The duplicity of Lisa Murkowski, and why moderates should wash their hands of her.

This editorial was written by Fairbanks resident and political activist Sean McGuire. And it comes to us courtesy of the Fairbanks Newsminer:  

Let’s go back four years to August 2010. In what many view as the biggest upset in Alaska political history, Sen. Murkowski was defeated in the primary by the far-right candidate, Joe Miller. She was beaten fair and square. 

What did she do? She spent the next two-plus months running around Alaska pleading with Native Alaskans and moderate Democrats to save her political life with a write-in campaign. She promised she would represent those moderate voters’ interests. Sen. Mark Begich didn’t attempt to interfere; he let Alaskans decide who they wanted. In the end, Natives and Democrats did indeed save her. 

During the next six years, Alaska’s two senators apparently worked well together, collaborating on many issues and voting the same way more than any other split-party senators in the nation. 

Fast forward four years to this election. Sen. Begich, the champion of the Natives — overwhelmingly endorsed by AFN, and a true moderate — was fighting for his political life. 

What did Sen. Murkowski do? When Begich was most vulnerable, she stuck a knife in his back, going on TV and saying she didn’t have a good partner in the Senate. And just as dishonorably, she betrayed all those moderate Democrats who had come to her rescue when her political life was hanging by a thread. 

Politics is a nasty business. But in my opinion, the dishonor Sen. Murkowski displayed is several levels deep. It’s not only that she betrayed those who saved her. There’s a longstanding tradition in the U.S. Senate: you don’t turn on your colleague in an election.

There's more but I think that this really captures the meat of Mr. McGuire's point.

And it is quite a valid point.

Murkowski has demonstrated herself to be a cagey political operative, who quickly calculates where she needs to position herself in order to retain her Senate seat and garner support for the future.

When she needed moderates, she was moderate. And when she believes she needs conservatives, well...she IS still daddy's little girl.

Clearly she recognized that the Republicans would most likely capture the Senate in this elections cycle, and positioned herself accordingly. I am sure in her mind Begich's lost Senate seat is simply an acceptable casualty in her strategy to gain more power.

And she has indeed gained that power.

She will now be given the chairmanship of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, which will allow her to once again campaign for the opening of ANWR, even as we are faced with information about climate change which should dissuade any reasonable person from even entertaining such an idea. (To be fair Mark Begich also promoted the opening of ANWR. You really cannot get elected up here if you are against it.)

The President will of course veto the proposal and it will never happen, but it is once again a move that puts her in alignment with the Republican platform.

And there she will remain right up until it works against her in retaining her seat, and then my friends we will see the Murkowski's political chameleon act once again.

We deserve better that is for sure, however I reiterate once again that Murkowski will undoubtedly hold onto her seat right up until she no longer wants it, or until some unforeseen scandal knocks her out of the running. 

Because that's just the way things work in Alaska.

After day of counting absentee ballots AP calls Alaska Senate race for Dan Sullivan.

Courtesy of Politico:  

Republican Dan Sullivan has won the Alaska Senate race, ousting Democratic incumbent Mark Begich, according to The Associated Press, which called the race for Sullivan late Tuesday night following the first day of counting early and absentee ballots. 

Sullivan leads Begich by 7,911 votes, according to the latest tally. Even though Begich gained some ground on Tuesday, and thousands of ballots are left to be counted, the AP said “the results indicated that Begich could not overcome Sullivan’s lead.” 

“I am deeply humbled and honored to be chosen by my fellow Alaskans to serve them in the United States Senate,” Sullivan said in a statement. “From day one we told our supporters that we would run a campaign that Alaskans could be proud of, and that’s what we did.” 

Begich’s campaign is not conceding, the AP reported. 

As I think some of you are aware I essentially determined that Mark Begich did not have a chance of  pulling out a victory here the day after the election.

In response I received a rather ugly e-mail accusing me of essentially being a traitor and of hurting his chances by writing him off before the ballots had been counted. I am not sure how my post could make ballots magically disappear but apparently I have incredible powers of which I remain blissfully unaware.

Look I doubt there are too many people up here that wanted Mark to win more than I did. Hell I even had the only Mark Begich sign for several blocks around.

But facts are facts, and as progressives we respect the facts.

This election was obviously for sale, and in the end the Democrats simply did not have the money to compete.

It is clear to everybody that Dan Sullivan is a Koch whore, and he is certainly not the only one representing us in Washington.

And look who finally came out to connect her name to Sullivan now that it is no longer a political liability.

