AP 'Surprised' Palin-Backed Candidate Leads in Alaska

They're surprised in the way bad economic news of late is reported as unexpected. Why they heck would they be surprised that a strong Tea Party candidate in Alaska endorsed by Sarah Palin could actually unseat incumbent Senator Lisa Murkowski?

Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski was locked in a tight race Tuesday to hold on to her seat amid a surprisingly tough challenge from a Sarah Palin-backed conservative.

Joe Miller held a nearly 2,300-vote lead with about half the precincts reporting as the decorated Gulf War veteran looked to pull off one of the biggest political upsets of the year.

Miller had 51.8 percent of the vote, compared with 48.1 percent for Murkowski.

Miller sought to cast Murkowski as being too liberal and part of the problem in an out-of-control Washington. It is a campaign strategy that has helped oust other incumbents this year.

It's a strategy that will result in a bloodbath for Democrats come November, which will then be reported as an unexpected surprise by the AP. But that's the national media template when it comes to Palin. Any time a candidate she backs wins it's a surprise to them and then quickly chalked up to anti-incumbent fervor sweeping the land. It's on those rare occasions one of her pick loses when it's really news to them and we're told she has zero influence.

Here's a more reality-based report from Alaska.

U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski was battling for her political life against Republican primary challenger Joe Miller on Tuesday night. Miller was barely leading Murkowski with just over half Alaska's election precincts reporting around 11:30 p.m. Miller had 32,955 votes to 30,605 for Murkowski. Miller credited the support of former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin for his lead.

"I'm absolutely certain that was pivotal," he said.

Murkowski took a shot at Palin.

"I think she's out for her own self-interest. I don't think she's out for Alaska's interest," Murkowski said as she waited at her campaign headquarters for results to come in,

Miller made a triumphant entrance to election central at the Egan center in downtown Anchorage Tuesday night, surrounded by loudly cheering supporters with red-white-and-blue balloons.

"We did it!" one shouted.

Murkowski didn't come to election central, the traditional celebratory venue for Alaska candidates. She stayed in her campaign headquarters in Midtown Anchorage to watch the returns come in.

The final results of the race won't be known for a week. The Alaska Division of Elections said over 16,000 absentee ballots were requested and as of Monday night 7,600 had been returned. The first count of absentees will be next Tuesday and there will be subsequent counts as they trickle in on Sept. 3 and on Sept. 8,

The winner of the Murkowski-Miller race will face Democrat Scott McAdams in the November general election. McAdams, the mayor of Sitka, had a big lead in the Democratic primary for U.S. Senate Tuesday night against Frank Vondersaar and Jacob Seth Kern.

Palin and the Tea Party Express made a big push to convince Alaskans to dump Murkowski for Miller. Polls had shown Murkowski with a big lead just three weeks ago. But Miller supporters had thought it was narrowing and were expressing confidence earlier in the day Tuesday that they would be pulling off an upset.

This was the first test of Palin's influence on Alaska politics since she resigned as governor last summer, and the first sign of how influential the Tea Party movement can be in shaping political races in this state. The race was being closely watched nationally as a sign of Palin and the Tea Party's strength, but also because Murkowski is one of the leading Republicans in the Senate.

Charles Krauthammer explains the Palin effect, and even he got the Miller-Murkowski race wrong (via Tammy Bruce, who's got more good election news).

Ace notes some other folks who should be very surprised today.

They're wish-casting. They are not telling you any sort of objective reasonable assessment of likelihood; they are just telling you what their shriveled black hearts wish would happen.

This is 60% of media "horse-race" coverage; it's 40% genuine likelihood-assessment by checking with statisticians and pollsters, and it's 60% just wish-casting. I want Joe Miller to lose because she was endorsed by Sarah Palin and I hate her, so of course that's what I think will happen.

They're not broadcasters, they're wishcasters. They're so partisan they can't even separate this function out from their driving rah-rah impulse.

Former Alaska Senator Stevens on Downed Plane?

Reports are filtering out of Alaska right now about a private plane going down with eight people reportedly on board, and one of them may have been former GOP Senator Ted Stevens.

Severe weather has hampered the rescue operation for eight people believed to be on board a GCI-owned aircraft that crashed near Dillingham on Monday night with possible fatalities, according to state and federal officials.

The Alaska Air National Guard was called to the area about 20 miles north of Dillingham at about 7 p.m. after a passing aircraft saw the wreckage, spokesman Maj. Guy Hayes said. Eight people were reported to be on board the aircraft, though their status wasn't immediately known, he said. There were possible fatalities, he said.

