Bears and Ballots: Alaskan Politics

40 Years Distilled Into a Few Minutes

2008-11-20T23:34:00.000-08:00

That's it, Mr. President, 40 years distilled into a few minutes. I close by saying and asking that God bless Alaska and our governor, God bless the United States of America and our president, and God bless the Senate and every member of this body.

I yield the floor for the last time.

Mark Begich Elected to Senate

2008-11-14T12:31:00.000-08:00

Bears and Ballots can now officially project that Mayor Mark Begich will win re-election over Republican incumbent Ted Stevens. With 100% of the precincts reporting and most of the early and absentee ballots counted, Mark Begich has 132,196 votes to Ted Stevens' 131,382. While there are a few thousand early and absentee votes still to be counted, it is unlikely that Ted Stevens will be able to win a large enough margin of these votes to make up the current deficit.

This victory represents a reaffirmation of what every pre-election poll had found. All polls conducted within four days of the election had Begich up by anywhere from 8 to 22 points. Some (such as myself) cautioned that they were probably inflating Begich's lead, and that this was a closer race than it appeared. These predictions were vindicated; my own prediction looks to be very close to the actual margin of victory.

Additionally, any other projections or posts I may have may in the immediate past that may directly contradict this one are hereby null and void, and we shall never mention them again.

Ted Stevens Re-elected to 7th Term

2008-11-05T11:44:00.000-08:00

Bears and Ballots can now officially project that Senator Ted Stevens will win re-election over democratic challenger Mark Begich. With 99% of the precincts reporting, Ted Stevens has 106,351 votes to Mark Begich's 102,998. While there are tens of thousands of early votes and absentee votes still to be counted, it is unlikely that Mark Begich will be able to win a large enough margin of these votes to make up the current deficit.

This victory represents a stunning departure from what every pre-election poll had found. All polls conducted within four days of the election had Begich up by anywhere from 8 to 22 points. While some (such as myself) cautioned that they were probably inflating Begich's lead, and that this was a closer race than it appeared, no of us could have expected what happened last night.

Various factors that played into this shocker, foremost among them the social undesirability of admitting to a pollster that one is voting for a felon, lest one engender sanctimonious, incredulous questions. The truth is that outside of that theory, which has never accounted for a discrepancy this great in the polls (the original social desirability distortion--the Bradley effect--was probably around fewer than 6 points; Stevens over-performed his polling average by nearly 14 points) we really have no concrete ideas of why what happened happened. Begich ran a fairly lazy campaign, and Stevens fought hard for every inch.

In any case, we now turn our gaze to a Senatorial showdown. Will the Senate muster the two-thirds majority needed to expel one of their own members? How many Senators can Stevens and Daniel Inouye (D-HI) sway? How many more Senators owe Stevens favors, or, like Ted Kennedy, are genuine friends with him?

If he is expelled, there will be a runoff election between Mark Begich and, if I had to guess, either Sarah Palin or Lt. Governor Sean Parnell (who performed well in pre-election polls against Ethan Berkowitz in the House race, but lost his primary to Don Young by a few tenths of a percent). We'll have to see how the Republicans determine their nominee--maybe we'll be treated to a primary between the Governor and her Lieutenant?

SHOCK: Stevens Leads by 5,000 With 37% Reporting

2008-11-04T23:05:00.000-08:00

Results are frustratingly slow in coming from Alaska tonight, but as of right now, with over a third of the precincts reporting, Ted Stevens in leading Mark Begich 54,101 votes to 49,741 votes. I've made contact with multiple sources on the ground in Alaska, and they told me before the polls even closed that they had a gut feeling that Stevens' chances were very real tonight. Begich has to hope that the more liberal, urban precincts in Anchorage, Fairbanks, and the Southeast are taking longer to count and report their totals than the more rural, conservative areas like the Kenai Peninsula. Right now there's also a significant gender gap, with female voters breaking 61-35 for Begich, and male voters giving Stevens the 51-44 nod.

I'll keep you posted.