It's time to face the facts.

Courtesy of Alaska Dispatch:  

Republican U.S. Senate candidate Dan Sullivan appeared to grab an insurmountable lead over incumbent Democratic Sen. Mark Begich early Wednesday, with all of Alaska's precincts reporting. 

With results from all 441 precincts counted, Sullivan led 49 percent to 45 percent. The margin remained essentially the same from the first returns early in the evening. 

Speaking just after midnight at his election night party in a packed ballroom at the Hotel Captain Cook, Sullivan praised his supporters and told them: “We are taking back our country!” 

“We’re still going to be respectful of the process,” Sullivan said. But he nonetheless touted Republicans’ successes in Senate races across the country Tuesday, and to hearty cheers, he proclaimed that the party had sidelined Harry Reid, the Democratic leader in the Senate.

Look I am as much of an optimist as you could expect from a liberal living in Alaska, but currently Sullivan leads Begich by  over 8,000 votes with all precincts having reported in.

Even if EVERY SINGLE uncounted absentee ballot had the circle next to Mark's name colored in it would probably still not be enough to give him the victory.

I understand why Mark does not want to concede yet, and I seriously doubt it has anything to do with his faith that he can still pull this off.

He can't. And as much as I hate to say it out loud, it looks like the Koch brothers bought themselves a Senator from the once great state of Alaska.

I am incredibly disappointed in my state right now. And while many of the election outcomes put a smile on my face, this one was for all the marbles, and the voters just did not make the right call in my opinion.

Now I could bitch about the political strategy of making distance between the candidates and President Obama, I really feel if they had embraced the successes of the last six years and bragged about the accomplishments of the Affordable Care Act and saving the economy that might have made a difference, but this is no time to throw stones or trot out "I told you so's."

No this is the time to learn from our mistakes and move forward. 

So that is what I am going to do. But first I want to say that I was proud of having helped elect our first Democratic Senator since Mike Gravel was elected back in 1974. I think Mark did a good job, and the reason he lost had almost nothing to do with him, and everything to do with corporate money and the irrational hatred for our President.

Hold you head up high Senator Begich, ya done good.

Sarah Palin brags that Ted Cruz came to her house for dinner, and encourages people to get out and vote. Finally, something we agree on.

Courtesy of the Ted Cruz groupie's Facebook page:

In Alaska, even the moose help with "Get Out The Vote" efforts. This little guy has been door-knocking since summer! Even our friend Senator Ted Cruz got to see him in the yard this weekend when the Senator stopped by for a bowl of moose chili (I assured him he wasn't eating this adorable ungulate's kin!). 

All over the political spectrum it's so important we all exercise our right to vote. Our democracy is the envy of the world, and to protect it our country's bravest have sacrificed more than most of us will ever know. To honor their service, please vote.

 - Sarah Palin

First off let me say that in NONE of the coverage of Cruz's visit to Alaska to stump for Dan Sullivan, was Sarah Palin's name mentioned. 

However it is clear that Palin was not about to let this opportunity go by without serving Rafael Cruz her infamous moose slop, and giving him a tour of the part of the house that Todd is forced to live in.

Gee I wonder why Palin was not standing with Cruz and Romney while they were stumping for Dan Sullivan? You would think that they could not keep her away if they tried.

Or perhaps they could, and did.

Dark money in politics and the honesty of Senator Mark Begich.

Courtesy of TPM:

Republican dark money groups are outspending their Democratic counterparts by an incredible margin, according to data from the nonpartisan Sunlight Foundation. 

During this cycle, conservative groups that do not disclose their donors have spent more than $94 million, while liberal dark money groups have spent more than $28 million.

The data this cycle confirms Republican dominance of dark money spending. In the 2012 election cycle, about 80 percent of dark money spending backed Republican candidates.

Of course as we know there has been untold millions spent up here in Alaska in support of Dan Sullivan, hell anybody trying to watch a You Tube video, listen to the radio, or watch television can tell you that. 

And when asked about that Dan Sullivan ran away like somebody was trying to take his lunch money.

Now undoubtedly Mark Begich has received some money from outside groups, and some of those are certainly from shady PACs that don't want to disclose their donor list.

However Begich is not one to shy away from scrutiny as evidenced by the fact that he has voluntarily provided documentation as to how his campaign money is spent.

This from ABC News:  

Senate campaigns aren't required to tell us by Election Day--they submit spending reports to the Federal Election Commission on paper, a seemingly antiquated system that prevents reporters and the public from being able to dig effectively through their latest receipts and expenses. For most campaigns, sortable expense data is only available through June. Weeks or months later, we'll get a fuller picture. 

