When my daughter was about 18 months old, I was entertaining the idea of moving to the lower-48 in the Southern regions (yes, it was February in Anchorage).  For the heck of it, I was checking out some "live-in" positions where high-powered, type-A folks were looking for personal assistants to be at their beck-and-call.  I started talking to a nice, older couple...a retired oil exec and his wife who were heavily involved in foundations, fundraising and event planning.  The position would have been perfect!  I sent them my resume, samples of my writing and made sure they knew I had an 18-month-old daughter.

They were impressed with my abilities and tickled at the thought of having a child in the house again.  It really looked like this was going somewhere.  As a proud mama, I decided to send them a picture of Morrigan and I together.

That evening, I received a curt (at first) phone call saying they were no longer interested in my services.  

It is difficult to feel good this 4th of July given the mess the Bush/McCain Republicans have led this nation into. This year alone 438,000 people who lost their jobs. We are well into the Bush's SECOND recession (first president ever to preside over two recessions) with almost no recovery between them. We are officially in a bear market. Food prices are rising worldwide. Oil is at record highs suggesting Americans will have a very, very tough winter. The deficit is WAY above where it has ever been before and no end in sight. And I am not even going into the inept, idiotic and completely useless Bush/McCain Iraq war.

You know your legal problems are bad, when you're spending more on your campaign manager's legal fees than he makes, and more than you're spending on campaign polling despite facing the two toughest challengers you've seen in nearly twenty years.

With an election-year corruption investigation looming, Rep. Don Young has tapped his campaign war chest to pay not only his own million-dollar legal tab but also to hire lawyers for his campaign manager, who is also under FBI scrutiny.

The Alaska Republican spent more than $35,000 between October 2007 and April on lawyers for longtime campaign manager Steven Dougherty. That's more than Dougherty himself made during that period and nearly as much as the campaign spent on political polling, according to campaign finance reports.

It's fortunate that Young has amassed such a formidable war chest over the years, as his campaign coffers are taxed on three fronts now. One, of course, is keeping him in Congress.

One is keeping him out of prison.

And the third, apparently, is keeping his cronies out of prison with him.

The payments, which are legal under federal law as long as they are associated with the candidate's official duties, are another indication of how the FBI investigation has become a drag on the congressman. Instead of coasting to a 19th term, Young is shelling out money to pay his bills and Dougherty's even as he faces a well-funded opponent in August's Republican primary.

The best part is, he's spending all his campaign money to defend himself from an investigation into, yup, his fundraising practices.

Young and Alaska Republican Sen. Ted Stevens are under scrutiny for their relationship with VECO Corp. executives, who have admitted bribing Alaska lawmakers to push legislation favorable to their oil field services company. VECO executives were, until recently, Young's largest contributor and hosted an annual pig roast fundraiser for him.

He's on the hook for over $1 million in legal fees so far, so I hope it was all worth it.

Young still has not been charged; nor has Dougherty, or Senator Ted Stevens, who is also under federal investigation.

Race tracker wiki: AK-AL

While this is a message intended for Alaskans, it makes sense for the entire West, not to mention the country.

The Begich plan includes:

• Standing Up Against Government Interference - including warrantless wiretapping, the assault on habeas corpus, the pursuit of Real ID cards, and retroactive immunity for telecommunications companies that illegally helped the federal government spy on Americans.
• No Surveillance on Law-Abiding Americans – Begich opposes efforts since 9/11 to take advantage of public fears, bypassing the courts and Congress to eavesdrop on Americans.
• Repeal the Patriot Act – Begich believes national security resources should be built on human intelligence and Special Forces that will identify and respond to real threats of terrorism, not monitoring what books Americans read.
• Restore Habeas Corpus – Begich called the Military Commissions Act, passed in 2006, the lowest point in our country’s response to the threat of terrorism. The Act suspends habeas corpus for millions of Americans, and that right needs to be restored.

