Who the F is Sean Parnell? Every official link to Alaska's Lt. Governor shows an error message.

[bushmeister0]

His official web site:

http://ltgov.state.ak.us/index.php

Presumably, if Sarah Palin is the VP for McLamebrain, the Lt. Gov. takes over running Alaska, so who the F is he?

Go here:

http://ltgov.state.ak.us/.

nothing,

Go here, nothing . . .

http://ltgov.state.ak.us/notary/authentications.php

Go here, the official Alaska state web site for Lt. Gov, which five minutes ago took you back to Sarah Palin's page but now is blank.

http://ltgov.state.ak.us/notary/authentications.php

WTF is going on?

Here's something, but not much:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sean_Parnell

Apparently he's running for Congress to take Don Young's seat.

His campaign web site says, as of two days ago:

"After a long night of narrow margins and back and forth leads, the Republican race for Congress is, quite simply, still too close to call. Based on current information, just 152 votes separate Don Young and me in the Republican primary. 152 votes equals 0.16% of the votes. And we believe that there are at least 4,000 absentee votes yet to be counted."

http://www.parnellforcongress.com/

Who the hell is running Alaska? Vladimir Putin?

Am I crazy or is there something oderiferous in Alaska going on?

[shey1218]

1. he's a republican... i think.....

this seems to indicate something about democrats :http://www.rollcall.com/news/27224-1.html

[bushmeister0]

3. Yeah but why does every official Alaskan gov. web site show an error message?

I don;t know, I'm just asking and it seems really weird.

[shey1218]

4. he's waiting for something else.... look here

Parnell Patiently Awaits Absentee Ballot Count, Ballots Could Take Two Weeks to Arrive
August 27, 2008, Anchorage, Alaska
Sean Parnell, Republican candidate for Alaska’s lone seat in the U.S. House of Representatives patiently awaits the absentee ballot count following an incredibly close Primary Election race.

This afternoon, Sean Parnell released this statement to the media:

“After a long night of narrow margins and back and forth leads, the Republican race for Congress is, quite simply, still too close to call. Based on current information, just 152 votes separate Don Young and me in the Republican primary. 152 votes equals 0.16% of the votes. And we believe that there are at least 4,000 absentee votes yet to be counted."

http://www.parnellforcongress.com/index.php

palin's jumping ship before her buddy leaves

[bushmeister0]

5. So who is running Alaska? And why is every reference to him deleted?

Check the links. . . it's positively Soviet.

[shey1218]

2. here is his republican website

http://www.parnellforcongress.com/index.php

[shey1218]

6. this littl piece of knowledge could be huge..........

ya think?

[bushmeister0]

7. Who knows? But he doesn't seem like your typical Repuke.

Here's something:

"Sean Parnell has asked the University of Alaska to conduct a review and recommend possible changes to the state's electronic voting system.

According to the Clarion article Parnell wrote a letter to UAA Chancellor Fran Ulmer, a former lieutenant governor and overseer of the Division of Elections herself noting the stringent security measures established by the California Secretary of State as a condition for the use of electronic voting equipment. Parnell claimed that Alaska already met or exceeded the measures undertaken in California but wanted to consider additional measures to improve voting system security.

Alaska employs a paper ballot optical scan system manufactured by Diebold Election Systems statewide, with one Diebold TSX touchscreen voting machine in each polling place to provide accessibility for voters with disabilities. These systems were included in the California and were found to be “vulnerable to malicious software, was susceptible to viruses, failed to protect ballot secrecy”, and lacked “adequate controls to ensure that county workers with certain accesses would not exceed their authority.”

The state elections department has never explained anomalies in vote totals from the 2004 general election. After resisting the disclosure of raw data from the election for over a year, the state finally provided the state’s Democratic Party with data that showed evidence of manipulation.