But Sen. Mark Begich, D-Alaska, apparently out of the goodness of his heart, has been filing his disclosures electronically since October 2013, giving us a window into how Senate campaigns are spending their millions of dollars these days. 

Since Oct. 1, 2013, Begich has spent $7.3 million, a middling total for campaigns. Alaska isn't the most expensive state in which a candidate can run, and it's outside the top 10 this election cycle for candidate spending, although, including outside money, it's the sixth most expensive of all 2014 Senate races, according to the Center for Responsive Politics.

Can anybody imagine Dan Sullivan being this transparent? Nope me either.

As if we needed another reason to support the only REAL Alaskan running for the Senate in 2014.

While Mark Begich works his ground game Dan Sullivan brings in the old and the crazy.

Courtesy of the Fairbanks NewsMiner

From the Alaska Dispatch: 

Begich and the Democratic Party have a roughly tenfold advantage in paid staff on the ground in Alaska, and their schedule for the next few days doesn’t include any particularly flashy events or guests -- Begich is campaigning in the Mat-Su, Anchorage, and Fairbanks, while his wife and mother make stops in rural Alaska. 

Sullivan’s campaign, meanwhile, is relying on Cruz and 2012 GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney, who’s holding a rally Monday in Anchorage with Sullivan and Republican Gov. Sean Parnell. 

The visit from Cruz, who’s stumped around the country for Republican Senate candidates, helps Sullivan’s campaign to stoke its conservative base and even generate enthusiasm among Libertarians, whom Cruz mentioned in a video he posted shortly after his arrival in Alaska. 

Saturday’s event in Fairbanks was a showcase for that strategy. 

“In three days, we’re going to retake the U.S. Senate and retire Harry Reid as majority leader,” Cruz said to sustained applause from the Chrysler showroom, telling the crowd that Begich’s support for Reid amounts to “a vote that says, ‘I hate oil.’” 

“Let me tell you, in the fight for this country, for the direction of this country, Alaska is ground zero,” Cruz said.

Yeah Raphael Cruz is full of shit here.

While I agree that Alaska is grown zero in a lot of ways, there is NO politician elected in this state that hates oil.  

After all that is the lifeblood of Alaska right now, and without it we would suffer greatly. Mark knows that quite well.

However I am sure that Begich realizes that it will not last forever, nor should it, and that it is time to start seriously finding alternative fuel sources.

Having said that I can certainly attest to the powerful ground game being used by the Democrats in support of Mark right now. I have personally been visited a whopping seven times by door knockers making sure that I am voting, and voting for our current Senator. (I actually voted earlier today, so maybe I'll put a sign in my yard attesting to that fact.)

I have seen NOBODY from the Sullivan campaign in my neighborhood, and if he is relying on those out of state funded ads and the likes of Mitt Romney and Ted Cruz to give him a boost I think he might be in for a very unpleasant surprise tomorrow evening. (Assuming of course we know anything by tomorrow evening.)

By the way Begich referred to Cruz as "the king of the government shutdown." which I think is too perfect.

Well I for one am responsible for at least three Begich votes. No I did not vote three times, but my family members did come to me for guidance and I think I set them on the path of righteousness.

So if you have not voted yet, make sure you do tomorrow.

It is not just your responsibility, it is your right. And keep in mind who is working to take that right away from many of you.

Just a letter in support of reelecting Senator Mark Begich.

Below is a letter sent to the Juneau Empire by an Alaskan voter. I think it sums up the reasons to keep Begich in office quite succinctly. 

It’s not easy being a Democratic politician in a red state like Alaska, but Sen. Mark Begich does it with integrity. One of Sen. Begich’s first votes in the Senate was for the Lily Ledbetter Fair Pay Act. He also co-sponsored the Paycheck Fairness Act. It matters that he was raised by a single mother of six kids. He saw first hand how his mom had to struggle to make ends meet. Sen. Begich says equal pay for women is a fairness issue, which is what women have been saying for decades. 

In March of last year, he issued a statement in favor of marriage equality. The arc of recent history is definitely bending towards marriage equality, and Alaska, the state of new beginnings, is finally on board. 