National Transportation Safety Board reported that it will send a "Go Team" from Washington, D.C., to Dillingham to investigate the crash. The teams can consist of up to a dozen or more specialists from the board's headquarters staff and are responsible for investigating major cases -- they are the arm that responds to "catastrophic airline crash sites" -- for the board, according to the NTSB.

The National Guard said an HC-130 and HH-60 helicopter were encountering inclement weather on the way and had difficultly navigating through Lake Clark Pass. They were still en route to the scene at about 11:30 p.m. and expected to arrive after midnight.

About five good Samaritans were already on scene helping the victims of the plane crash, Hayes said.

"They're not out there alone right now. There's people that are providing support," Hayes said. "From what I'm told, there are survivors on this aircraft. I don't know how many could be fatalities at this point."

The aircraft, which was reported overdue, bears the tail number N455A, according to the Federal Aviation Administration. That aircraft is a 1957 DeHavilland DHC-3 Otter registered to GCI, according to FAA records. The FAA did not immediately provide other information about how it knows that this is the aircraft.

Friends of former U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens said he was traveling Monday to the GCI-owned Agulowak Lodge near Lake Aleknagik, and they were concerned for him.

A woman who answered the phone at the Anchorage home of retired Air Force Gen. Joe Ralston, a good friend of Stevens, said Ralston was with Stevens' wife, Catherine, comforting her and trying to find out what was going on.

No one answered the phone at the homes of Stevens' daughter, Susan Covich, in Kenai, or his son, Ben, in Anchorage.

More here.

'Definitely the First Few Times We Had Our Heave Bucket Close By'

Somehow Sarah Palin will get the blame for this.

Prepare your palate for carnivorous cocktails.

The Alaska Distillery in Wasilla just recently launched its Smoked Salmon Flavored Vodka, about a year after the Seattle-based Black Rock Spirits introduced a bacon-flavored vodka.

Both savory spirits were intended to complement Bloody Marys, but are finding wider uses among mixologists.

"I think there was some madness and some drunkenness involved, honestly," said Toby Foster, an Alaska Distillery partner and the one charged with coming up with new flavors with Alaska themes.

Foster's intent was to market a local vodka which would stand out among the numerous other bottles on the liquor store shelves.

"I was trying to think of something Alaskan. What's more Alaskan than smoked salmon? It was one of those epiphanies, I suppose," he said.

The idea turned out to be the easy part. Finding the right formula was a little more challenging.

Foster and Scotti MacDonald, another partner, said the current formula took 48 tries, and some of the first 47 attempts were downright disgusting.

"Definitely the first few times we had our heave bucket close by," MacDonald said. "It was pretty bad, and you know, greasy."

"But once we got it down and honed in on where the real secret was in making this, it was fun and games after that," she said.

More Grist For the Palin Conspiracy Nuts

How long before the alleged actions of this soldier are linked to former governor Sarah Palin via her son's service in the same unit? A unit based out of Alaska and the soldier in question being from Wasilla it shouldn't take too long.

A U.S. soldier has been charged with premeditated murder in the deaths of three Afghan civilians, Fox News has confirmed.

Specialist Jeremy Morlock, a 22-year-old Joint Base Lewis-McChord soldier, was charged Friday with murdering three Afghan civilians this year in Kandahar province. He also was charged with assaulting a soldier in his unit.

Morlock, of Wasilla, Alaska, could face the death penalty if convicted.

As with all stories of this sort, judgment should be withheld until the facts are revealed and any prosecution, if it even materializes, is made. We have heard of too many of these sort of stories which have either resulted in charges being dropped or the accused being found not guilty. Let's not act like the late Congressman whatshisname from Pennsylvania.

Mystery Goo Floating Off Alaska

I figure maybe it's residue from the media's collective orgasm over Sarah Palin's resignation.

Something big and strange is floating through the Chukchi Sea between Wainwright and Barrow.

Hunters from Wainwright first started noticing the stuff sometime probably early last week. It's thick and dark and "gooey" and is drifting for miles in the cold Arctic waters, according to Gordon Brower with the North Slope Borough's Planning and Community Services Department.

Brower and other borough officials, joined by the U.S. Coast Guard, flew out to Wainwright to investigate. The agencies found "globs" of the stuff floating miles offshore Friday and collected samples for testing.

Can't be long before Palin's blamed for it either way.

Surprise! More Frivolous Ethics Complaints Against Palin Dismissed

Naturally the fact these losers are batting .000 will do nothing to deter the relentless harassment of Sarah Palin. They can't help themselves. The hatred and anger has just consumed them.

Today the governor’s office was informed that yet two more ethics complaints filed against Governor Palin have been dismissed, part of the mounting evidence that accusations of wrongdoing by the governor lack merit and have been politically or personally motivated.