Parnell, a Republican, met with the Alaska Democratic Party to discuss the proposed review, and Democratic Party chair Patti Higgins released a statement after the meeting. "Time is running short to correct some very serious problems that have come to light, and they recognize the urgency of fixing our voting system before the elections in 2008," Higgins noted.

Election Division Director Whitney Brewster, while defending the state’s voting system and post election audit procedures, recognized that there were enough “red flags” in the California reports “to raise real concerns for the integrity of the Alaska system.”

http://www.verifiedvotingfoundation.org/article.php?id=6519

[bushmeister0]

14. I've looked at the cached pages and there's nothing that stands out to the naked eye

that stands out, but why is it every single google page dealing with this guy is off limits?

Scrub, scrubbing away?

[shey1218]

8. Meet Talis J. Colberg

Talis J. Colberg
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
Talis J. Colberg was appointed by newly-elected governor Sarah Palin as the seventeenth attorney general of Alaska on December 13, 2006. As Palin said about her appointment of Talis, “Adding to my team continues to demonstrate my commitment to fill the top posts of my administration with the best in the state.” “He will bring a fresh perspective on all issues as legal advisor to the governor and other state officers. Colberg has a profound respect for the Constitution of the State of Alaska and its strict interpretation. He is an inherent believer in trust and transparency.”<1>

If both Governor Palin's 2008 vice presidential bid and the current lieutenant governor's U.S. House campaign prove successful, Talis Colberg would become Alaska's next governor in 2009.<2>

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talis_J._Colberg

[shey1218]

9. Palin and her lieutenant governor both coming to the white house

[bushmeister0]

12. Why are they scrubbing his web sites?

I just tried again to search "Alaska-lt governor" and got nothing. Every single link is deleted.

[clear eye]

34. Don't think they're "scrubbing" them,

but the fact that they have systematically closed every site for maintenance that comes up when you Google him is an indication of a well-financed campaign with a good IT person who's getting them all ready to be updated with news of the results of the primary and probably his campaign positions. It's the expensive campaign that's interesting.

[bushmeister0]

10. WTF does this all mean? Very weird.

[shey1218]

11. Governor Palin Endorses Sean Parnell for Congress Appears in Campaign Commercials Beginning Thursday

August 13, 2008, Anchorage, Alaska
Alaska’s Governor Sarah Palin (R) today officially endorsed Lieutenant Governor Sean Parnell for the state’s lone seat in the U.S. House of Representatives.

"This race is so very important to the State of Alaska," said Governor Sarah Palin. “While I recognize that it is unusual for a Governor to get involved during a primary race, I’m not one to embrace the status quo; I will go out of the box to do the right thing for Alaska and Alaskans. There are enough topics of immediate concern that need the utmost coordination and cooperation between the U.S. House of Representatives and the State of Alaska. With Sean Parnell in that seat, I know that we can get things done in the most efficient and effective manner possible. I fully endorse Sean Parnell for this seat."
The Governor and Lieutenant Governor were elected into office in November of 2006. Since taking office one month later, this conservative-principled team has worked to cut wasteful spending, to provide Alaska energy production, and to return honesty to government.

“The Governor and I make a great team,” said Sean Parnell. “I look forward to carrying on our teamwork from the halls of our nation’s Capitol, where together, we can accomplish so much more in partnership with the federal and state governments. Right now, we do not have that level of coop .....

http://www.parnellforcongress.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=71&Itemid=9

[Name removed]

13. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[clear eye]

27. Oh lord, I can just hear Rove briefing Palin now

(before her meeting with McCain), "Make sure McCain promises to let you be involved in actual governing, and, BTW, endorse that wonderful kid Parnell for Congress. We're helping with his campaign."

That would explain her two odd actions--asking what does the VP do because she likes to work hard, and interfering in a Republican primary.

It would also explain how Parnell suddenly had the sophisticated PR staff to overhaul all current sites about him that show up when you Google him. They want him out of the running for Governor of Alaska in case McCain wins.

