Mark Begich on the Public Option, the Kennedy Legacy, and Being Bold.
~~~Mark Begich at his June Anchorage Town Hall Meeting on health care, calling on a constituent who actually raised her hand to speak. Ah, those were the days. I’m going to confess right now, that after 2/3 of a term of Gov. Sarah Palin, and a vice presidential run, and all the Twittering Facebooking adventures of the last year, I thought if I ever heard the word “bold” again come out of the mouth of an Alaska politician, I was going to run screaming into the hills, or smash myself in the head with a brick. So nobody was more surprised…
The Palin Notification Act.
Please join Governor SARAH PALIN & nationally known conservative STAR PARKER Thursday, August 27th 7:30pm at Change Point Church Anchorage The Alaskans for Parental Rights campaign was developed to return to parents the right to oversee abortion decisions their underage teenage daughters might be unfortunately considering. ******************************** So says the notice from Change Point Church, one of Anchorages 2 mega-churches that will be pushing hard for the Parental Notification act. This announcement has appeared all over the internet, far and wide – state blogs, national blogs, Palin blogs, you name it. I’ve known about this appearance for days now. Apparently…
If It’s Good Enough for Them, It’s Good Enough for Us.
The blogosphere is full of tributes to Senator Ted Kennedy today. The left is mourning. Some on the right are not. Ted Kennedy was a consummate negotiator. He never gave up without a fight, and he knew what was right. He lived a life of privilege, fiercely devoted to serving those who did not. I was reading the comments from Sarah Palin’s facebook page, and over on Fox News. I wondered to myself how it was possible that the very people that Kennedy fought for all his life, to give them a living wage, and to give them the…
Netroots – Turning Red Districts Blue: Organizing for Change
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…
What We Must Do.
It’s been an amazing weekend here it Pittsburgh. I have been overwhelmed, and moved, and outraged, and humbled over and over. The progressive movement has had incredible successes this year, but it now faces challenges that many of us were not expecting. We wanted to think that the election of Barack Obama meant that a progressive was at the helm, and that the ship of state would start heading in a new direction. It was a lot of work, but we did it. “Yes, we did,” the saying went. The problem with that saying is that it is decisively in…
Alaska “Deathers” Heckle Sick People (Updated with Photos)
I am taking a break. This was a strange and disturbing morning. I started the day with a big cup of coffee, and an 8:30am arrival at The Egan Center in downtown Anchorage. That’s where the special session of the Alaska State Legislature is meeting today. They have two things on their plate – voting on whether to overturn ex-governor Sarah Palin’s rejection of the stimulus money for energy efficiency, and whether to confirm Craig Campbell as Lt. Governor. The joint session convenes at 1:00, so I had time to pop over and attend a press conference Organizing for America held…
White Knight v. Carpet Baggin’ Dragon! Call to Action!
It seems sometimes like politics attracts all the wrong people. The very job that needs selfless people with high moral principle, honesty, and a desire to serve the community, with no particular burning need for power and prestige, too often attracts the wrong kind. Don’t get me wrong, I think there are plenty of people who are good people looking for ways to make a difference, but not too many of them want to jump into the shark tank. But every once in a while somebody who ought to run for office, does. And every once in a while that…