Just two days ago, Alaska’s House primary looked like it might be promptly resolved, as election officials said they had less ballots left to be counted than the margin between Don Young and Sean Parnell. So much for that. The Division of Elections now saying that they have “about” 300 ballots - more than Young’s 239 lead - and while it is unlikely Parnell would crush his adversary by a large enough margin in these outstanding votes to take the lead, it does add some uncertainty to the race.
To make matters worse, election officials are saying these ballots will not be counted until… September 17th, one day before the certificaiton deadline. I am not sure why that is, nor what might justify this further delay of a final count (it’s been 16 days since Election Day). Parnell has said he will wait for the final count to decide whether to ask for a recount - all of this while Ethan Berkowitz waits for his opponent. If Parnell ends up somehow becoming the nominee, this wait could hurt his ability to start the general election favored; if Young survives, he will have far less time to recover from his current dismal standing.
Meanwhile, there has been some recent House drama in upstate New York. When Tom Reynolds resigned from NY-26 a few months ago, Democrats sensed this was a big opportunity for them to continue their take-over of New York politics. But the DCCC and the Democratic establishment were worried that their candidate Jon Powers might be defeated by Jack Davis, the eccentric multi-millionaire who was responsible for the Millionaire Amendment being struck down by the Supreme Court last June. The DCCC endorsed Powers before the primary, adding him to its Red to Blue program and helping him fight back against the millions of dollars Davis poured in the campaign and aired nasty attack ads against Powers.
The political world held its breath on Tuesday night as Powers and Davis fought it out in the primary, but a curious thing happened. As Davis and Powers spent months blasting each other, they mutually destroyed their chances and allowed a third candidate, Alice Kryzan to prevail. Kryzan, an environmental attorney, was massively under-funded, but she came in first with 42% of the vote, 6% ahead of Powers. She is now the Democratic nominee in a seat that was one of the Democrats’ top priorities and she will face Republican businessman Christopher Lee.
This led many to question whether Democrats would stay committed to this seat, or whether NY-26 should be striked out of the list of contested seats. After all, the situation was reminiscent of NH-01 in 2006, when the DCCC gave up on the seat after Shea-Porter defeated the only candidate that was believed to have a chance in the general election. Shea-Porter ended up winning a stunning (and narrow) victory in November. But this time the DCCC has quickly moved to embrace Kryzan, immediately adding her to the Red to Blue program and issuing a memo touting Democratic strength in the district and attacking Christopher Lee.
That implies that the DCCC will not cancel its ad reservation and will go on air to help Kryzan. That could prove very important. Kryzan’s main challenge in the upcoming weeks will be fundraising, and it now looks like she will get a hand from Emily’s List, which looks set to endorse her. Another opportunity for Democrats is that Kryzan enters the general without the negatives other candidates would have had, as Powers and Davis went so negative against each other in the primary.
That said, we will have to see how Kryzan performs, whether the DCCC actually airs and ads on her behalf. And there is an even more important factor here: Jon Powers will still be on the ballot because he had already secured the endorsement of the Working Families Party. Powers cannot withdraw his name from the ballot, even though the WFP quickly came out saying they would now support Kryzan. It looks unlikely that Powers will continue campaigning and he could very well be active for Kryzan, but even so it is an uncomfortable situation for Democrats to have two of their primary candidates on the November ballot. After all, it has long been a key part of New York politics for top candidates to have their names listed under different parties.
In other down-the-ballot news, my latest Senate rankings should come out tomorrow or Saturday.
Ms. Kryzan’s first name is Alice, not Anne.
I am wondering why Biden is in the spotlight campaigning on his own, while Sarah Palin is kept by McCain’s side sort of like a “window dressing” with no access to her by the media and ordinary voters who should have the right to question a potential vice president and even president. They are trying to avoid any gaffes she would no doubt make and to try to keep her national political immaturity camouflaged in order to help the GOP retain power at all costs. They don’t want voters to know the real Sarah Palin. She has not campaigned on her own and is always by McCain’s side like a political novice programmed to recite lines from McCain’s campaign playbook. McCain’s campaign staffers are even traveling with her to Alaska, and that is the only state she will campaign on her won sicne she is the governor anyway.
Your objectivity is apparent. I agree it is understandable that any governor selected as a vp should take awhile to bone up on international affairs. Likewise, it has taken Joe Biden a long time to be able to parrot issues based on his staff memoes, without constant gaffes, so I would concede some prep time for Palin or any governor. After rereading the E J Dionne piece from 1987 about Joe, about his law school experience, and dissembling about it, I have a hard time taking him seriously. He seems very similar to the empty suit ceos, with a great small and couple talking points from public affairs…….. and I would push Bush in that category as well.
I’d believe Palin could be a great politician, but she is being used by the McCain campaign because McCain knows he cannot win without exciting the Republican base.
But voters have the right to qestion Palin’s experience and grasp of foreign policy. Because if Palin refuses to be openly questioned by voters as her employer and the media as vetter, she does not be vice president or president of our nation. In excerpts s of the interview conducted by Charlie, she showed a lack of national leadership skill, and she may be better suited for local politics.
Likewise, it has taken Joe Biden a long time to be able to parrot issues based on his staff memoes, without constant gaffes, so I would concede some prep time for Palin or any governor. After rereading the E J Dionne piece from 1987 about Joe, about his law school experience, and dissembling about it, I have a hard time taking him seriously.
I suppose one can read an essay from 20 years ago by one person about Biden and say it still holds today, or one can look at what Biden said, without notes, during a series of debates this past year and judge him on that account. I’d say the more recent evidence would be more relevant. By most accounts, Biden did just as well as any of the other candidates.
And comparing him to Palin, to cite one example, it was obvious that Palin in her interview did not know what the “Bush Doctrine” was. I think it’s pretty clear that Biden does.