[shey1218]

15. CHENEY CONNECTION

oil, ted stevens, transcanada

[clear eye]

25. Yes, but from what the OPer wrote about Parnell

it doesn't seem like he's involved. More like someone they want him out of the Governor's house (or wherever they keep Lieutenant Governors in Alaska). They may be helping him win his Congressional bid in part by spiffing up all those websites for him. He could do only minimal damage in Congress, and he'd owe them.

[shey1218]

16. here's a source to start with

More recently, Gov. Sarah Palin spoke to Cheney about her administration’s efforts to land the state a pipeline project. Palin briefly spoke to the vice president on the day of her first State of the State address in January 2007, says Bill McAllister, a Palin spokesman. “He encouraged her to move forward on a gas line project, and she said that would be a main topic of her speech that evening,” McAllister said in a statement. Last year, members of Palin’s gas-line team (commissioners Pat Galvin, Tom Irwin and Marty Rutherford) met with a Cheney aide or aides to discuss pipeline legislation, “but apparently nothing concrete came of it,” McAllister said.

In this week’s article for Newsweek, Michael Isikoff and I and report that in a secretly recorded conversation by the FBI on June 25, 2006, Stevens discussed ways to get the pipeline bill through the Alaska Legislature. Stevens allegedly told Allen “I’m gonna try to see if I can get some bigwigs from back here and say, 'Look … you gotta get this done.’” Two days later, Cheney wrote a letter to the Alaska Legislature urging members to “promptly enact” a bill to build the pipeline.

The letter angered state Democrats, who accused Cheney of pushing oil-company interests. “I’ve never heard of a vice president weighing in on a state issue ever before,” says Ethan

http://www.alaskadispatch.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=55:trumped-charges-or-business-as-usual&catid=1:talk-of-the-tundra&Itemid=12

(may have to copy and paste link)

[bushmeister0]

19. Ever get the impression Cheney isn't leaving?

He doesn't seem to be acting like he's got five months to go, does he?

[shey1218]

23. delete

[clear eye]

31. Sounds like Cheney/Rove have been plotting a virtual takeover of Alaska

since before Palin got in. In this light it seems likely that Rove wanted Palin to run for VP all along. Wherever she ends up, she'll owe them. That makes Alaska #4 in the states they've targeted to control: Texas, Alabama, Mississippi, and now Alaska, and a fair amount of influence over Florida as well.

It wouldn't be hard for Rove to muscle his way into control of McCain's campaign by sowing the dissension we heard about early in the race. Then by giving McCain half-assed talking points and ads, he could cause the campaign to stay just low enough that the VP spot wouldn't appeal to the Republicans' A-list, and he could come up with, voila, Palin to save the day (feeding her that magic word "maverick" to use on McCain).

If this is so, the Presidential campaign is just beginning for real now. McCain will suddenly start to sound better prepared. (Saddleback was a good example; they couldn't let the fundies get too alienated.) Get some Pepto, DUers, this is going to get ugly.

[starroute]

36. Great analysis clear eye -- it really is all about the oil/natural gas

This is starting to remind me of Cheney's 2001 energy task force. We've heard a lot about the possibility they were cooking up plans for Iraq -- but were they including Alaska as well?

I've been puzzling over the stakes in the Alaska natural gas pipeline issue. A Newsweek article from June (http://www.newsweek.com/id/139335/output/print) indicates that Palin has been promoting the TransCanada pipeline plan -- which is opposed by the big oil companies -- as part of an attempt to force the oil companies to execute their natural gas leases, which they've been sitting on for 30 years.

This is how she got the maverick reputation that McCain has been touting -- but it seems like the unlikeliest thing in the world for her to be an actual maverick, so I've been wondering whose interests she's really serving.

That's why it makes so much sense to see Cheney's hand in the deal. Cheney may be an oilman, but he isn't really on the side of the big oil companies. He's far more interested in creating Fortress America -- and getting those Alaskan natural gas reserves to market would plausibly matter more to him than the profits of BP and ConocoPhillips.

