Small Victory for Obama in Alaska

US PRESIDENT Total Number of Precincts 438 Precincts Reporting 438 100.0 % Times Counted 325054/495731 65.6 % Total Votes 323820 Baldwin and Castle AI 1652 0.51% Barr and Root LIB 1575 0.49% McCain and Palin REP 192631 59.49% Nader and Gonzalez IND 3757 1.16% Obama and Biden DEM 122485 37.83% Write-in Votes 1720 0.53%

Obama did not win in Alaska. Polls had him on an average of about 11 points behind in the weeks before the election. Alas, the numbers reflected in the polls turned out to be worse for Obama in the general election. At one point it looked like McCain-Palin took a whopping 65% of the vote.

With all the excitement of the Senatorial race, all anyone could think about was Begich vs. Stevens. First Stevens up, and Begich down. Then separated by 3 votes. Then Begich up and Stevens down. Begich more up. Uh-oh, Stevens gaining. Begich up again. It was dizzying, and everyone’s laser-sharp focus was trained on those returns.

But there’s one small victory that hasn’t been talked about much. After the whopping 90,000 votes that were counted in Alaska after election day, there was a shift in the presidential race. After the final tally, McCain-Palin won by 59.49%. LESS than 60%. And we can even round down to 59%! I’ll take it.

2008 McCain/Palin 59% Obama/Biden 38%

2004 Bush 61 – Kerry 35
2000 Bush 59 – Gore 28

Obama won the hearts of more Alaska voters than any Democrat in recent memory. And McCain-Palin, despite their surface appeal, with the Alaska Governor on the ticket, frankly, didn’t do all that well comparatively. I’m looking forward to 2012. I think we’re headed in the right direction.

Advertisement

Race Tightening in Alaska!?!

Go ahead and rub your eyes, and look at that graph again. You saw it right. Less than 3 points separating the candidates in Alaska, as of yesterday. These are the latest numbers released by Alaska’s Hays Research Group. With Obama-Biden nipping at the heels of McCain-Palin, can we be considered a battleground state again?

In Alaska, it’s not unreasonable to expect an “enthusiasm factor” to come into play. Imagine you are an Alaska Republican. (Don’t worry, this won’t last long). Imagine that Senior Senator and Republican icon Ted Stevens just got hit with seven felony convictions and his numbers have slid off a cliff. Then imagine that your lone Congressman Don Young, another Republican icon, has spent $1.2 million of his campaign money on legal fees, and his indictment is coming as sure as the seasons change and the sun rises. His rival, Democrat Ethan Berkowitz, has a comfortable lead. Then imagine that your presidential ticket, McCain-Palin is sending out spokespeople saying that they’re still sort of in the race if they win (insert long list of states, and statistical improbabilities here) AND mange to pull it off in (another long list of states and statistical improbabilities). Then add the fact that you’ll have to go stand in line with a bunch of happy, optimistic Democrats, and you may decide to just sit this one out. Too depressing. And you may have the makings for a single digit race in Alaska.

I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, if Obama loses in Alaska by single digits, it is a LANDSLIDE victory. Remember that. And if he actually wins? You’ll hear the cheering from the Lower 48 (AND Hawaii)!

Signs of the Times in Anchorage. Open Season on Idiocy.

I had to run an unexpected errand in South Anchorage today. My travels took me to “the Hillside” to one of Anchorage’s more lucrative zip codes. This is the area with the big houses that overlook the Anchorage skyline and Cook Inlet, where you expect to find many traditional Republican voters, and oil industry executives. I decided I was going to keep a tally of yard signs and see what I ended up with. I was quite surprised. Here’s the breakdown, with Democrats on the left and Republicans on the right.

Obama 4 – McCain  0
Begich 18 – Stevens  0 (Senate race)
Berkowitz  8 – Young  0 (House race)
Kenny 17 – Hawker  15 (Local House race)

The latest numbers now show Mark Begich with a 20 point lead over convicted felon Ted Stevens in the Senate race. Ethan Berkowitz is 9 points up in the House race over Don Young. And from the looks of it, the local Democrat might even stand a chance in this Anchorage red zone. My faith is restored.