Dan Sullivan is stuck in the 1950s. He is against a woman’s right to choose in all cases. He even has issues with birth control. He’s against gay marriage, against the Affordable Care Act, and won’t say if he supports equal pay for women. If you look closely at Mr. Sullivan’s TV ads, you see that many of them are paid for by the Koch brothers under the names of Americans for Prosperity, Crossroads GPS, Freedom Works, Freedom Partners, and a long list of others. If Charles and David Koch are in his corner, you know they expect to get less regulation and lower taxes under his administration. 

This past week, I was startled to see Condoleezza Rice’s face filling our television screen touting Dan Sullivan’s qualities to be the Governor of Alaska. Condoleezza Rice lied in front of the world about weapons of mass destruction in Iraq, and as a result, that terrible war cost thousands of lives, both military and civilian, and left thousands of American soldiers disabled. Why would Mr. Sullivan think her endorsement would be a plus to his campaign? Who’s next? Dick Cheney? 

Let’s face it. Alaskans only have two working members of Congress. We’re lucky that both of our Senators are thoughtful, honest, and smart people who understand the value of compromise. Let’s keep Sen. Begich in Washington, D.C.

Barbara Belknap 

Juneau

I might quibble a bit with the idea that Lisa Murkowski is thoughtful and honest, but I agree wholeheartedly with the rest. 

Mitt Romney and Ted Cruz flying to Alaska to stump for Dan Sullivan and Sean Parnell. Oh yeah, that should help.

Courtesy of the Washington Post:  

To help him deliver his closing argument to voters in one of the country's most contentious Senate races, Republican candidate Dan Sullivan is bringing a political odd couple to Alaska. 

Mitt Romney, the GOP's 2012 nominee and tacit head of the party's establishment, and Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas), a tea party firebrand, are both jetting to the Last Frontier to boost Sullivan in the runup to Election Day. 

Sullivan, campaigning to unseat Sen. Mark Begich (D), will spend this Saturday and Sunday flying around the state with Cruz. The two will headline get-out-the-vote rallies in four of the state's main population areas -- Anchorage, the Mat-Su Valley, Fairbanks and the Kenai Peninsula -- according to a Sullivan campaign source who requested anonymity because the events have not yet been announced. 

Next Monday, on the eve of the election, Romney will hold a rally with Sullivan as well as Alaska Gov. Sean Parnell (R) in the Anchorage area, the source said. 

"Sniff sniff" is that desperation I smell?

I'm sorry but when you are being beaten up for relying on millions of dollars of out of state money to finance your campaign, and having advertisements made on your behalf featuring political heavyweights from the Bush administration, how in the hell does it help you to have the last failed GOP presidential candidate and the head nut from the GOP looney bin fly up to give you support?

Yes I realize that Mitt Romney won Alaska in the 2012 election, but I also know that since then he has become a pitiful shadow of his formal self, who was at that time a pitiful shadow of Ronald Reagen.

As for Ted Cruz, I think the only place in the state where he would be welcomed with open arms is in a thirty mile circumference around the home of a certain half term Governor who I am sure is getting ready to cook up that one moose chili recipe she knows in anticipation of his arrival.

Anchorage Mayor, the OTHER Dan Sullivan, vetoes ordinance to protect local moose population.

Courtesy of Alaska Dispatch:  

Anchorage Mayor Dan Sullivan vetoed a recently approved ban on metal palisade fences Tuesday, referring to it as “government intrusion.” 

The ban, approved by the Anchorage Assembly in a 6-5 vote last week, was essentially a moose-protection measure. South Anchorage's Jennifer Johnston proposed it at the request of constituents who were alarmed by reports and photos of moose gored on sharp pales. 

“While the ordinance is well-intentioned, the cost/benefit analysis does not warrant this level of government intrusion,” Sullivan wrote in his veto message. 

Biologists have estimated that between two and four moose a year are gored on the fences, an incidence that Sullivan referred to as “very, very low.” The fence ban was supported by Anchorage area state wildlife biologist Jessy Coltrane, who testified at the Assembly hearing last week and said the moose gorings were both traumatic and preventable. 

In his veto message, Sullivan wrote that the total financial impact to property owners outweighed the benefits of “saving a few moose.”

We talk so much about the Dan Sullivan running against Mark Begich for his Senate seat, that we often forget about another equally unlikeable Dan Sullivan who is the current Mayor of Anchorage, and who is also running with Sean Parnell as a potential Lt. Governor. 

By the way one thing that almost all Anchorage citizens agree with is that they love having wildlife in their city. It is just one of those things that makes us especially unique.

And I can tell you right now that to most of us there is virtually NO financial burden that would outweigh the benefits of "saving a few moose."