But that would also mean, as I take you to be saying, that Cheney is the real hand behind the McCain campaign -- and that is both enlightening and scary.

It also suggests that the recent investigations of Ted Stevens and other corrupt Alaskan political figures might not be a matter of good government rearing its head but something more in the nature of a coup -- like some third world government which is corrupt but protective of local interests being overthrown by outside forces in the guise of reformers.

But then how do you see the Rove interest in the Gulf Coast states as fitting in? Is that ultimately about, say, offshore drilling and not just about creating a cheap-labor power base in the Deep South?

I've been very aware of the geostrategic approach in Central Asia as it applies to US meddling with Caspian oil, pipeline routes, and the invasion of Iraq and confrontation with Iran. But it never occurred to me before that the geostrategists might also have been mapping out the US and its energy reserves and potential pipeline routes with an eye to asserting control here at home. You've given me a lot to think about.

[clear eye]

38. Most of the credit goes to shey1218 for the research

reminding us of Cheney's involvement with the pipeline first w/ Stevens, then Palin, and uncovering Palin's sudden unorthodox endorsement of Parnell for Congress. Thanks for reminding us that Cheney's 2001 task force may have been about more than Congressional strategy for expanding deregulation. I find the research into these guys' activities so disturbing that I don't do it, but I can't help adding 2 + 2 when I see someone else's results. What started it off was the OPer stumbling over the info that Sean Parnell was waging a well-executed primary for the Republican nomination for Congress, which in Alaska means virtual election. The OPer also found a website that indicated Parnell advocated measures for increased election integrity, apparently taking his role as reformer seriously. The upshot is that Talis J. Colberg, not the disconcertingly honest Parnell, would be interim Governor if Palin becomes VP.

As for who is running the show and why, that becomes almost total speculation, other than the facts that Cheney really wants that TransCanada pipeline and Palin rammed it through the Statehouse. Those are a matter of public record.

My best guess is that Cheney represents a group who want a monopoly, not on oil and gas reserves, but on the pipelines around the world that transport them. That is what U.S. citizen run oil cos. got in Iraq--the contracts for the pipelines along with the necessary contracts to improve production, not the rights to the oil itself. I don't believe Cheney has any interest in political campaigns--too much detail work for his taste. He leaves selection of the patsy (err, candidate) and the dirty tricks to win up to Rove, but Cheney ran into a stumbling block in Alaska when his best dirty pols were all indicted. Ergo, the Alaska strategy.

It's an interesting idea you raised that Gulf of Mexico oil is behind Rove's selection of the Gulf states to target. I'm not sure if that's it or if Rove is simply on a mission to pick off one state at a time leading to eventual national domination by his wing of the R's. These states would have been the easiest to start with, having R state legislatures and fairly corrupt judiciaries already. Going by his behavior, Rove has become addicted to the process. First he finds a naturally crooked, well-connected, but undisciplined newcomer to befriend. He uses all manner of vile dirty tricks, lots of money, and election theft to get him (so far it's always been a man) into high office, while he has some of his accomplices "help" the campaigns of people in lower positions. Then, using the connections he's cemented, he destroys the careers of any popular Dems who may pose a threat (the more cruelly, the better) until, like an invisible version of a mob boss, everyone in power both owes him and is afraid of what he has on them or could do to them. He gets his rush, but it's never enough, so he must find the next target. He's gotten the taste of the national stage, and Cheney & co. want insurance that the next time they get the White House (and they may not expect it to be 2008), they'll have control of who has been able to get into Congress, so both their needs dovetail. I would guess that Cheney occasionally points Rove in a specific direction when he has a problem he thinks Rove could handle--like Alaska.