UPDATE 1:

Stevens has maintained his lead with 45% of the precincts reporting, though Begich has narrow it slightly, down to about 4,400 votes. This tightening is insignificant, however, as we approach the halfway mark of the state's reporting. Begich has to start making up ground quickly or we're going to see one of the biggest discrepancies between pre-election polls and the actual results in the history of American elections. It's not often a candidate ahead by 22 points just days before an election ends up losing.

UPDATE 2:

Two-thirds of the precincts are in. Stevens still leads by about 3,000 votes, with 48% of the vote to Begich's 47%. While we watch these results come in, it's important to bear in mind that if Stevens does win, it's a near-certainty he will be expelled from the Senate by a two-thirds vote of his colleagues.

UPDATE 3:

As the latest numbers come in, we can definitively say that Ted Stevens is now the electoral favorite in this race. With 72% of the precincts reporting, he has expanded his lead to about 4,600 votes, a 49% to 46% lead over an undoubtedly stunned Begich.

UPDATE 4:

It's now a little past midnight in the land of the midnight sun, and the sun is setting on Begich's chances. While there are still 14,000 early votes to be counted, it appears that Ted Stevens may have inexplicably procured victory from God knows where. With 81% reporting, he leads by a count of 95,352 to 91,368. It will take a fairly unlikely combination of drastically late-reporting blue areas and a huge advantage in early votes for Begich to pull this out.

UPDATE 5:

It is now one in the morning in Alaska. 96% of the precincts are reporting.

Senator Ted Stevens: 104,564
Mayor Mark Begich: 100,968

One for the Road

2008-11-03T20:48:00.000-08:00

In fewer than 12 hours, hundreds of thousands of voters all across the state of Alaska will cast their votes for their choice of Senator, Congressman, and President of the United States. More people will cast votes in tomorrow's election than in any other in the history of the United States. It's time for the final predictions.

We've had three post-conviction polls come out in the past four days alone. A quick breakdown:

Rasmussen has Begich leading 52% to 44%, with Bob Bird garnering 3%.

Hays Research Group has Begich up 49% to 42% (with leaners).

Research 2000 has Begich up a stunning 22 points, 58% to 36%.

So, three fairly reliable, recent polls have Begich maintaining an average lead of 12.3%. This lead is probably closer to the high double digits, as the R2000 number is almost certainly an outlier. It's also important to remember that a significant fraction of the electorate cast their votes before Stevens' conviction, and are therefore unlikely to demonstrate such a steep lean towards either candidate. However, it appears that, barring a dead girl/live boy scenario in the next few hours, Mark Begich will follow his late father Nick to Washington and become the first Democratic Alaskan Senator since Mike Gravel.

Final prediction:
Begich 51%
Stevens 45%
Bird/other 4%

Either way, it's been incredibly fun. I'll have some post-election wrap-up posts in the aftermath, of course, but, after all these months, it's likely that the next time we meet we'll know who Alaska's next Senator will be.

What the Lower 48 is Missing

2008-11-03T12:26:00.001-08:00

"It's just, I don't get it... how can you guys vote for a felon?"

No question is more common than that. Everyone I talk to from out of state comes at me with a mix of incredulity and a good bit of condescension when asking how "we" can possibly be so blind. I mean, have you Alaskans not read the news--he's a felon! I know it for sure! I saw it on CNN!

Alaskans do, in fact, watch the news. The difference is that they don't just see 18-second sound bytes on mainstream media outlets declaring Stevens to be guilty before moving on to a story about a cat in a tree or a teenage mother. They receive the news in context, as a continuous series of stories by local outlets following Stevens from the beginning of the trial to the end. They talk to their neighbors about it. It doesn't happen on a stage, far away and removed, where things are black and white; it happens right here, in their backyards and in their towns where they drive by buildings, roads, and bridges that wouldn't be here without Ted Stevens. When you take the end result of the equation out of context and look at it from the false premise of Alaska as what Edward Said called the Other, the inferior, the exotic, as many people do, then it's easy to see the decisions made by many Alaskans as ridiculous or crazy. It's even hard not to.

But, really, people are people anywhere. We all make the same decisions based on the same mechanisms of collecting and evaluating evidence. However, I'll humor the question for a moment, no matter how loaded its premise, presuppositions, and inherent classism. Let's take a small peek into Alaska, and try to give you some semblance of an answer.