The bad news in the sign department is that an Obama-Biden sign that got stolen and replaced down the street from me, is gone again. But my own sign, is still sticking proudly in its snowbank.

And remember a while ago, when I found signs hung up over the highway that said, “Obama 4 Change 2 Islamic Law -N- USA”? Well, the perpetrator obviously has nothing but time on his hands, because they’ve started popping up all over town. In actuality this tortured soul with the spray paint, the stencils, and the disregard for the English language has provided a new sport for my spouse.

Today's haul.

Spouse has started a collection, and everytime a sign is seen, the brakes screech, the exacto knife comes out of the glove compartment, and the sign ends up in my trunk. I think that Spouse secretly likes this activity. In any case, we  added three new signs to the collection today, which brings the total up to 8.

This time there was a new development….the name of a website was written on one of the signs. Since it was written in small letters, it’s doubtful that our sign maker intended it to be seen by the passing traffic. It was meant…..for US, the sign taker-downers.

Something looked fishy about the website address…. http://www.obessionthemovie.com. Obession? I tried it. No movie. It was as I suspected. I tried obSessionthemovie.com. Paydirt! Obsession – Radical Islam’s War Against the West. The trailer has collapsing towers, crowds chanting “Death to America”, and Rush Limbaugh, Sean Hannity and the rest of the Fox crowd saying that “every single American should see this movie.”

So keep an eye out Anchorage and Eagle River area residents! It’s open season on illegally displayed, badly written, factually incorrect political signs with spelling mistakes! And you don’t even need a hunting license!

Pitbull’s Nose Whacked With Rolled-up Newspaper.

Joe Biden, in comments at an outdoor rally in Missouri, has whacked Palin the pit bull in the nose with the proverbial rolled-up newspaper.

Joe Biden Thursday night told Sarah Palin not to lecture him on patriotism, after weeks of attacks mocking him for his statement the wealthy should be patriotic and pay higher taxes because not enough has been asked of them.

“Sarah Palin had great fun saying Joe Biden thinks paying taxes is patriotic. Well, let me tell you what Joe Biden thinks,” the Delaware senator said at an outdoor rally. “Joe Biden thinks that anybody who takes millions of dollars offshore to avoid paying their fair share is unpatriotic.” “That is not patriotic and it will stop, it will stop in an Obama-Biden administration! Enough! I’ve had it up to here! Don’t lecture me on patriotism,” shouted Biden, getting drowned out by the applause of his supporters.

As much as Barack Obama’s calm, cool, collected presence has served him well in this election, every once in a while it feels good to have a nice Biden counter-punch.  He makes us feel like Democrats have spines.

Biden also tackled head on the fact that while McCain and Palin have both been openly questioning Obama’s patriotism, and implying he is a terrorist sympathizer while he isn’t present,  this serious accusation is mysteriously absent when Obama is there to defend himself.  During Palin’s speech at the Republican National Convention she said, “We tend to prefer candidates who don’t talk about us one way in Scranton and another way in San Francisco”.   Biden has now made it patently clear that his ticket prefers candidates who don’t talk about them one way in hate rallies, and another way in Presidential debates.

“In my neighborhood you want to say something about me, look me in the eye and tell me,” said Biden. “Say it to me straight up. Say it to me head on. That’s the code, that’s the ethics! Say it to me! “

For Democrats, them’s fightin’ words.  I don’t know if Biden was pointing at his chin when he said it, but I’ll bet his words ran true with Palin’s coveted “Joe Sixpack” voter.  There’s been a perceptible shift in the last couple days that sees McCain and Palin backing off a little, while Biden gets in the ring. 

The Republican ticket may be realizing that there are some Republicans who don’t much like being thrown in there with the “angry mob” that has become the McCain-Palin base. There are Republicans who are ultimately willing to vote against their own party to protest the smear tactics, and what some would call outright hate-mongering by McCain and Palin.  Every strategy seems to dig them further into the hole.