As for Cheney, my guess is that he and his buddies are not so much interested in "Fortress America" as in "total world domination" for their relatively small group. The neocons actually used that phrase on a military website put up in 1998 regarding proposed U.S. orbiting laser weapons. They have gotten and continue to get lucrative government contracts to transform Blackwater into a private army (see Jeremy Scahill's writings), and who would dare stand in their way at this point? The Obama camp has stated that it expects to continue using Blackwater. From what I hear, interlocking directorates make most of the biggest multi-national corporations virtually a single interest. I'm actually surprised by the conflict between TransCanada and BP/Conoco. I guess some folks didn't want to sign on. It's particularly distressing that by using fossil fuels as their focus, they could very well be dooming not only political freedom, which might be regained, but the planet, which can not.

I leave it to you to imagine what it would take to inflict anything more than small, temporary setbacks on this crew. And the losses "reformers" would have to be willing to take in the process.

[starroute]

39. Googling leads to a guy named Randall Luthi

Luthi is the director of the Minerals Management Service in the Department of the Interior, which is in charge of auctioning offshore oil and gas leases. He is a former speaker of the Wyoming State House of Representatives and also a former aide to Dick Cheney:

http://letters.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2008/08/28/dnc/permalink/0b0d472f22086a483bc8d6e7e55da87d.html

Ex-Cheney Aide Named US Minerals Management Service Director

July 23, 2007: 03:33 PM EST

WASHINGTON -(Dow Jones)- The U.S. interior secretary Monday appointed former Wyoming House Speaker Randall Luthi as the new director of the beleaguered Minerals Management Service. Luthi, a former aide to Vice President Dick Cheney when he was a member of the House of Representative, replaces Johnnie Burton, who retired in May following intense criticism of her agency's administration of oil and gas royalties. . . . The MMS has been accused of having too close ties to the oil and gas industry, and Luthi's appointment may draw similar criticism, given his contacts with Cheney, the former chief executive of the oil services firm Halliburton Co.


http://www.reuters.com/article/latestCrisis/idUSN05350964

Polar bears vie with oil for US government focus
Sun Jan 6, 2008

Last week, the department's Minerals Management Service announced its plan to offer oil and gas exploration rights in February to 29.7 million acres (12.02 million hectares) in the remote Chukchi Sea off the northwest Alaskan coast.

There are about 16,000 polar bears in the region and environmentalists, especially those who pushed for the polar bear habitat to be protected, were outraged. . . .

Randall Luthi, director of the Minerals Management Service, called the decision "a good balance" that would allow exploration while still protecting "the resources important to the coastal residents." A spokeswoman questioned whether companies would even want to explore such distant waters.

Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, a Republican, does not favor listing the big white bear as endangered. "I strongly believe that adding them to the list is the wrong move at this time," Palin wrote in Saturday's New York Times. "My decision is based on a comprehensive review by state wildlife officials of scientific information from a broad range of climate, ice and polar bear experts."

[clear eye]

35. Your article indicates Cheney already involved in 2005

How likely is it that after Stevens exploded, they helped Palin get elected--threw some extra money her way and gave her a good communications person--in exchange for what must have seemed a small favor, steering the contract for the pipeline to TransCanada? Wouldn't be surprised if info about the faux scandal regarding the pressure to fire the former brother-in-law (unusable, generates sympathy) was left online to distract from other missing info, like 2006 campaign donor reports and more.

Maybe there was stuff on the Parnell sites, like the name of his campaign manager, that they felt might be too revealing, who knows? Was Mike Connell around? Or maybe it's just like I've been thinking, that the sites are just being given a slick upgrade for the campaign, including the news about the Palin endorsement.

[clear eye]

17. The sites may be down in preparation for updating on whether or not he won the primary

and if he did, what his positions are on the issues.

But if you think like Rove (a painful exercise), it would be advantageous to use that Diebold system to have an honest Republican like Parnell win the nomination, and the election. He would end up in Congress where he could be ridden herd on, and where he could do minimal damage to the crooked neocon interests. Someone really dirty, similar to the former Alaskan governor, could be appointed by the state party as interim lieutenant-governor. That would position the new person to be elected in the next election or by special election(whatever the Alaska state constitution demands). At worst, he will be getting Parnell out of a position of influence while having earned the trust and goodwill of the current governor, which he will no doubt use in the future.