I see this yet another black mark against the Parnell/Sullivan ticket. As if they needed any more of those.

Alaskan voters angered about letters revealing voting records of friends and neighbors and threatening to reveal more before the election.

Billionaire Paul Singer, whose Right Wing organization is behind the mailings.

Courtesy of KTUU:  

A series of letters from a shadowy group is telling Alaskans’ friends and neighbors whether they voted in previous elections -- and threatening to release their voting records in the Nov. 4 general elections. 

In letters photographed by Channel 2 viewers who received them, the Alaska State Voter Program lists 10 friends and neighbors, along with their home addresses and whether -- but not how -- they voted in the 2008, 2010 and 2012 elections. At least one person reported subsequently receiving an email from the group containing the text of the mailed letter. 

An introduction in the letters rhetorically asks why people don’t vote, then poses the group’s solution to the issue. The language is mirrored on the group's website, which allows people to generate a list similar to those in the letters by entering their name and mailing address or their Facebook account. 

“This year, we’re taking a new approach,” ASVP members wrote. “We’re sending this mailing to you, your friends, your neighbors, your colleagues at work, and your community members to publicize who does and does not vote.” 

Channel 2 viewers have uniformly condemned the Alaska mailings as an unwarranted intrusion on their privacy, with one saying a friend who received a copy of the letter at his Wasilla home did not respond well. 

“He and his wife are furious because the letter lists names and addresses of their neighbors and what years they voted -- which means their names are probably on a letter in other people's households,” the viewer wrote. “These types of shaming and bullying tactics are unacceptable and they cross the line.” 

A second viewer pointed out the possibility of information from the letters enabling criminal activity. 

“We recently had ID theft and the last thing we want to publicize is where we live,” the viewer wrote. “I wonder how many people are outraged like us.” 

A third viewer said the mailings represent a threat to Alaska-based service members’ operational and personal security. 

“How is this even okay to send out people’s names and addresses?” the viewer wrote. “What about the military families in this state who are trying to maintain proper OPSEC and PERSEC, who just had their names and addresses sent out to random other people?”

This Alaska State Voter Program attempts to camouflage itself as a local political outfit, even using some of our beautiful scenery on its website, but it is certainly NOT an Alaskan organization.

And by the way when they say "this year we're taking a new approach" that is bullshit as this seems to be the first year they have even been in existence. In fact they really don't seem to even exist today.

Gee I wonder where they came from, and who is paying for all of this?

Well KTUU has some of those answers: 

While ASVP isn’t registered with the Alaska Public Offices Commission according to Fenumiai, she said the interstate nature of its PAC would leave it covered by the Federal Election Commission. State officials have been unable to uncover much more about the nature and origins of the group, she said. 

An attribution at the bottom of the letters says they are paid for by the Opportunity Alliance PAC, a political action committee associated with the Republican-affiliated American Opportunity Alliance. The alliance’s website doesn’t list a page for Alaska, but includes links to an attack ad against U.S. Senate incumbent Jeff Merkley (D-Ore.), as well as endorsements of Republicans Joni Ernst in an Iowa U.S. Senate race and Martha McSally for an Arizona U.S. House seat. 

Apparently the Opportunity Alliance PAC is run by billionaire Paul Singer who it just so happens donate $600,000 to Dan Sullivan's campaign last year.

Gee an out of state PAC supporting the carpetbagger trying to steal an Senate seat in Alaska? You could have knocked me over with a feather.

Did Mark Begich just take the lead in Alaska's Senate race?

Okay hang on, don't  get cocky.

Courtesy of TPM:  

An Anchorage polling firm is giving Sen. Mark Begich (D-AK) an unexpectedly huge lead in his re-election bid less than two weeks before Election Day and with early voting underway. 

Hellenthal and Associates shows Begich up 10 points over Republican challenger Dan Sullivan, 49 percent to 39 percent. It is by far the biggest lead that Begich has seen and runs counter to most public polling, which has shown Sullivan with a consistent advantage since mid-September. 

Another poll released Friday and sponsored by Democratic PAC's supporting Begich showed the race tied at 44 percent. 

The Hellenthal and Associates poll, conducted Oct 15 to 21, surveyed 403 likely voters. Its margin of error is 4.9 points.

I am having a hard time trusting the polls right now. Partly because I have stopped participating in them, and I know I am not alone. 

It is no exaggeration to say that I get between four and five phone calls a day asking that I participate in a poll, or giving me unsolicited information on the candidates or issues.