A few days ago, a fellow Alaskan blogger over at Mudflats (the best Alaskan political blog outside of this one) attended the greet-Ted-at-the-airport rally held the night Stevens arrived at his airport from Washington, D.C. It wasn't even 48 hours after his conviction on seven felony counts.

In the airplane hangar where the welcoming party was taking place, over 600 people had gathered, including Senator Lisa Murkowski and a few other GOP dignitaries. The people were raucous:

Our emcee was Rick Rydell, a long-time conservative radio talk show icon. “I don’t know about you, but I don’t like outsiders telling me what to think!”[...] Then he went on to say that there were people that call his radio show all the time and say, “How can you not think Ted is guilty?” and then he says, “Why do you think he IS guilty? And then they tell him, ‘I read it on the internet and the Anchorage Daily News.” Laughter and scorn from the audience. And finally he reminded the crowd that “the prosecutors don’t know Ted…I know Ted, and I choose to believe him.”

That last line is the truly crucial one. It beautifully encapsulates the paradigm that a lot of Alaskans are working from right now, based on these basic assumptions, where 'you' is the Lower 48, from the prosecutors to the media:
1. You don't know us.
2. Ted Stevens is one of us.
3. You don't know Ted Stevens.
4. For that matter, you don't know me either, and you're not telling me how to vote.

Read on:

I snapped a picture of the crowd, and a lady grabbed my arm. “You should take a picture of those t-shirts!” she beamed. “Did you see them?? They’re great! They say ‘Fuck the Feds! Vote for Ted!’”

Indeed.

Stevens Denies (Clarifies?) Conviction at Debate

2008-10-31T11:26:00.000-07:00

Ted Stevens and Mark Begich finally got their chance to debate one another in person last night. Because of the timeliness of this post, there are few post-debate analyses available at this point. However, the debate seems to have been relatively straightforward, with the mainstream media most interested in Stevens' handling of questions about his conviction, which came early on.

Stevens handled them well, hammering the prosecution's frequent legal missteps. In responding to the intraparty calls for him to step down, he bluntly echoed my sentiments: "They are trying to get elected."

Uninteresting debate aside, there's a interesting piece over at Politico about the logistics of the next few weeks. Basically, Alaska's large share of absentee ballots are likely to swing the election weeks after the polls have closed. Some numbers to flesh that out:

Alaska has 490,000 registered voters, and traditional turnout in a presidential year is 60 percent, or about 300,000 total votes. According to Alaska’s director of elections, Gail Fenumiai, there have been 44,000 absentee ballots mailed out for this election.

Fenumiai says the state board of elections won’t begin counting mail-in absentee ballots until the day after the election – and that the process could take 10 to 15 days after that.

First, let me correct a quick factual inaccuracy. Alaskan voter turnout is significantly higher than the 60 percent conventional wisdom number thrown out by the author. Alaska's voter turnout in the last election was over 70 percent, the fifth-highest in the nation. That's in an election cycle that was considerably less politically interesting than the rollicking, multi-race, competitive cycle we've had this year; I wouldn't be surprised if real turnout, which runs a few points higher than reported turnout, hits 80 percent.

In any case, the article's point still stands; it's likely Alaskans be waiting much longer than they're used to on election night.

GOP Forms Circular Firing Squad Around Stevens

2008-10-28T19:45:00.000-07:00

In a spectacular display of personal abandonment for political reasons, Senator McCain and, even more gracelessly, Governor Palin have thrown Ted Stevens under the bus with such gusto it made some observers wonder how long they'd been waiting to do so. They were joined by a collection of other opportunistic GOP officials who couldn't wait to blast a far more distinguished member of their own party for incremental political gain. It makes one wonder how far in advance they had typed up their statements in anticipation of the day Stevens was convicted.

We can, as an informed electorate, have a genuine discussion over whether or not what Stevens did constitutes a deliberate and malicious misuse of power, or whether the Department of Justice took a big gamble in raiding Stevens' home, didn't find the smoking gun they were hoping for, and settled for some petty charges about not filling out menial Senate forms perfectly. The truth is probably somewhere in between.

