By David G. Hanger October 20, 2010
To hell with Joe Miller, ladies and gentlemen. This goon just marginalized himself. Our choice is thus between Scott McAdams and Lisa Murkowski, frankly a difficult choice as the tightened polls indicate. I give Scott credit; he has improved his choice of ties. The lime green one he had on in his first national broadcast had “I’m a hick” written all over it. His more recent appearances have been more polished. But you know something, if Scott McAdams is a hick, we cannot for a moment forget the simple fact he is one of us. He’s our hick, if you want to put it that way, and he is worried about what we are worried about. Maybe that ain’t so bad. And the fact that he isn’t polished, the fact that he does not routinely appear on TV cloying on someone else’s shoulders in the background, maybe that ain’t so bad either. Folks in Sitka think rather highly of the man, and his background as a school administrator and fisherman turned politician has to make him more aware of the concerns of ordinary people than any banker’s daughter. So let’s put party labels aside for a moment, and let us evaluate our three candidates on their comparative merits: 1) Joe Miller is a nut job who has disqualified himself. Anyone who handcuffs and kidnaps any citizen of this state for asking questions, and concomitantly refuses to answer any questions about his background, is a bully boy and a punk whose conduct should contingently either be ignored or referred to the police. 2) Scott McAdams is a newcomer and a relative unknown, but he does have obvious experience, and he presents himself as an individual who is actually concerned about Alaskans. 3) Lisa Murkowski is the appointee of a failing political dynasty whose own party turned their backs on her during the primary and voted for Miller, an incredibly reactionary candidate for national office from a state where extremes are routinely heard, but rarely heeded as rational policy alternatives. My two most distinctive impressions of Lisa Murkowski are first as Senator “BP” Murkowski, the Alaskan Senator who showed more concern for a foreign oil company than she did for the well being of the ordinary citizens and businesses of the gulf coast states. British Petroleum and the oil companies in general seem to be what Lisa Murkowski is interested in representing instead of the citizens of the state of Alaska. My second impression of Lisa Murkowski is that of her television appearances, the majority of which are as over the shoulder window dressing for Mitch McConnell, John Cornyn, Lamar Alexander, or some other southern politician, all of whom have one thing in common: They are all racists to the core. I am a southern man, and as such I am the son of a racist. He was moderate in those views, but he was still a racist. My mother was an Iowa yankee, and she would not have any of it, period. I make no claim to perfection in this regard, because I am not; but I am not a racist. The euphemisms and the little tricks that our white southern brethren play to pretend to be polite are all very familiar to me, and none of these folks has changed one bit in the last 50 years. Those are the folks I see Lisa Murkowski hanging around with, and I am not impressed. In the meantime if Lisa Murkowski wants to return to D.C. as our Senator she needs to clearly understand it will be a completely different constituency that sends her there, and I see no evidence that she is prepared to moderate her views or change her attitude. She will run back to D.C. to desperately cloy her way back into the good graces of Mitch McConnell and other genteel southern racists, despite the fact they turned their backs on her faster than you or I can sneeze. Measuring thus, Lisa Murkowski has yet to demonstrate any willingness to change where she is coming from, and she lacks leadership skills; she follows in the background. She prefers to represent special interests instead of Alaska citizens. She wants your vote; she wants you to change; but she shows no willingness to change her own views. Just more of the same. Not good enough. Lisa is flunking, if not flunked. I thought “Gyppo” Joe, for the tripe that he was trying to sell, was a reasonable enough moniker, but “Handcuff Joe” it is, by his own preference. Joe and his goon squad have accomplished their own kamikaze act, and while such incredible political suicide is a fortunately rare occurrence on the Alaskan landscape, his self-disqualification now will be of benefit to all Alaskans, who otherwise might have made a disastrous choice. To Joe and his massive entourage let us bid a fond and early farewell . Hold his toes and his fingers to the fire, figuratively, of course, but I think a vote for Scott McAdams may be well-placed. He is not sold out to whoever she is sold out to, has not been around long enough for that, and is talking about helping Alaskans instead of some twisted political ideology, or someone else’s special interests. This is a race where one has to toss party labels in the ash can. It is now a two-person race. I realize there are some desperate people out there who still think Joe Miller is their man, to which I will simply respond, get counseling, for that tells us much more about you than you really want us to know. Joe Miller is trying to hide his past behind a set of handcuffs and a bunch of goons, and Alaskans know what to do with a clown like that. Call it snake oil, and move on. Scott McAdams, I think you will find a good choice. He may not be as redneck as a lot of you seem to think you prefer, but he won’t starve fellow Americans as Joe Miller will by cutting off food stamps, etc. , or as Lisa will by being a typical banker’s daughter, and ignoring anything beyond earshot, including a constituency that has no lobbyists. A nut job, a sold out to special interests family politician, or a fisherman and small town mayor, those are your choices for U.S. Senator. Vote for the fisherman and small town mayor. David G. Hanger Received October 20, 2010 - Published October 20, 2010 Viewpoints - Opinion Letters:
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