Rove has been organizing the previously free-lance Republican crooks in the Alabama and Mississippi state gov'ts. Having used up the Republican political capital at the Presidential level, he seems to be picking up states one at a time. Alaska could be next. Instead of damaging the Republican brand further by setting up honest Republican opponents for official persecution as he's done Democrats, he could be simply promoting them out of the way.

And DUers wonder why so many people resent Pelosi's obstruction of the impeachment of Bush/Cheney which would be necessary to prosecute Rove. No one should kid themselves; nothing short of prison will impede Rove's continuing anti-democratic acquisition of power.

[annabanana]

30. This is "rubber meet road" time for this election. . . shenanigans abound! . . . n/t

[greguganus]

18. More importantly, who the F is Sarah Palin? n/t

[bushmeister0]

20. Harriet Miers?

[clear eye]

21. You're right. It seems part of Rove's calculus is to get a rare

honest Republican out of the way, while earning the trust and good-will of the Governor. It would suit Rove's purposes for Parnell to win, while creating secret "evidence" that Palin was complicit in election-rigging. That way whether she remains Governor or ends up VP, he would have something to use on her should she ever decide to get in his way.

[clear eye]

22. Delete--duplicate/server problem

System showed me an error message so I reposted.

[shey1218]

24. oil

i'll try to tell you where I am going again

transcanada compana pipeline alaska and russia

remember the attack on russia and then the statement that seemed so absurd from russia last week : "to help a candidate"

cheney "seen giving john mccain someting in writing

cheney connection with transcanada

cheney connection with ted stevens indictment

cheney several meeting in past with palin regarding pipeline that was signed approved either yesterday or today it think...

palin.... a dummy...just using her..gotta get her out of the way ot the oil. she is to busy trying to do the right thing.... might watch whats going on too closely...so gotta watch her.... "in wasington, as vp" lieutenent governor will win the election and he will be out of way too.... in congress where they can av bot out of way.

[shey1218]

26. do some research on the keywords on google

put palin and cheney in together

alaska, russia and pipeline in together

cheney, ted stevens, pipeline

cheney transcanada

etc


and remember how all of a sudden over last 3 weeks mccain had been against drilling in alaska...... now for drilling.



whatever is going on..... it's huge

[clear eye]

32. Don't have the stomach for it, but I see where you're going

Bigger than Alaska

[MagickMuffin]

28. Here's some info:

In an announcement that caught many people, including premier local pollster Dave Dittman by surprise, Alaska's Republican Lieutenant Governor Sean Parnell said he will challenge U.S. Rep. Don Young in the Republican primary. Full story in the Anchorage Daily News, as well as on the ADN's Alaska Politics blog. Both sources include numerous public comments so the reader can gauge Alaskan reaction to the announcement, which is generally positive. Parnell's official bio can be found HERE. Story also aired by KTUU Channel 2 and KTVA Channel 11.

Parnell made the announcement to loud cheers today at the Alaska Republican Convention in Anchorage. Young, who has held office since 1973, was in the room but left as Parnell rose to address delegates. Afterwards, Parnell explained his actions. "For too long, we have expected too little from our elected officials," Parnell said. "It is time for change". Parnell also said, "The notion that an elected official gets to pick who his constituents are based on whether they voted for him -- that is wrong". Governor Sarah Palin has endorsed Parnell.

But Congressman Young was quick to fire back. "Sean, congratulations," Young said. "I beat your dad, and I'm going to beat you." Pat Parnell ran as a Democrat against Young in the 1980 general election. Young received 114,089 votes to the elder Parnell's 39,922, according to the Alaska Division of Elections. Young also criticized Parnell for running for Lt. Governor instead of the U.S. House in 2006.

