AK Gubernatorial Race, CPAC, and "Putting Alaskans First"

"Sarah from Alaska"

As noted in an earlier post, the AK Attorney General Talis Colberg resigned today.

Palin is making it clear that she did not request the resignation and feels that Colberg was doing a fine job:

"It is a harsh political environment right now. You saw what he went through these last couple of weeks with speculation that a couple of the lawmakers wanted to continue to grill him, a couple of the lawmakers not believing, it seems, what he had to say," Palin said. "I just hope this political environment doesn't deter others who want to make a positive difference."

And guess who did most of the grilling? The Jerk from Fairbanks, of course!

The grilling mostly came from Fairbanks Republican Rep. Jay Ramras, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee.

It seems as if Colberg felt targeted and just wanted out. The Senate "contempt" resolution over the Troopergate subpoenas was the final straw.

French sponsored the [contempt] resolution and also suggested on the Senate floor Friday that issues remained with the attorney general.

"I don't want to get sidetracked by the attorney general's performance in this episode, but it's worth pointing out that this resolution does not resolve questions -- significant and serious questions -- about his actions during this time," French said in the Friday speech.

He said after the speech, though, he wasn't sure what more could be done with Colberg and emphasized today that he hadn't planned further action.

Gee, nice of you to "emphasize" that today, Hollis. After you grilled the man and implied that you were going to do worse to him, you now want to "emphasize" that you weren't planning any further action.

Senate President Gary Stevens, a Kodiak Republican, said the Senate passed the contempt resolution to make it clear the matter was closed, not to come down on the governor. He said he was meeting with Palin today to make that clear.

Stevens said today that he was surprised at Colberg's resignation.

"When you think of Talis, ethics pops to mind. I've been really pleased to work with him and sorry to see him go," Stevens said.

Palin said she supports how Colberg handled the issue of the subpoenas and did not have concerns with how he was doing his job.

So basically a good man was worn down by his job. Why the partisan rancor right now? Well, the Guv offers a clue:

As some legislators, like French, say they're possibly interested in the 2010 governor's race, Gov. Palin used those political aspirations to paint a picture of the criticism Colberg had to deal with.

"People are starting to line up for their gubernatorial run, and campaigns kick off in less than a year now, and people are trying to position themselves," she said. "It's the nature of the beast of politics. It's not always pretty, it does become kind of harsh and brutal at times."

Other legislators cast aside Palin's claim with a jab of their own.

"We were not the creators of any harsh political environment," Sen. Johnny Ellis, D-Anchorage, said. "That happened because of other people's personal choices and political ambitions at the national level."

Political posturing for the 2010 gubernatorial race? You betcha.

The question still remains, will Palin run? I won't hide the fact that I really want her to run for a second term. Others may disagree with me, including the Guv herself. I think she can win a second term handily. I think Hollis French knows this too. I don't think he's dumb enough to run against her. If she decides to run, I think Hollis will let Keith Olbermann's twin be the fall guy.

What does this have to do with CPAC? Well, some of you have suggested that Palin is steering clear of "partisan" national politics because her base back home doesn't like to see her play the role of right-wing Joan of Arc. They prefer their Sarah the way she was prior to August 29, 2008.

In my earlier post on CPAC, I quoted Palin's comments about Alaskans being "a little bit more parochial" in their attitude about their governor traveling out of state. "We want to make sure that our Alaska officials are serving the people who literally have elected them," she said.

Such a notion strikes this Californian as completely foreign. The Governator could depart for months on end, and we would hardly miss him. (Hell, we might be better off if he left!) But Alaska, as always, is different.

Take a look at this mini documentary KTUU made about the "big news story" of 2008:



The overall impression I got from this mini documentary is the sad unspoken sentiment that "Mommy left us." And I don't mean that in a smart-alecky way. I rather like this "we're all a big family" quality about Alaskans. There are more than ten times as many people living in my county than there are in the entire state of Alaska.

Alaskans know their Sarah. Most of them have met her personally or know someone who has. Sarah Palin is their Mother Hen, the Queen of the Last Frontier, their very own Joan of Arc.

And now it seems to them that she's outgrown them. She's hanging with the swells in the Lower 48.

I think this subconscious sense of abandonment might account for some of the bitterness felt by some Alaskans. They should not feel this way though. On the very day that she might have become the nation's vp, she told them, "Forever I'm going to be Sarah from Alaska."

And, as I noted earlier, she promised to always put Alaska first. And she always has.

She's taken a lot of flak for accepting Fred Malek's invitation to attend the Alfalfa dinner. Mr. Malek now has a post up on his blog about his impressions of Gov. Palin. He lists them in bullet point fashion and saves the best two for last:

Here is what impressed me most over the weekend:

* The warmth John McCain showed toward Sarah Palin when she arrived at my home Friday night. It was the first time they had been together since the election, and their good feelings toward each other were evident.

* The gracious and engaged Sarah Palin was with everyone. It was great to see her in deep conversations with people like Alan Greenspan, Madeleine Albright, Walter Isaacson, and Mitch McConnell. For sure, nothing shallow about this lady.

* The celebrity treatment Sarah received from the highly sophisticated crowd at Alfalfa. There were as many or more people lined up to meet her as there was for President Obama.

* Sarah’s singular focus on her job as Governor of Alaska. She left Anchorage on a 2:30 a.m. flight Friday so as not to miss a day on the job, and she singled out people to meet who could be impactful to Alaska, including President Obama.

* Sarah’s grace and charisma reminded me of why she had been selected as John McCain’s running mate. [emphasis added]

Her "singular" focus is on Alaska. That's why she's not attending CPAC. She keeps her promises.

And if she decides to run for re-election, she'll mop the floor with these jokers.