Democrates rule the house??

[Neil D]

Karl Rove in Alaska?

September 12, 2008

By Les Gara

Politicians are good at spin. The McCain camp has brought a whole new level of it to our small state in what looks like an effort to show it can play the same Karl Rove-like political games that have haunted this country for the last eight years. I like Governor Palin on a personal level. But I don't like what her running mate is doing to our small state. I don't like deception. And I don't like politics as usual.

Alaskans are starting to see evidence of a Rovian-like effort to stonewall what started as a non-controversial, bi-partisan "Troopergate" investigation. A little deception here. A few personal attacks there. And the kind of spin you see at an amusement park tilt-a-whirl station.

That investigation was started by a Republican dominated Alaska legislature to look into Governor Palin's conduct in seeking the termination of a state trooper once married to her sister, Trooper Michael Wooten. The McCain camp wants to stop it by saying it's a "Democratic" investigation. This is an action that the legislative committee of eight Republicans and four Democrats asked for. Aside from facts, and the reputations the McCain folks don't mind destroying, there's not a lot standing in the way of this strategy.

Until August 29, "Troopergate" was a small state investigation that Governor Palin, and every Republican and Democrat in a Republican-dominated Legislature, had agreed was appropriate. But things changed the day Governor Palin joined the McCain ticket. His handlers went ballistic that the governor agreed to an investigation they now needed to stop.

I know Senator McCain is now running on a political platform of "change," which is ironic for reasons too numerous to name here. But if you ask me, the only thing he's changed so far is Governor Palin's position to refuse to cooperate with this once-small investigation.

Left to its own, I suspect that the upshot of the investigation would have been a minor breach by Governor Palin. But now the McCain camp has come to Alaska to add invective in a state where people generally get along. They've chosen to vilify Senator Hollis French, who is one of the state's most respected public officials, Walt Monegan, the state's most respected law enforcement official, and Steve Branchflower, a highly respected former district attorney and victims rights advocate that a legislative committee voted 12 - 0 to hire to conduct the investigation.

It's the ghost of Karl Rove. Say something untrue enough times - like that Al Qaida is training with Saddam Hussein's help - and people will believe it. Hopefully it won’t work in this state. Hopefully the following truths will appear through the smoky haze of political spin:

· No one ever attacked the investigation by the Alaska State Legislature - started long before Governor Palin was placed on McCain's ticket - until August 29. That was the day Governor Palin joined the McCain bid for the White House.

· Before the McCain camp got involved, the governor stated of the legislative investigation: "That being the route they choose, so be it. I'm happy to comply, to cooperate." (KTUU.com, July 24, 2008). She repeatedly stated she'd comply, and that it was the right thing to do.

· The personal attacks against our local public officials only started after Sen. McCain sent his flacks up to our small state on August 29. They came with a mission to make America believe a Republican-initiated investigation, started with a unanimous committee vote of eight Republicans and four Democrats, was a "partisan" plot. That's only a tough sell if people know the facts.

· They now claim the legislature cannot legally proceed with an investigation into government misconduct (I thought Republicans didn't like attorneys who made frivolous arguments), and that they are threatening to to go to court to stop it? The governor's attorneys started writing those letters on - you guessed it - August 29. Before this date they agreed the investigation was proper.

Oh, and what about this: Last week the McCain camp put our governor in a bizarre position. They told her to file an ethics complaint against herself, so that it would take it out of the legislators’ hands and put it into the state personnel board, comprised of three people, who are Republicans and who were appointed by Palin and who couldn’t possibly get the investigation completed by November. What's behind this move? You guessed it: Lawyers.

So what about the claim that this investigation is some sort of partisan plot against a Republican ticket? A legislative committee of eight Republicans and four Democrats asked former Assistant District Attorney Hollis French, a Democrat - to hire a legislative investigator in July. He did. He's not doing the investigation. So the complaint that he's a Democrat who supports Barack Obama is, well, weak. He's a Democrat who supports Barack Obama, who was appointed before Governor Palin was a VP candidate. More importantly, he's a Senator who has the confidence of a majority Republican Senate. It’s true that he said that the results of the investigation are likely to be troubling. But the governor has said it too. The newspapers have said it. We all know it. The public record already contains evidence that the Department of Public Safety was contacted roughly 20 times by Palin’s senior staff, and her husband Todd, about firing Trooper Wooten. The Governor has conceded that based on this evidence, the public could conclude the department could have felt pressure from above to fire Trooper Wooten.

For good measure, the Mccain folks are jabbing at the independent investigator too. And they’ve tried to stop him from issuing subpoenas to the witnesses now directed not to talk. That latter move failed today, when a bi-partisan committee ordered the subpoenas Mr. Branchflower requested. And for even better measure, the McCain folks are attacking Walt Monegan. Who’s next?

I don't begrudge the governor for not liking her brother-in-law. I don't really like him either, from what I've read. I do begrudge those who'd attack Commissioner Monegan, a quintessential public servant who's worked for both Republican and Democratic heads on the state and local level.

These three public servants deserve better. What they've received so far, is a little dose of ugly D.C. politics in a state where we don't see that stuff too often.

I stood on the sidelines when this investigation started. When Governor Palin fired Commissioner Monegan, my advice was to end the flap and just hire him back. He does good work. He's well respected. Unfortunately, my advice sometimes isn't that good, and the governor didn't agree.

Then McCain's staff of outsiders came to town. And they began to launch personal attacks on people I respect. They started proving that the same old politics that have caused dissatisfaction with Washington-insiders these past eight years are going to be the bread and butter of the McCain campaign.

I support an Obama presidency because he shares a vision I believe in. I've publicly supported him since the race started last year. I also think Governor Palin originally did the right thing in agreeing to take some small lumps by proceeding with a legislative investigation Republicans and Democrats, and much of the public asked for.

But unfortunately Alaska is the bull's eye in a national presidential race today. When told by the McCain folks that she needed to change her position, she did, as a loyal running mate. I understand that.

As an Alaskan I'm not really angry at our governor for this mess. I do blame John McCain for the ugliness he's brought to our state this week. His folks have come to my small state to attack my friends, and people I respect, for political gain. That's not OK.

In small states, like small towns, people who act like the McCain folks apologize. Until that happens, I'll keep defending three public servants who deserve better.

Alaska State Rep. Les Gara is an Anchorage Democrat, a former Alaska assistant Attorney General, and has served in the Legislature since 2003.

[Tom Wetmore]

The silence from the usual Republican apologists hereabouts is almost deafening... Hmmm...

[Dr. Shane]

Can we say it together? S W I F T B O A T A T T A C K

The post is too long too and really a yawner. I mean, this is all old attacks. Can't they come up with something new? I mean, yea, I got it. 20% of Alaskans don't like Palin and if a reporter sticks a microphone in front of them they will say a lot of bad things about her.

Next attack, please.