That Begich is implementing civil liberties as a core element of his campaign shows how important these issues are to Western voters. It's a message that resonates particularly well out here in the Western part of the country. That's why Jon Tester wasn't hurt but was helped when he said that he didn't want to see the PATRIOT Act weakened, he wanted to see it repealed. It's why Gov. Brian Schweitzer has been able to lead a successful revolt among governors against the the Real ID act. It's why Gary Trauner is standing so strong against FISA in his red state of Wyoming.

If Democrats are really serious about turning the purple mountains majesty blue, particularly in this election, they should be paying attention to the messages successful Democratic candidates out here are sending: privacy matters, civil liberties matter to Western voters.

Hopefully, Mark Begich will be able to join his fellow Western Senator Tester on the floor next year, leading the charge to repeal the PATRIOT Act, restore habeas, and maybe even try to undo some of the damage the Senate is set to do on FISA next week.

Race tracker wiki: AK-Sen

Strange week. Saw my first McCain ad this week...and it is clear he is running as a Democrat. Healthcare, alternative energy, environment...all Democratic talking points. We have gone from Democrats feeling like they have to run as Repub-Lite to Republicans trying to hide behind a Democratic facade. You even have a Republican running for Senate in Oregon trying to claim (falsely) that Obama supports him. This is desperation for the Republicans! It sounds like racist attacks have failed them, though I am sure they will try more as time goes on.

Meanwhile yet more polls show Obama ahead in Virginia and Missouri, tied in Florida, AHEAD IN INDIANA (wow!) and within 1-2 points of McCain in North Carolina, Alaska and Georgia. Each and every one of these states was solid Bush in 2004. Now they are either leaning Obama or effectively tied.

Something IS definately going on in Alaska. Charlie Cook, one the most small-c conservative prognosticators has just shifted the presidential race in in the 49th state from  Solid Republican to Likely Republican. I have not seen any analysis to go with it, but as soon as I do, I will update this diary. While this is not exactly a "Tossup" yet, this is definately the first time I am remember it being anything but "Solid". Keep up the momentum.

It has been interesting for me to note what difficult times many in Alaska are experiencing and how these difficulties seem directly related to Alaska's support of Bush in both the 2000 and 2004 elections.  I wonder if the bad experiences of Alaskans will cause them to switch parties this election.

The first major problem confronting Alaska is global warming.  The permafrost in Alaska is melting, something that has not happened before, and whole villages are sinking.  Many houses must be propped up with slats or other means.  Whether parts or all of houses sink, a corresponding decline in real estate values undermines the future of many Alaskans.

Then today, the Supreme Court ruled that Alaska would receive only modest monetary rewards for the havoc the Exxon oil spill created for many Alaskans 20 years ago.  Despite the fact that the oil spill meant many Alaskans lost their livelihoods as a result of the spill, the average settlement will be only $16,000.  

Once again the Supreme Court delivered for big business and cruelly ignored the little fellers.  And this is what Alaska voted for in both 2000 and 2004 when it voted overwhelmingly for Bush.

When will Alaskans learn?

The Supreme Court today greatly reduced the $2.5 billion penalty from the Exxon Valdez oil spill.  

In the court's opinion, Justice David Souter concluded that the $2.5 billion in punitive damages was excessive under federal maritime law, and should be cut to the amount of actual harm.

Apparently, an amount of money equal to what Exxon Mobil rakes in every 2.5 days was too high.  Instead, the penalty is limited to what the company makes in a typical afternoon.

Yeah, that'll be enough to make them change their ways.

Those voting to hand back $2 billion to the richest company in the history of the world were Roberts, Scalia, Thomas, Kennedy and Souter.  Those thinking that it might take more than an half a day's pay to make protecting the environment more attractive than cutting corners were Stevens, Ginsburg and Breyer.  Alito, who owns a big chunk of Exxon stock, sat this one out.

A major endorsement for Orange to Blue candidate Mark Begich:

In a blow to the re-election campaign of GOP Sen. Ted Stevens, the Alaska AFL-CIO has endorsed his Democratic opponent, Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich. Unlike most states, unions in Alaska often endorse the dominant Republicans, and the AFL-CIO has endorsed Stevens in all his past re-election campaigns -- but his lagging both numbers and ethics investigations may have changed the calculations this time.