I have also had at least five visits from the unions asking me if  I am going to support Begich. Which I point out they should already know as illustrated by the fact that I have a Mark Begich sign on my front lawn.

However I will tell you something that I firmy feel to be true and that is that the glut of anti-Begich ads that pop up EVERY SINGLE time that you try to watch a YouTube or Hulu video is turning people against Dan Sullivan in a big way.

The overkill is absolutely incredible, and there is no escaping it since trying to watch television or listen to the radio also exposes you to yet another series of never ending attacks on Mark Begich, many of them filled with completely false statements that many Alaskans know are bullshit.

 What I keep telling everybody is that a vote against this guy is a vote against attempts to buy local elections by outside corporations. And that if we allow Sullivan to win we can expect all of this to escalate even more in the years to come.

And not just in Alaska. If this formula works here, these billionaires have no reason to think it will not work EVERYWHERE.

Bob Cesca bravely fights for America's right to mock Sarah Palin. And so far he is winning.

Courtesy of The Daily Banter:  

For the last several months or so, I’ve been following the intellectually-impaired grifter antics over at The Sarah Palin Channel — Palin’s recently launched subscription service, which also happens to feature free-to-the-public videos posted on the main page. In the process of covering the Sarah Palin beat, it’s been necessary to excerpt sections of her videos and to subsequently embed the “takeouts” (Antonin Scalia’s word) on The Daily Banter in the context of reviewing her illiterate blather. 

One of the clips in particular went viral. You might recall the video in which Palin lapsed into some sort of aphasia or stupor and began to babble about Elizabeth Warren, fast food and Purgatory. To date, no one’s been able to adequately decipher what she was saying. Accordingly, my excerpted clip and the accompanying article spread throughout the blogosphere and, as of late September, was pushing toward 700,000 views. 

However, the view count was halted and the video was disabled when Sarah Palin’s production company stumbled upon it. 

Cesca goes on to share the forms he had to fill out, and the hoops he had to jump through, in order to get YouTube to listen to his side of the story after TAPP complained that he was essentially stealing content.

Cesca also mentions in this piece that Palin herself has argued for the 1st Amendment rights of those on the Right, often confusing them with the right of an employer to fire an employee for saying controversial things on the air.

After Cesca explained to Yo0u Tube that he was using the snippet under the fair use clause for journalistic purposes, and also pointing out that TAPP did the same by borrowing from Elizabeth Warrren's speech so that Palin could mock her, he got his video back up.

Which you can see here:

(Oh I forgot how awesome that was!)

So this is good news for all of us, for as you know I will not pay to watch Palin make a fool of herself on that crazy ass channel blog  of hers, but I will certainly make fun of any video that others snatch from that sea of desperation and bring out into the light for the amusement of others.

Speaking of desperate and amusing, late last night Palin decided to finally come out for Mark Begich's opponent, and her former Attorney General, Dan Sullivan.

This from her Facebook page: 

Barack Obama, thank you for sealing the deal for the next U.S. Senator from the great state of Alaska, Dan Sullivan! 
-Sarah Palin 

"These are all folks who vote with me!" - Barack Hussein Obama October 20, 2014 (Geez is she still using his middle name as a slam against him? Grow the fuck up.)

This then links to a Breitbart article, big surprise, that contains this statement from the President that he made yesterday:   

"Here's the bottom line: We've got a tough map. A lot of the states that are contested this time are states they didn't win. So some of the candidates there, you know, it is difficult for them to have me in the state because the Republicans will use that to try to fan Republican turnout. The bottom line is, these are all folks who vote with me. They have supported my agenda in congress. They are on the right side of minimum wage. They are on the right side of fair pay. They are on the right side of rebuilding our infrastructure. They're on the right side of early childhood education. So, this isn't about my feelings being hurt. These are folks who are strong allies and supporters of me. And I tell them, I said, you know what, you do what you need to win. I will be responsible for making sure that our voters turn up."

As you can see it does not mention Mark Begich by name, or even which states the President is talking about, but the Republicans have been quick to pounce on it and to start using it against Democrats in red states.

It contains nothing new, and of course reminds the voters who put these individuals in office in the first place why they are the best candidate for 2014, but in Palin's world it "seals the deal" for Dan Sullivan.

And all I can say to that is if she is so determined to help Dan Sullivan win then she needs to get SarahPAC to endorse him and start making appearances with him in the state.

I mean if she is really a king maker with conservatives then this is her opportunity to prove it.

Unless she is afraid that is.