On what sets Alaska apart, politically (and otherwise)

Brendan Jones, a writer and commercial fisherman from Alaska, wrote an essay published in the New York Times last week, "What Trump Doesn't Understand About Alaska."  In it, Jones talks about Alaskans' independent and frontier mindset, and he seems to predict that Senator Lisa Murkowski will prevail in her U.S. Senate re-election battle this year--in part because of her independence, from Trump and the GOP more broadly.  Jones also explains how Murkowski's opponent, Kelly Tshibaka, has shot herself in the foot in trying to establish her Alaska bona fides:  

Kelly Tshibaka, meanwhile, returned to the state of her birth just three years ago — about as long as we keep salmon in the freezer before putting it into our Dungeness traps. In an attempt to shake the carpetbagger label, her campaign released a video showing her at work on a set-net operation in Cook Inlet. The move backfired when the Alaska Department of Fish and Game fined her $270 for not having a crew license. (I was also fined by that agency, for working on a sea cucumber dive boat without a license. I did not issue a news release afterward blaming my political opponents for the fine.)

If the tribes, sportfishermen, A.T.V.ers, commercial fishermen and conservationists in Alaska agree on one thing, it’s the responsibility of the state to control its fisheries and maintain a “sustainable yield” through strict regulations, a duty written into the Alaska Constitution. The footage of Ms. Tshibaka illegally handling a salmon showed someone desperate for authenticity — but also a candidate either ignorant of, or just willing to break, Alaska’s fish laws.

Tshibaka is endorsed by Trump.  Meanwhile, Jones makes this prediction of Murkowski: 

If history is any guide, soon she’ll arrive at the small airport here in Sitka dressed in fleece and denim, ready to wolf down wilted iceberg lettuce at the Chamber of Commerce luncheon, pumping hands with the “cut, kill, dig, drill” flannel-wearing good old boys at Orion Sporting Goods, dancing at Native celebrations.

The entire piece is well worth a read.  Here's an April NYT profile of Murkowski.  And the Tshibaka fish tale reminds me of this.  

Meanwhile, about another Alaska race, Paul Waldman writes for the Washington Post that "Sarah Palin is back, and smaller than ever."   Palin is running for Alaska's sole seat in the U.S. Congress, recently vacated with Don Young died.  Waldman writes: 

Palin is placing first among dozens of contenders (though counting is ongoing). She appears to have secured her slot in a runoff. Although there are other strong candidates, if all goes well for Palin, she could be heading to Washington soon.

Sadly, what follows is a lot more of the Palin bashing.  Waldman notes, as many have, that Palin was the forerunner to Trump, the John the Baptist to Trump's messiah.  

Far more than McCain, who for all his “maverick” mythmaking was deeply respectful of institutions, she showed what the Republican base truly wanted: anger, resentment and a project devoted to tearing it all down while Owning the Libs (though we didn’t yet call it that). Every time a political ad features a gun-totin’ young Republican mom talking about showing the socialists who’s boss, it’s walking the trail Palin blazed.

But what too few have realized, it seems, is that the national media's condescending response to Palin--which lapsed into rural bashing because she represented "Main Street" to Obama's "Wall Street," as she expressed it--also paved the way for Trump because it alienated rural voters.  Still, here's Waldman piling on--thankfully only about Palin, not explicitly about rural folks:  

So look out, America, because she’s really going to shake things up! If by “shake things up” we mean add one more member to the House Far-Right Bananapants Caucus, sending out tweets to troll the libs and jockeying for Newsmax appearances.

Prior blog posts featuring Sarah Palin are here.