In the past, Stevens was better than almost any Republican on labor issues, but now he's gone too far right, he's weakened, and Begich is a strong enough candidate that labor is obviously not worried about angering Stevens, so they're going for the better candidate. This is a huge boost for Begich given that Alaska is the scond most unionized state in the country.

Race tracker wiki:  AK-Sen

Race tracker wiki: AK-Sen

With 35 Senate seats being contested this year (33 plus 2 special elections), Democrats have only 4 female candidates: Jeanne Shaheen (NH), Kay Hagan (NC), Vivian Figures (AL) and incumbent Sen. Mary Landrieu (LA). That's a shamefully low number. The Republicans only have 2 incumbents, Elizabeth Dole (NC) and Susan Collins (ME), and one sole challenger, Christine O'Donnell (DE).

Overall, this is not a great year for women in the U.S. Senate. The overall outcome will be somewhere between minus 2 and plus 4 female Senators. The most likely outcome is somewhere between minus 1 and plus 1.

So, let's look ahead to 2010. Specifically, to which Democratic female politicians might or should run for the U.S. Senate in 2010.

The floods in the Midwest have continued and I include some information where I can in the Illinois, Iowa and Wisconsin sections. Best of luck to all readers in the hard hit areas.

This week I return to an issue I discussed before: Republican cronies litterally killing our troops with no government oversight. This week Democratic Sentor Bob Casey is demanding an investigation of the electrocutions due to bad wiring that have been plaguing our military bases managed by a Hallibruton subsidiary. More below.

While we were in Anchorage, my father decided that we should get a Siamese cat.

Most people who know anything about cats will tell you that Siamese are crazy.  Not just crazy, insane.  Clinically and criminally insane.

You know a politician is in trouble when the people around him begin to walk away. And in the case of Ted Stevens, they're walking away fast. Such is the case in Alaska where the state's AFL-CIO has endorsed Stevens' opponent for the first time in decades, according to Roll Call (subscription only).

When I was six, we moved from Anchorage to an island named Annette on the Juneau panhandle of Alaska, to the small Tsimpsian indian town of Metlakatla.  Though we were only there for two years, that time was filled with enough adventure for ten.

I don't know if this has been discussed here... so excuse me if I am treading on old territory.  I was given a link to a google video featuring a lecture by a guy named Lidsey Williams (a chaplain that worked in Alaskan oil fields) claims that there is MAJOR cover up of enough oil in the Northern slope to provide us enough oil for 200+ years...  He wrote a book called Energy Non-Crisis talking about this wild conspiracy theory regarding an illuminati type of secret society that is controlling the world by controlling oil.  I am not one for conspiracy theories... but what gets me is there is so little information on this allegation or this guy.  Every google search just brings stories about this guy and his claims... no secondary sources, nothing...

They haven't asked yet, but should Barack and Michelle Obama call to seek my advice on where they should go for Summer Vacation, I would not hesitate:   Alaska!  

Here's why:  

The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee's announcement this afternoon that 14 new Democratic Party U.S. House candidates have been listed at their Red to Blue ActBlue site raises a question in Alaska, where the candidate for the AK-AL House race they are supporting, Ethan Berkowitz, is in a primary contest against a solid progressive, Diane Benson.

Benson came closer to Don Young in 2006 than anyone else had in almost a generation, in spite of wan support from the Alaska Democratic Party.  Her showing, pulling just 3,000 less votes in the general election in her house run (just under 94,000 on $200,000) against Young, compared to the Democrats' gubernatorial ticket of Tony Knowles and Ethan Berkowitz (around 97,000 votes on $1.2 million), inspired Berkowitz to run against her in the primary.  

It wasn't about money then, and it isn't about money now.

Rasmussen. 6/16. Likely voters. MoE 4% (5/14 results)

There is a dramatic political shift happening in Alaska before our very eyes.

This is one of just two states Obama has yet to visit this cycle (the other is Hawaii). I think it's clear, given the hot House and Senate races, and his own electoral prospects, that it makes sense for Obama to pay a rare political visit to the Last Frontier. We can take those 3 EVs from McCain.