However, by using one of their own party as political ballast, Senator Stevens' own colleagues have had this conversation for us. The Alaskan people were, I believe, ready to think hard about what's happened so far this historic election cycle, take this verdict into account, and make an informed decision. However, this delicate cognitive process was bowled over by a comically-amalgamated ball of clowns tripping over each other to denounce and demonize Stevens. Note that the loudest of the Pecksniffian weather vanes are, from Coleman to McCain, losing their respective races, or, in the case of Palin, watching their favorability ratings plummet towards Earth faster than Alaska's oil revenues. Someone should let the Governor know that Ted Stevens will not be her springboard back to legitimacy, and, while we're at it, neither will continually blasting a campaign she did more to ruin than anyone else. I can smell the desperate, manufactured sanctimony from Los Angeles, and it makes me sick.

Would Stevens have lost anyway? Probably. But that decision was Alaska's to make; it was never supposed to lie in the hands of an assemblage of overheated fools standing on each others' shoulders, grasping in vain for power and respect they will never have, but Ted Stevens has for forty years.

BREAKING: Stevens Guilty of all Corruption Charges

2008-10-27T13:21:00.000-07:00

AP: Ted Stevens found guilty in corruption case

This broke about 8 minutes ago, it's currently developing.

As of now it seems that Stevens has indeed been found guilty of all charges by a jury of his peers.

More to come...

EDIT 1:

Transcript released:

COUNT ONE: False Statements, Scheme

ACCUSATION: Stevens engaged in a scheme to conceal from his Senate financial disclosure documents home renovations and other gifts he received from Allen and VECO from 2000-2006. Stevens contends he never asked for any freebies and believed he paid for everything he received.

VERDICT: Guilty

COUNT TWO: False Statements

ACCUSATION: Stevens knowingly made false, fictitious or fraudulent statements on his 2001 Senate financial disclosure form regarding gifts from Allen and others. That year, VECO employees dramatic renovated Stevens' mountain cabin, building a new first floor and installing a new electrical system. Allen also filled Stevens' house with furniture, left a tool box in his garage and installed a grill on the porch. Stevens also received from another friend an expensive massage chair, which Stevens said was a loan, and a custom work of stained glass, which Stevens said his wife arranged and he knew nothing about.

VERDICT: Guilty

COUNT THREE: False Statements

ACCUSATION: Stevens knowingly made false, fictitious or fraudulent statements on his 2002 Senate financial disclosure form regarding gifts from Allen and others. That year, VECO employees installed a new roof, wraparound deck and rope lighting system on Stevens' home. An expensive fish statue, donated to his foundation by an Alaska nonprofit group, was also charged as a gift because it ended up on Stevens' front porch.

VERDICT: Guilty

COUNT FOUR: False Statements

ACCUSATION: Stevens knowingly made false, fictitious or fraudulent statements on his 2003 Senate financial disclosure form regarding gifts from Allen and others. That year, Stevens received an Alaskan sled dog puppy from a friend who paid $1,000 for it at a charity auction. Stevens reported the gift's value as $250 and wrote that it was from a charity in honor of his public service.

VERDICT: Guilty

COUNT FIVE: False Statements

ACCUSATION: Stevens knowingly made false, fictitious or fraudulent statements on his 2004 Senate financial disclosure form regarding gifts from Allen and others. That year, VECO employees installed or repaired kitchen appliances and performed maintenance on a rooftop snow-melt system at Stevens' house.

VERDICT: Guilty

COUNT SIX: False Statements

ACCUSATION: Stevens knowingly made false, fictitious or fraudulent statements on his 2005 Senate financial disclosure form regarding gifts from Allen and others. That year, VECO employees performed roof and gutter repairs and electrical wiring.

VERDICT: Guilty

COUNT SEVEN: False Statements

ACCUSATION: Stevens knowingly made false, fictitious or fraudulent statements on his 2006 Senate financial disclosure form regarding gifts from Allen and others. That year, a VECO employee and an outside contractor performed work on the boiler at Stevens' house. VECO's costs were never paid and Allen paid the outside contractor's labor. Stevens says he asked to be billed and didn't consider it a gift.