The complaints, one by Zane Henning of Wasilla, filed on November 13, and one by Anthony Martin of Talkeetna, filed on December 2, were dismissed by Michael Geraghty, an investigator for the State Personnel Board. Geraghty concluded “that the conduct asserted, if true, would not constitute violation of the ethics act.”

“These are the 10th and 11th actions taken on behalf of the Personnel Board that favorably resolve complaints against the governor or her staff, and to date there has not been any violation of the law substantiated,” said Thomas Van Flein, the governor’s attorney. “There are a few more complaints pending, and then we hope this abuse of the Executive Ethics Act will cease.”

No matter what the left will prtend she's "hounded by ethics complaints" despite none of these specious complaints having any merit.

Forcing them to pick up the tab for legal costs would probably go a long way toward stopping this nonsense.

“Not one of the complaints actually reached the personnel board for its formal adjudication,” noted Bill McAllister, the governor’s communications director. “Rather the complaints have fallen short based on just a simple review of the facts and the law.” McAllister also responded to comments by critics of the governor who allege that the personnel board process is flawed because the members are appointed by the governor.

“This is an illogical argument: Why file a complaint with a board that you think is biased in favor of the person you’re targeting?” McAllister said. “But the fact of the matter is that all three members of the personnel board originally were appointed by the previous governor, and they could not be removed by Governor Palin except for actual wrongdoing. The governor’s opponents are just frustrated because they are batting .000 in their attempts to show a violation of the ethics act.”

Indeed.

Palin to Reject Huge Chunk of Stimulus $$$: 'Will We Chart Our Own Course, Or Will Washington Engineer It For Us?'

That's my girl. Stick it to DC.

Protesting federal "strings," attached to stimulus funding, Gov. Sarah Palin said she doesn't want nearly half the estimated $930million Alaska is eligible for.

"Will we chart our own course, or will Washington (D.C.) engineer it for us?" Palin said.

She expected to file an appropriations bill this afternoon accepting about $251.5 million in stimulus funds under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, coupled with allocations of $262.6 million already requested for transportation and aviation projects for a total state take of about $514.1 million.

Missing in her bill will be millions that Palin said are contingent on the state increasing the size of government, chipping in more dollars, or passing new laws that Alaskans might not want.

Poses quite the contrast with the groveling governor of Cal-ee-fornia, no?

H/T Conservatives for Palin, via Videmus.

Palin's Office Receives White Powder

This almost seems like a ritualistic rite of passage these days.

A letter containing white powder was sent to Gov. Sarah Palin. It was not immediately known if the incident was connected to letters received by governors in seven other states on Monday. Palin spokeswoman Sharon Leighow said the letter was sent to Palin's office in Juneau and was received Tuesday. But Eric Gonzalez, an FBI spokesman in Anchorage, said they are investigating since the cases are so similar.

Gonzalez said the powder will be submitted to a lab, but did not immediately know if it had undergone field testing at the state Capitol.

Governors of Alabama, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana and Rhode Island also had letters with white powder sent to them this week.

All of those were postmarked in Texas.

So this makes eight governors. I guess the other 42 ought to be on the lookout, although the clown in Illinois might welcome the distraction right about now.

Surprise! Palin Violated No Ethics Laws

How convenient the left had a supposed ethics issue to pound over her head for two months and on the eve of the election, we find out there was nothing there.

The Alaska Personnel Board investigator hired to look into whether Sarah Palin abused her power by firing her public safety commissioner found no probable cause that she violated Alaska's ethics law.

The decision is a reversal from a legislative investigation that concluded she had abused her power, by allowing her husband and other staffers to pressure the public safety commissioner to fire a state trooper who went through a nasty divorce from Palin's sister.

I'm just positive nobody will question the timing.

Don't worry though, the crazy people are still after her medical records, a weird obsession that has now crept into the mainstream.

More here.

"There is no probable cause to believe that Governor Palin violated the Alaska Executive Ethics Act by making the decision to dismiss Department of Public Safety Commissioner Mongan," the investigator, Timothy Petumenos, said. "There is no probable cause to believe that Governor Palin violated the Alaska Executive Ethics Act in any other respect in connection with the employment of Alaska State Trooper Michael Wooten."

Alaska Glaciers Grow, Algore Unavailable for Comment

Sarah Palin just stared them down and stopped the melting all by herself.

Two hundred years of glacial shrinkage in Alaska, and then came the winter and summer of 2007-2008.

Unusually large amounts of winter snow were followed by unusually chill temperatures in June, July and August.