Young is considered vulnerable primarily because he is the subject of a federal investigation that includes his campaign finance practices. Young's re-election campaign last year spent $854,053 on legal fees, but he won't disclose for what that money was used. However, Young has also made a series of public relations gaffes, including an occasion when he refused to answer questions about why his campaign has spent $845,035 on legal fees. Young said only the media, not his constituents, had asked about the fees. Young refused to answer again when a reporter identified himself as a constituent, but one who had not voted for Young. In addition, there was a Mat-Su Valley press conference on February 22nd where he threw out a couple of reporters because they weren't representing local Valley media. A website specifically dedicated to "exposing the real Don Young", Dropdon.com, has been on line for several months now.

And this vulnerablility was once again highlighted by the latest Anchorage-based Hays Research Poll, conducted from March 10-12 and documented in another post on the Alaska Politics blog, which showed the following results for Congressman Young:

Don Young
-- Very Favorable: 17%
-- Somewhat Favorable: 23%
-- Somewhat Unfavorable: 20%
-- Very Unfavorable: 35%
-- (Don't Know/Refused): 5%

This is slightly different than previous Hays polls, in which there is no Neutral category this time. But one can easily see the clear-cut unfavorable assessment: 40% view Young favorably, 55% unfavorably. Note the strong negative component; one out of three respondents are Very Unfavorable towards Young; he is clearly in trouble. Here are results from the other Hays polls (all of which included a Neutral category):

April 5th, 2007: 51% Positive, 38% Negative.
June 15th, 2007: 38% Positive, 41% Negative.
September 17th, 2007: 33% Positive, 46% Negative.
November 12th, 2007: 34% Positive, 48% Negative.

However, what many Alaskans, even the media outlets, are neglecting is that Congressman Young already has another Republican challenger in State Rep. Gabrielle LeDoux (R-Kodiak). So Alaskans who are ready to concede the nomination to Parnell may want to put the champagne back on ice, because there is a chance that LeDoux and Parnell may take as many votes from each other as they would individually from Don Young. A local Kodiak blogger, Kodiak Konfidential, has discussed LeDoux on several occasions. Click HERE to view his posts referencing LeDoux.

And why is this? Because while both LeDoux and Parnell differ economically, with Parnell being more pro-development and pro-business (LeDoux publicly opposes the proposed Pebble Mine), both are considered socially conservative. A now defunct pro-gay lobby, Actwin, gave LeDoux a letter grade of "F" for voting against the gay agenda in the state legislature. But since Parnell is also considered socially conservative, they could end up splitting the "values voters", who previously flexed their political muscle by pushing Mike Huckabee to a second place finish and Mitt Romney to a victory in the February 5th Republican Presidential caucus. So if Parnell and LeDoux take too many votes from each other, Don Young could sneak past both of them and secure the Republican nomination in the primary election.

The bottom line - in a three-way, Don Young could squeak by Sean Parnell, with Gabrielle LeDoux finishing a distant third. But in a straight-up contest between Parnell and Young, Parnell would not only win, but could score as much as 60% of the vote. Consequently, if Republicans are serious about replacing Don Young, they should induce LeDoux to exit the race.

Other candidates in the race include three Democrats; former House Minority Leader Ethan Berkowitz, former state Democratic Party Chairman Jake Metcalfe, and former Young opponent Diane Benson, who received 40 percent of the vote against Young in 2006.



http://alaskapride.blogspot.com/2008/03/alaska-lt-gov-sean-parnell-to-challenge.html


Go to the link as there are more links within the article.

It is rather strange that the government websites are down.

[annabanana]

29. The race between Young & Parnell is still "up in the air".

Yesterday I saw headlines that Parnell had upset Young but the count wasn't final. In today's google I see that there are questions and confusions about the count here and there. (Sound familiar?) Young is a connected Steven's Republican, Parnell is not.

[clear eye]

33. A Kick Up and

a plea for someone to give this its fifth rec. It needs to be seen.

[roguevalley]

37. this is so weird seeing alaska all over the place.