VERDICT: Guilty

EDIT 2:

It's now above the fold on every major news source and blog:

Alaska Senator Is Convicted of Ethics Breach in Gift Scheme

Senator Convicted on Corruption Charges, Vows to Fight Verdict

Sen. Stevens guilty on all counts, career in peril

Ted Stevens Found Guilty on All Counts

Only Drudge has bumped it to second-story status in deference to the Obama-as-a-socialist narrative he's trying to prime.

Agitation Amongst the Jury

2008-10-26T21:13:00.000-07:00

A trial that's been extremely turbulent so far looks like it's going to experience an appropriately dramatic endgame.

As the jury in Senator Stevens' blockbuster corruption trial entered deliberations late last week, it seemed as though the trial was finally approaching its terminus on relatively smooth ground after being rocked by a never-ending series of legal potholes, including more than one near mistrial.

That calm lasted about two hours.

First, Justice Sullivan (who has undoubtedly earned a vacation after this trial is over) received a note from jurors complaining that a member of the jury was prone to "violent outbursts" and was creating a toxic situation for the other eleven jurors. Sullivan gave the jurors a "pep talk," reminding them of the importance of their duty, and the possible difficulties therein. The jurors then returned to work.

However, progress was halted again after Juror #4 unexpectedly, well, left, citing a family emergency. It took some time, but it was eventually discovered that her father had died, and she had returned to California.

At this point, the promised pre-election finish of this trial is in serious doubt. The jury is set to proceed with a backup juror if necessary, but they will be cutting it very close indeed, especially in a case as contentious and complicated as this one has been.

All in all, every fresh juror trouble is good news for Stevens: it's becoming less and less likely every day that a jury as fractured as this one has become will be able to attain the unanimity needed for a conviction. This could backfire, however, if the delays mount up further and the trial isn't resolved by November 4th, and voters go to the polls with Stevens' innocence or guilt up in the air--and on their minds.

(NB: For some insight as to what Alaskans are thinking at this point, this off-the-cuff editorial in the Miner serves as a decent approximation as any.)

Mutually Assured Destruction

2008-10-23T12:21:00.000-07:00

This race has heated up over the past few months, leading to a redoubled advertising effort, much of it from out-of-state groups (many of the ads are, as a result, pretty clumsy). The effects of this unprecedented Outside attention are generally unclear, but it appears that Begich may not being helped as much as he's being hindered by the Lower-48 Left's helping hand.

As the DSCC and others pour negative, anti-Stevens advertising into the state and the Senator's own trial hurtles towards its conclusion, Uncle Ted's approval ratings are holding rock steady. Ivan Moore finds that Begich is still in the lead by a single point, 46% to 45%. However, more significantly, Ted Stevens seems to be winning the negative ad-war of attrition:

Stevens' rating has been very stable over the last six weeks, despite both his ongoing trial in Washington DC and being a target of a barrage of negative media funded by the DSCC. If anything, it is Begich's numbers which are deteriorating, with his positive reaching a low of 55% and his negative up over 30% for the first time.

It's relatively well-supported axiom among political scientists that negative ads drive up the negatives of both the candidate they are attacking and the candidate they're perceived as supporting; we have a ready example of this in the current presidential contest, in which an increasingly negative campaign has hurt both Sens. McCain and Obama's favorability ratings. However, it seems that in this race that Stevens may posses a special resistance to negative attacks (40 years of incredibly high-profile service have to be good for something, right?) that Begich may lack. Begich is a fresher face, yes, but he's also more malleable as a result: he has more potential to move upwards or downwards as a result of something like negative advertising. His public image is more sensitive, a factor which unquestionably played a role in John Kerry's 2004 demise.

As such, we have a scenario in which outside groups firebomb the Alaskan political landscape, and, though they are aiming at Stevens, end up burning a more flammable Begich in the end with the firestorm they've created.

New Kos Poll Has Begich Up

2008-10-20T16:34:00.000-07:00

A new poll out from Research 2000 for DKos has returned the precipitous lead in this race to Mark Begich. Though well within the margin of error, this 48% to 46% result for Begich gives us an indication that Stevens' brief stint as the leader is more a of a statistical aberration than a candid indicator of the race's direction.