"In mid-June, I was surprised to see snow still at sea level in Prince William Sound," said U.S. Geological Survey glaciologist Bruce Molnia. "On the Juneau Icefield, there was still 20 feet of new snow on the surface of the Taku Glacier in late July. At Bering Glacier, a landslide I am studying, located at about 1,500 feet elevation, did not become snow free until early August.

Meanwhile, records cold in Oregon and California recently.

Funny how this isn't national news.

'Sarah Palin Frightens the Hell Out Of Me'

An alleged non-partisan group of protesters surfaced in Anchorage Saturday to protest Sarah Palin and judging by the reaction of some of these non-partisans, most seem to be the typical hysterical Obamaton.

A crowd of anti-Sarah Palin protesters gathered in Midtown Anchorage soon after the Republican nominee for vice president left Alaska to resume campaigning in the Lower 48.

The Saturday protest in front of the Loussac Library appeared bigger than any Anchorage has seen in recent memory. The crowd looked to be in the high hundreds at least, and organizers said they counted 1,500. It included roughly 100 counter protesters supporting Palin.

Planning for the protest began as discussions over coffee by a small group calling itself "Alaska Women Reject Palin." As recently as Friday, the group thought it possible that just 10 people would show up to the event. But it went viral on the Internet, with friends forwarding e-mails to friends, and people saying they saw a chance to vent their frustration over what several called the myth of Palin.

"Sarah Palin frightens the hell out of me. I don't want her anywhere near the White House," said Marybeth Holleman of Anchorage.

The non-partisan Holleman was actually a John Edwards supporter, but it's safe to assume she's now backing Obama.

Considering Palin has an 86% approval rating in her home state, this motley group of wackos are probably fair sampling of the 14% that don't approve of her.

Protesters had a wide range of beefs with the governor. They included backers of Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama, abortion rights proponents, advocates for wolves and polar bears, opponents of the Iraq war, and people who said Palin is not ready to be a heartbeat from the presidency.

This clown suggest it was the biggest rally ever in Alaska. Sure. Keep dreaming.

The Washington Post notes the crowd may have numbered a thousand, and it's in a fairly liberal area to begin with.

An Educated Look at the 'Bridge to Nowhere' Controversy

Since the Alaska Bridge to Nowhere debate has been raging the past several days as the Democrats try anything to derail the freight train that is Sarah Palin, let's have a look at what an economics professor has to add on the subject. So as not to attempt to boil down and excerpt this item from UCSD Professor Garey Ramey, here it is in its entirety. It's worth the read as it cuts through the political rhetoric.

Just so the readers know, the author has an impressive list of publications to his credit and offers a fair analysis of the subject.

Republican Vice Presidential nominee Sarah Palin has been criticized for lying in connection with terminating Alaska's "Bridge to Nowhere" project. This charge, however, reflects widespread misunderstanding as to the nature of the infrastructure budgeting process. While the U.S. Congress did reverse its 2005 decision that had earmarked $223 million for the bridge project, the project itself was not removed from the state's capital budget. A total of $113 million was budgeted to the bridge when Governor Palin assumed office in 2007.

Among budgetary options, Palin could have drawn on Federal and State moneys to fund the project fully and move ahead with construction. Alternatively, Palin could have deferred the project to future years, possibly changing the funding allocation. In the end, she chose the radical option of removing the project from the capital budget, precluding any future funding allocations or construction. Her claim to have "stopped the bridge" is entirely truthful.

To justify her decision, she argued that the bridge project had become too expensive, and that the state should investigate more cost-effective alternatives. In political terms, her decision was viewed as a blow to the state's Republican establishment, which had strongly championed the project. Without question, the episode buttresses Palin's reputation as an executive who "stands up to her own party."

Palin has offered a bit of misleading rhetoric, however, in discussing the bridge episode. She has stated that terminating the project amounted to telling Congress "thanks, but no thanks." This suggests that Congress was attempting to force the project on Alaska, when in fact it had given the state discretion. Her decision should instead be viewed as conveying the message "thanks, but no thanks" to Alaska's Republican Congressional delegation.

Palin's rhetoric also gives the impression that terminating the project was tantamount to rejecting a Federal funding offer. The Federal contribution to the bridge budget actually amounted to only $36 million, or less than ten percent of the projected cost of the bridge. By terminating the project, Palin freed these funds for use in other projects, thereby reducing to some extent the need for future earmarks. In this limited sense the money was indeed returned to Washington.

It is important to note that Palin has worked to overhaul the earmark process, in parallel with Congressional efforts to limit the practice. Alaska's earmark requests have fallen from 54 last year to 31 this year, with only four new requests. Total requested funding has dropped from $550 million to $200 million. Clearly, Governor Palin has made strong progress in reducing the use of earmarks in Alaska.

