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Welcome to Alaskan Politics...
A Republican Party lost in personal indulgence
without purpose
by Michael Chambers
Today we have elected representatives of the republican party who prefer to hand the reigns of both the Senate and House over to Democrat leadership.
This is particularly surprising as there are more Republicans elected in both houses. If they simply joined a republican caucus, then republicans would have majority control of both houses. In other words, these legislators use the republican moniker during their campaign but abandon their own party principles after the campaign joining the democrat caucus thus handing over control of both houses to Democrat control.
First, it is essential to lay down general definitions and principles of both Republican and Democrat values so we can determine why any given candidate would register and affiliate with the Party.
Republicans: ( generally speaking )
1. Republicans believe in strong private enterprise with less regulations thus supposedly promoting less government and more personal responsibility and freedom.
2. The republican world view is faith centered more so than a secular perspective.
3. Current republican principles encourage citizens to be more "nationalistic" than world based. This gives rise to supporting a reverence for the National Anthem, the Pledge of allegiance, strict border control, support for alternate methods of schooling, strong national defense, and an emphasis on traditional family values.
4. Republicans support articles of law such as the US Constitution and limited powers of all 3 branches of government. Regarding the administrative powers republicans believe that the enumerated powers granted to the federal government must be adhered to and all land unlawfully taken by the US Government must be returned to the respective states. Look for leadership from Utah to reinforce this belief.
Republicans believe all Supreme Courts, rather state or federal must be bound by the respective Constitutions to rule on the basis of constitutionality. Supreme courts should never be designed or designated to create law.
Regarding legislative actions, Republicans support the popular election of an attorney general, confirmation of judges appointed to courts, and being subservient to the will of the people. Article 1 section 2 of the Alaska Constitution.
5. Republicans believe in individual rights and do not agree that "body autonomy" gives women the right to seek abortions as it is a violation of a human in progress. Republicans do not grant personal rights based on gender, race or sexual orientation.
6. As a historical note, republicans have fought for racial equality. The first Republican elected to office was Abraham Lincoln who lost his life promoting racial equality. The voting rights record of 1965 was passed into law by a majority of Republican legislators.
Democrats (generally speaking )
1. Democrats promote government support and intervention in individuals lives. Promotion of the "Nanny State."
2. Democrats are secular minded. They resist any inclusion of faith based enterprise in government policy whatsoever.
3. Democrats have a global governance viewpoint. They support organizations like the United Nations and global initiatives like the Paris Climate accord and World Health Organization.
4. Democrats attack the structure of the Supreme Court and would like expanding members of the court in order to water down conservative influence. Democrats support the intervention of the federal government on sovereign lands of respective states. They support centralized control.
5. Democrats support classifications of groups based on gender, race and sexual orientation. They promote legislation which is specific to these classifications. A key component of the Democrat platform is to promote Diversity Equity Inclusion ( DEI )
and Critical Race Theory which attacks merit based individual enterprise and promotes the idea that the American experiment is created through the advancement of white supremacy.
6. As a historical note Democrats resisted the abolition of slavery, was a driving force of the Dixiecrats who supported the KKK and during the voting rights act of 1965 the majority of democrat legislators voted against the legislation. During this time, Democrat president of the United States, Lyndon Johnson supported the passage of this legislation but overtly stated if the legislation passed the Democrat Party would have every "niggers" vote for the next 50 years.
7. Democrats believe in "Rule by committee." as recent examples anyone with 2 braincells knows that Joe Biden has not been calling the shots at the white house, Secondly, by committee action the Democrat Party abandoned any semblance of a Primary and then installed Kamala Harris as their ordained candidate without one vote of the electorate. Don't take my word for it, ask RFK.
So in Alaska how do the Democrats legislate so we can get a sense of their influence...
Although municipal elections are promoted as "nonpartisan" everyone who pays attention to politics knows this is a complete falsehood. It is overtly clear that candidates for municipal office are clear in their candidacy and governance whether they are democrat or republican.
In the case of the Anchorage School Board, there is one sitting republican who promotes national pride, accountability and fiscal restraint. In most cases, Dave Donley can't even get a second to his motions so his ideas never come to discussion, even though Dave wins re-election by large margins each time he campaigns for office. It has been my honor to serve Dave within his campaign for 5 years now. He faces a stacked deck during his entire tenure, as the rest are members of the progressive left dominated democrat party. The result is a school district held unaccountable for academic excellence, pornographic literature in our school libraries and expansion policies of schools even when the Anchorage School District is losing substantial student population.
On the city level, the last Democrat mayor resigned in disgrace for promoting an extramarital affair while in office. The Anchorage assembly has been dominated for years by the progressive left. The most marked result is their promotion of the homeless without any meaningful results. In fact, the homeless population has exploded to the extent that visitors to our state are surprised with the urban decay. The real reason for this increase is the homeless population is an immense money making enterprise and the progressive democrats are tapped into this cash cow in a big way. This homeless growth is an outcome of democrat policies and their desire to make money off the "homeless industrial complex."