At this point, it's likely that Begich has a tenuous lead. As early and absentee voting kicks off in Alaska, every day that Stevens fails to shrink this lead is another point he needs to make up on election day if he wants to win. It's not hard to envision a scenario in which Stevens is dramatically acquitted just days before November 4th, and subsequently wins amongst people who vote after the ruling, but is unable to overcome the deficit building up right now and narrowly loses the election.

Stevens may have to hope for an even earlier verdict than originally expected.

Absentee Ballots Arrive (My Vote is In)

2008-10-18T17:26:00.000-07:00

Alaskans across the globe recieved their absentee ballots in the mail this week. Mine is sitting immediately to my right as I type this, its thankfully spartan style beckoning my democratic urges.

In a Twist, Begich Outraises Stevens

2008-10-16T12:20:00.000-07:00

It's the 16th, which means we've just passed the mandatory mid-month campaign finance reporting deadline. As such, we now have hard numbers on how much the Stevens and Begich campaigns have managed to raise, as well as how much money they have in the bank at this point. In a surprising reversal of a 40-year trend, Mayor Begich has managed to raise nearly triple the amount of money Senator Stevens has. Begich raised roughly $1.3 million in the last fundraising period (Aug. 7 to Sept. 30) to Stevens' half-million. However, despite losing this battle, Stevens is still using his immense war chest to narrowly hold on to the overall financial lead; his campaign has $1.2 million cash-on-hand to Begich's sub-$800,000. However, if these fundraising trends continue or become even more expressed, as they are likely to, Stevens will not be able to count on an overall monetary advantage much longer.

This is the first time in nearly four decades that Stevens has been out-fundraised. Stevens has seen many of his decades-old electoral firewalls breached in this election, from his spotless legal record to his previously unshakable popularity in the Alaskan political establishment. The loss of his financial advantage is one more leak in a boat that seems to be taking on more water each day.

Also, as a brief follow-up to my previous coverage of Mrs. Stevens' importance, she took the stand today. Check it out.

The Importance of Mrs. Stevens

2008-10-14T13:51:00.000-07:00

Just as the best mechanics never take their eyes off a single part of an engine, talented lawyers never overlook any piece of a judicial puzzle. The media are not nearly as astute, which is why we're just now hearing about the importance of Catherine Stevens (not to be confused with that Cat Stevens).

Part of the defense's strategy from the beginning of this trial has been quietly but firmly reinforcing the idea that Stevens was preoccupied with being a US Senator in Washington while his wife focused on the now-controversial home renovations performed by VECO. If the defense can convince the jury that Stevens genuinely believed, from the limited information available to him, that everything was financially and morally in order, they've put themselves in a very strong position. Mrs. Stevens' upcoming testimony is crucial to the successful advancement of this argument; this week is the time to flesh out what they've been building up and make it stick in the minds of the jurors.

As a bonus, those of you interested in the way in which a patriarchal legal system interpellates its subjects, there promises to be lots of juicy conceptions of gender being advanced by both sides this week. A taste:

"They have a saying in their house that when it comes to things in and around the teepee, the wife controls," defense attorney Brendan Sullivan told jurors early in the trial.

Mmmmm, domesticity as a legal device.

Will Stevens Testify?

2008-10-12T14:48:00.000-07:00

Many of the questions swirling around the Stevens trial have been resolved in the past few weeks. However, other than the obvious question of Stevens' guilt or innocence, one persists:

As Ted Stevens's [sic] criminal trial heads into its final days, defense attorneys have been mum on whether the pugnacious 84-year-old senator will testify.

There's an undeniable set of both lucrative pros and dangerous cons inherent in the prospect of putting Stevens on the stand. Some think that because Stevens is notoriously cantankerous, putting him on the stand would contradict the glowing, noble image his defense has carefully crafted using star character witnesses like Colin Powell and Daniel Inouye. One snappish outburst could do more damage than the prosecution ever could.

I'm not entirely sure I buy the danger advanced by this argument. Stevens can be aggressive and even, yes, cranky, but most of the evidence that has formed this narrative has come from contentious arguments with reporters and fellow Senators. The courtroom is a different environment, even under the scrutiny of cross-examination. Stevens knows this. The man is a 50-year career politician; he can charm. Bill Clinton he is not, but he can give impassioned speeches, he can grip your hand and look you in the eye, and he can tell his story to a jury.