Alaskans Cashing In

Seriously, you think a community organizer could get you a few thousand bucks?

It's the season for Alaskans to be rewarded just for living here and this year's take is extra sweet: $3,269, a record share of the state's oil wealth combined with a special cash payout to help with stratospheric energy prices.

Lt. Gov. Sean Parnell announced Friday that every eligible man, woman and child will receive $2,069, thanks to this year's annual payment from the state's oil royalty program. On top of that, the checks will include an additional $1,200 from the state treasury to help offset soaring fuel prices.

The one-time energy boost was proposed by Gov. Sarah Palin in May and approved by state lawmakers last month. Palin has since been tapped as the running mate of Republican presidential nominee John McCain. It fell to Parnell to make Friday's announcement on the dividend because Palin is out of state.

"The royalty dollars that flow through the state are the people's wealth," said Parnell. "The $1,200 resource rebate goes to that philosophy."

In addition to the $1,200 payments, the Legislature also approved Palin's proposal to suspend the state's 8-cents-a-gallon gasoline tax for a year.

Past dividend payments ranged from $331 to $1,963 in 2000. Last year's payout was $1,654. People must live in Alaska one calendar year to qualify. For residents in Alaska's rural communities, the money can't arrive at a more crucial time.

'A Hero and a Hottie'

I never thought I'd see the day when a politician was referred to as a hottie, yet that day has arrived, thanks to you know who.

There's a new economic boom in Alaska -- and it has nothing to do with oil.

Call it "Palin-mania."

Companies are cashing in on a new craze sweeping the country sparked by the sudden fame of John McCain's running mate, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, reports CBS News correspondent John Blackstone.

The new cottage industry involves anything carrying her name.

Palin is, of course, no longer "Sarah Who?" and, a week after her stunning naming to the Republican ticket, Palin items have become hot properties.

From t-shirts to thong underwear, from the flattering to the not-so-flattering, sales of just about everything related to the McCain-Palin ticket have been flying off shelves, at the just-concluded GOP convention in St. Paul, Minn., on the Internet, and other settings, Blackstone says.

In Anchorage, silk screeners are working overtime to meet nationwide demand for Palin t-shirts.

"We're trying to strike while the iron is hot -- be quick," explains John Williams, production manager for Alaska Serigraphics.

It began a week ago, when McCain named her to the ticket. The iron got even hotter when Palin spoke Wednesday night at the convention.

For t-shirt makers, one of her lines was particularly inspiring: "You know the difference between a pit bull and a hockey mom? Lipstick."

"Immediately," says Williams, "I'm just like, 'God, I could reach in and kiss her! This is perfect! Everybody's gonna love it.' "

By Thursday morning, an artist was hard at work on the pitbull/lipstick design. The shirts haven't even been printed yet but, says Williams, buyers are already lining up: "They're ordering it sight unseen. They don't care. They just want it."

In one Anchorage shop, Ann Bickford was scooping up Palin t-shirts. How many? "I'm buying so many, I lost count," she laughed.

The shirts Jim Dooley is selling at his Anchorage athletic supply store keep the message simple, saying "McCain/Palin," but that hasn't hurt sales.

"We've had more people in here this last three days than we probably have in three or four months," Dooley told Blackstone.

At the Republican convention, Paul collectibles celebrated more than just her politics. One said, "A hero and a hottie."

If the souvenir sellers there had had their way, Palin might be at the top of the ticket: One item said, "Strong girls vote for Palin/McCain."

Looks like Sarah! has earned herself an exclamation point.

More at Hot Air.

Bridge to Nowhere Officially Going Nowhere

It appears nobody was going there, anyway.

Alaska ends plan for `bridge to nowhere'

JUNEAU, Alaska - Some called it a bridge to the future. Others called it the bridge to nowhere.

On Friday, Alaska decided the bridge really was going nowhere, officially abandoning the project in Ketchikan that became a national symbol of federal pork-barrel spending.

While the move closes a chapter that has brought the state reams of ridicule, it also leaves open wounds in a community that fought for decades to get federal help.

"We went through political hot water — tons of it — and not just nationally but internationally," Ketchikan-Gateway Borough Mayor Joe Williams said. "We have nothing to show for it."

The $398 million bridge would have connected Ketchikan, on one island in southeastern Alaska, to its airport on another nearby island.

Gov. Sarah Palin said Friday the project was $329 million short of full funding.

"We will continue to look for options for Ketchikan to allow better access to the island," the Republican governor said. "The concentration is not going to be on a $400 million bridge."