A major obstacle to rehabilitation for many of these unfortunate individuals is the progressive left's disregard that the majority of successful rehabilitation programs in America are faith-based programs, and as stated earlier in "definitions" Democrats treat faith-based programs with disdain. They dump vast sums of money into secular based programs which are an endless money pit with ZERO progress.
For the Democrats, they emphasize expensive housing projects over rehabilitation projects. It is no surprise that former US Senator Mark Begich is now directly involved in the housing market for the homeless. He fully knows where to butter his bread. The end result is you have to incorporate massive security and constant remodeling ventures to keep up with a population which has ZERO personal accountability.
As stated, there is massive money to be made in the Homeless industrial Complex. Most citizens are amazed that over $600 million was spend on the homeless in Anchorage during the 2 years of the covid scam. Where did the vast amount of this money go? It is the unanswered "gorilla in the room" question.
Perhaps former Assembly member Meg Zeletel could shed light on this question...
At the State level, Alaskan Democrats have done well over the years insulating themselves from the radical progressive policies of the National Democrat Party, but make no bones about it, they are Democrats and they legislate as Democrats. The most recent prime example is last legislative session when Democrats were crapping in their democrat nest over legislation to protect young women in sports. Democrat leaders were apoplectic in their overt stances to protect "diversity."
Regarding education, Democrats are fast to legislate additional funding of a public education program which is in the national toilet. There are ZERO democrat legislators who support any meaningful benchmarks to evaluate value for the dollar. Sa a result Alaska is in the top 3 in the nation for funding and dead last in education outcomes.
This coming session you will see Democrats push the union line to reinstitute defined benefits even when the state has been digging out of massive debt for years because of this exact reason. These Democrats and their republican supporters prefer to extinguish the PFD program completely to pay for an expensive entitlement program for a select few.
Their basic argument is that Alaska cannot recruit or retain teachers, firemen or law enforcement without a lucrative retirement program. Did it ever occur to them that perhaps qualified applicants don't want to live in a community overran by homeless camps and a public education construct which is a national embarrassment? Alaska can't even provide the basics like a certified Teacher Education certification program at our largest university.
So lets identify these elected turncoat representatives and give purpose to their individual desires.
In the senate...
Senator Cathy Giessel
This woman began exhibiting an attitude toward the republican party when she was soundly defeated in the primary against Roger Holland in 2020 even though she was the Senate President. It was apparent she clearly intended to return to power as she consistently published a monthly newsletter even in defeat. Upon her return to politics she began creating fundraisers with her newfound friend Democrat Senator Matt Claman.
Over the years you see her sliding toward Democrat policies. The best example is her public statement that although she is personally pro-life she is pro-choice. Given the Senators age, I don't think she is going to get pregnant anytime soon.
Her motivation to join with the Democrats is to retain a leadership position in the Senate. She also has animosity toward the conservative Republicans in the senate. You would think that her private profession in the field of medicine would cause her to hold the medical establishment accountable as we the most expensive health care industry in the world right here in Alaska. Don't hold your breath. She is part of the medical industrial complex. I never once heard her discuss the issues of Covid jams or mandatory mask wearing and she certainly has never called into question the chief medical officer of the state Ann Zink.
Senator Gary Stevens
Two years ago I was the campaign manager for John Cox. We almost took Senator Stevens out as we were ahead in the general election count but Stevens effectively ran an effective absentee ballot campaign and eventually won. For any candidate running for office it is a MUST to mount and effectively run an absentee ballot chase. In a senate district, this can cost up to $8,000 to cover the district absentees but effectively you can go it for $4,000. Unfortunately, smaller campaigns usually do not have the funding to cover this cost and ultimately it is the campaign albatross.
Senator Stevens is a Democrat registered as a republican. There is nothing republican about this man. One of his best buddies is former representative Paul Seaton of Homer who was the main advocate for a state income tax. The Democrats awarded Stevens with another term as Senate President and hs folded like a cheap suit. There are two ways to beat Stevens. First, maximum pressure needs to be applied on the ARP to stop donating to his campaign, and second, you need a candidate who has deep connections with the citizens of Kodiak and Homer. Stevens was an adjutant professor who is deeply involved in protecting the public education system to the detriment of any alternative education programs. He could care less about accountability and results as he only wants the teacher union vote in his district.
Senator Bert Stedman
Bert hates the conservative caucus in the republican senate. All he is interested in is sitting as a powerful member of the Senate Finance committee and Democrats are more than willing to hand this important position over to him as his votes align perfectly with their agenda. This is a man who personally benefits from legislation as he has helped direct state funding to construct a major highway in Sitka directly to his property. He believes the entire Permanent fund is his personal "seed corn" so he is adamantly opposed to any semblance of an increased PFD as he believes his legislation is far more effective than the citizens receiving a healthy PFD. This man is a personal power broker and nothing else. One of the keys to defeating Bert is to run an effective campaign in Ketchikan. This is his Achilles heel. Again, a challenger needs to invest in an effective absentee ballot campaign with an intelligent, informing message and Alaska can say goodbye to this tyrant who has outworn his tenure in Juneau.