I would put him on the stand. It's not an entirely safe move, but it's a risk worth taking. The alternative makes him look like an aloof, out-of-touch, at-least-marginally-guilty Washington politician. He's not.

Let Ted Stevens tell the Ted Stevens story.

The Worst Ad of the Cycle

2008-10-10T11:53:00.000-07:00

The Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, which has been acting as a proxy for Mark Begich this campaign by launching negative attack ads, has released a new ad focusing on Stevens' trial and the wiretaps recently played in court. Their latest narrative is summed up by the ubiquitous message which closes up most of their recent ads:

Ted Stevens: it's not about Alaska anymore.

The ads have been mildly effective, but are clearly hampered by narratives and production values that are visibly more Hollywood/Beltway than Fairbanks/Kenai. When I saw their latest ad, I physically recoiled at how oblivious the ad seemed to be; the sheer lack of self-awareness required for one to make a 24-esque dramatization of the FBI supposedly watching Steven from an unmarked van is embarrassing in its blundering kitsch:

And I voted for him.

Stevens Pulls Ahead as Trial Moves into New Phase

2008-10-08T12:09:00.000-07:00

The prosecution rests in Senator Stevens' trial today, setting the stage for the next phase, in which Stevens' defense team will make their case as to why the Senator is innocent. However, this juicy second act will only get underway if Justice Sullivan allows it to:

Last week, the judge publicly berated prosecutors after they acknowledged not turning over some information to Stevens' lawyers, saying it was withheld accidentally. On Tuesday, the judge cautioned lawyers not to look far beyond the hearing on the dismissal motion.

"There may not be a defense case," Sullivan said before leaving the courtroom for the day.

Yikes. Incredibly strong language from a justice who's clearly tired of the recurrent mishaps which have plagued an overconfident prosecution's case. If the trial does make to the defense's case, expect Stevens' lawyers to call retired Gen. Colin Powell, Sen. Daniel Inouye (D-HI), and other prominent Washingtonians to the stand to testify about Stevens' honor and admirable conduct in his 40 years of Senate service. We'll see if these qualitiative appeals can effectively counter the more empirical D.o.J. case.

While we keep our eyes fixed in the legal landscape, the electoral terrain may be shifting beneath our feet. Rasmussen, a reliable pollster (albeit with a mild GOP lean), has Stevens leading Begich for the first time since he was indicted several months ago. While this lead is well within the poll's moderately wide margin of error and can thus be taken as an indication of a tie, not a lead change, this is still a serious reversal of the last available poll numbers, in which Begich seemed to be getting some statistically significant separation. It also indicates that Alaska should really be sampled more, as pollsters and pundits are clearly and consistently missing significant shifts in public opinion and the electoral landscape.

In any case, Stevens seems to be getting some fresh air in both the legal and electoral spheres of his life. Begich--now more than ever--needs to win this race himself; he can no longer rely on the media and legal system to do it for him.

Begich and Stevens Camps Debate over Debate

2008-10-05T19:36:00.000-07:00

Behind every argument is someone's ignorance.
--Everyone's Favorite Supreme Court Justice

People (with too much time on their hands) have been wondering for quite some time if and when a debate between Senator Stevens and Mayor Begich was going to occur. Also, if such a debate were to take place, how would Stevens' legally proscribed presence in Washington, D.C., affect the logistics? Some have theorized that some sort of "series of tubes" could be utilized to connect the two disparate candidates by way of a video debate.

In any event, the Begich camp have released a rather contentious press release claiming that Stevens has repeatedly avoided taking steps to set up a debate between the two candidates. Stevens' people fired back that that is simply untrue, and that Stevens would be delighted to debate Begich, just as soon as the election is over.

I'm only kidding, but the whole affair has been rather turbid, and characterized by both sides' misunderstanding the other side's position. In this case, everyone's ignorance was behind the argument.

