 26.4 % against Jay Hammond.  The next highest went in 1998 to Robin Taylor, running against John Lindauer (R) and Tony Knowles (D).  Robin got the highest number of votes ever for a write-in…40,209.  However, he ended up with only 18.3 % of the vote and Tony Knowles won the day.

The most important thing to take away from this…ALL OF THESE CAMPAIGNS FAILED!!! 

4) The most troubling aspect…this will be the dirtiest, most vile, most antagonistic campaign in Alaska’s history.

–Miller supporters have already threatened to have people named “Lisa M” run write-in campaigns simply to GUM-UP THE VOTING SYSTEM. (Who couldn’t see THAT coming?)

– The Tea Party Express said they will come back and work “twice as hard” against a Murkowski write-in campaign.  Who doesn’t think that’s “code” for spend double the money they did did the primary?  Since they spent almost $600,000.00,  that’s almost $1.2 million of outside cash.  The commercials they bought for Miller previously were full of lies and misinformation.  One can only imagine how much worse they will be now.

–Spokespeople for Murkowski have indicated the gloves are coming off.  Murkowski already stated that the Alaska GOP Primary was “hijacked” by an “outside extremist group.”  Andrew Halcro stated to the New York Times that it would be “the kind of campaign you should have seen in the primary” — in other words, “no-holds-barred, pedal-to-the-metal stuff.”

–Sarah Palin needs a Miller win to give her any kind of political credibility going into a run for President in 2012.  This is the endorsement that counts.  When Palin gets desperate, many of us know exactly how far she’ll go.

5) There is a very great potential of heartbreak.

I understand that Sen. Murkowski’s supporters have only the best of intentions here for their candidate, but I don’t think they have taken a long, realistic look at this decision and its repercussions.   The reality is that the Division of Elections won’t even look at the write-in ballots unless they have the most votes and according to Alaska history, THEY HAVE NEVER HAD THE MOST VOTES.

So let’s just say that unicorns start popping up around Alaska and Lisa Murkowski miraculously achieves what no other Alaskan ever has…”winning” as a write-in candidate.  That’s when the real work…and the real fight…begins.

Every single one of those write-in ballots will have to be inspected individually by a member of the Division of elections and in front of representatives from the campaigns.  The Miller “observers” can and will question every ballot they can get away with.  That campaign showed during the absentee count that they are willing to go as far as falsely besmirching the reputation of innocent Alaska citizens in order to clear the field of experienced observers.    

Thanks to their lawyer, Snidely Whiplash…errrr…Thomas Van Flein.

I saw Van Flein in action at the Division of Elections.  He was hounding and harassing the staff over every rumor and innuendo he’d read in an email.  I can’t even IMAGINE what it’s going to be like if they have to go through the write-ins.  The Murkowski people are going to have to fight for every single ballot and that’s what I mean by heartbreak.  You see, in the unicorn scenario, they could receive the most number of votes.  However, for all the reasons listed above and adding-in human nature, a chunk of those will inevitably be thrown out in the “knock-down-drag-out observation process.”  If it’s too many…

You see what I mean by “heartbreak.”  Even if we’re overrun with unicorns, I don’t think anyone believes in a three-way race Murkowski is going to get a commanding lead.  Whatever lead they might have could be tossed away in unacceptable and challenged ballots.

So, what are Senator Murkowski’s chances?  If you judge by the enthusiasm of her supporters, she has a shot.  If you judge by the practicalities of a write-in campaign in general, her chances aren’t good.  If you judge based on the write-in campaigns in Alaska’s history, she has no chance at all.

So the question you have to ask yourself…do you believe in unicorns?  

Stay tuned and break out your popcorn…

courtesy of Huffington Post