Senator Kelly Merrick
This is the surprise as Kelly Merrick occupies former senator Lora Reinbold's seat. It is a surprise because Kelly has effectively flipped conservative leaning Eagle River to support the Democrat machine. Obviously, she has union support as her hubby is a big wig in the Union machine. She has made a career out of laying in bed with the Democrats both in the House and now the Senate. She would never be elected as a registered Democrat so this is a perfect example of a candidate using the Republican moniker for political expediency.
I believe the Republican Party does not know how to effectively run campaigns under the Ranked Choice Voting platform. It is my belief that if all 3 republican candidates running against Kelly Merrick would have stayed in the race, eventually the ranking would have effectively caught and surpassed Merricks vote total. You must have republican candidates within these types of campaigns to "rank the red." I happen to have direct evidence of this strategy as I managed Ross Bieling's campaign and we encouraged voters to support Julie Coulombe as a second choice and she eventually won when Ross Bieling's votes were counted. In any event, the citizens of Eagle River need a "come to Jesus" moment and realize Kelly is a DEMOCRAT. Unfortunately, she has 4 more years to play her Democrat games.
Newcomer Senator Jesse Bjorkman
Again this is a rouge senator masking as a Republican but definitely fits well into a Democrat suit. It is unfortunate that the citizens of the conservative districts of the Kenai rejected Ben Carpenter's bid to become a senator. Ben sat on a panel a couple years ago which advocated the implementation of a statewide income tax. Jesse effectively used this councils vote against Ben, but dig deeper and you will find a politician owned by NEA and the educational establishment which would love to see a statewide income tax that they could tap into. It was a no-brainer when Jesse declared his trust in the Democrat majority caucus. Birds of a feather stick together. All the citizens of Kenai had to do was have conversations with other representatives in Juneau and the majority republicans would have provided the scorecard for Jesse which would definitely not put him at the head of the Republican class. In the case of Ben, he is well known as a staunch Republican conservative. His defeat had me scratching my head in dismay.
In the House....
Being that the House is easier to flip as the House is only close in a Republican majority. In this case, it only took two to flip to effectively flip to give Democrats control....
Enter Republican Turncoats Louise Stutes and Chuck Kopp
Representative Louise Stutes could care less where her caucus home is. All she has to do is be an advocate for fish and she effectively has the votes of the citizens of Kodiak even when fish stocks are declining. She was not even challenged by a Republican candidate this go around, effectively handing her another 2 years. All the Democrat Party had to do is dangle a leadership role in the Democrat majority caucus and she flipped like a pancake. She has no moral compass. Bryce Edgmon is her good buddy as he held her hand throughout her tenure as Speaker of the House which exposed her as an incompetent leader, but make no bones about Louise. She is a crafty politician and she plays her cards well. Again, in order to beat Louise, you must have a well heeled Republican who lives in Kodiak and is actively engaged in the community. This district needs a republican challenger who is overtly active and can articulate well as this in not Stutes' greatest tool in her campaign chest.
Representative Chuck Kopp the cop
The main campaign strategy of this re-issued candidate was to garner as many union votes as possible by promoting a return to defined benefits. He threw in increasing education funding as a method to garner the education union support as well. This was a perfectly run campaign, strategically intelligent in its complexity. It did not help that incumbent Representative Craig Johnson did not mount an effective campaign. He believed that his tenure in the House would pack weight. Effectively, he was outworked. I believe Craig may have wanted to stay home and enjoy his grandchildren more than put in the sweat equity to seek reelection. There is merit in that decision, but he should have let the district know that he was retiring which may have created s better candidate to run against Kopp.
Kopp was an easy flip to the Democrat caucus. Anyone with a bit of political knowledge could see this trainwreck coming. He had laid in bed with the Democrats before so this is familiar turf he is on. Bryce Edgmon is his good buddy as Chuck Kopp played the "parliamentarian" for Edgmon when he was the speaker a few years back.
So where does this leave the Republican Party in Alaska? The leadership of the Republican Party better fully understand that these senators and representatives who turn the potential majority caucus over to the Democrats are not their friends. I believe this is the "curtain call" for the Republican Party in Alaska. Either they clean up their political policy and their ranks or it will continue to be a free for all regarding loyalty. Although it is a different campaign, Lisa Murkowski has played the Republican Party way too long. As the old adage goes....
" A fish stinks from the head down." Lisa intends to throw as many tools as she can in the Trump organization wheels. This has got to stop immediately.
Ultimately, it comes down to the voters to be educated and disciplined. This entire narrative is intended to assist in this education. It is no consequence if voters continue to be ignorant and reward these rogue Republicans with yet another term of office. We deserve better representation but we must fight to combat the entrenched politician. They bring slick skills to the party to evade their dismal legislative record.
The political path we are currently on leads directly to increased taxes. Just look at the current administration and Assembly of Anchorage to determine your future for supporting the progressive left Democrat Party. Is these policies where you want Alaska to go?
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