The fact is, Begich probably has more to gain from a debate that Stevens. This isn't inconsistent with the conventional wisdom, which generally holds that the challenger will try to force the incumbent to debate as many times as possible. It's exacerbated here by the state of the candidates' respective physical conditions and idiosyncrasies.

When you speak to Stevens, or hear him speak, you get the sense that you're speaking to a very smart man who has to labor through unfortunate stutters and memory lapses to display his own intelligence. He's actually similar to Barack Obama in that he is a very intelligent man who can get wrapped up in the specific language of his own overly-ambitious explanations, which can be taken out of context to notorious effect. Begich has a more direct speaking style, which has the potential to cut through Stevens' aged arguments, regardless of whose arguments are objectively "better."

In the end, I think that Alaskans want to see a debate; I know I do. I'm optimistic that something will be worked out in the end that leaves all parties satisfied.

Stevens' Trial Will Proceed, Redux

2008-10-03T21:03:00.000-07:00

For not the first time, I am tasked with informing you, loyal readers, that Senator Stevens' Washington corruption trial will continue despite yet another close brush with the prospect of a mistrial.

To be fair, this incident stems less from the efforts of his legal team and more from the blunders of the Department of Justice lawyers. Justice Sullivan was absolutely livid at the D.o.J. lawyers' conduct of late disclosure, in which they seemed to have injected some evidence well after it was appropriate, responsible or fair to do so. Many feared a mistrial, but it appears that Sullivan is content to, for now, leave the prosecution with only a scathing verbal rebuke.

The prosecution seems to be skating on much thinner ice than they'd hoped at this point; it's doubtful their case will survive another serious misstep.

Stevens Hangs Tough as "One of Us"

2008-09-29T17:22:00.000-07:00

There are both anecdotal and statistical signals that, as his trial stutters forward, Sen. Stevens may be seeing tangible gains from the One of Us narrative, in which Alaskans react negatively to the perception of a beloved Alaskan being hounded by a corps of Lower-48 media and lawyers.

Empirically, two new polls by Fairleigh Dickinson and Ivan Moore show Stevens trailing by only 4 and 2 points, respectively. Why are we seeing a reversal of the modest trend back to Begich, who held a 6-point lead in the last poll? Stevens seems to be, against the odds, separating himself from a flailing Palin and re-developing his own identity in the race.

The anecdotal evidence sheds some light on this.

In this strange election season, some here are giving odds that "Uncle Ted" will win reelection even if he loses a pedal-to-the-metal gambit to clear his name before voters go to the polls Nov. 4.

"Even if he gets convicted . . . I don't think the people who have voted for him all these years are going to be swayed," said Gary Wilson, a 61-year-old podiatrist who lives a few blocks from the modest A-frame "chalet" that is at the center of the charges against Stevens.

Stevens is "running against a young do-gooder who's never done anything in his life," said George Dailey, who owns the candle shop on the edge of town. Voters, Dailey said, should not forget "everything Ted Stevens has done for the state of Alaska over the last 40 years."

(Side note to fellow Alaskans: how bizarre is it to see Girdwood carefully described in the LA Times?)

Alaskans aren't seeing Stevens as an extension of the GOP machine they've grown considerably less enamored of over the past few months; they're seeing him as Uncle Ted, a man who has fought for their state in Washington nearly as long as it has existed. There's also evidence that Begich has failed to define himself adequately, despite the relative vacuum he's had to work with. This means that there's a significant danger of this race becoming an up-or-down vote on Stevens. Begich must work to avoid this, and present voters with a lucid choice between Stevens and Begich, not a referendum on the Alaskan of the Century; anti-candidates don't beat 40-year incumbents.

Is Party before State Acceptable in Alaska?

2008-09-27T20:24:00.001-07:00

More on the continually-evolving story of the erosion of Sarah Palin's support in Alaska, mentioned here last Thursday.

If things keep trending the way they have been, she's not going to be such a boon for the GOP in Alaska after all. It would be a shame if they has to kiss the down-ticket effects for the presidential race, the Begich-Stevens contest, and Young-Berkowitz's race for Congress goodbye.

How unlikely that prospect seemed less than a month ago.

I'll Try to Find an Endorsement of Stevens and Get Back to You

2008-09-25T22:41:00.000-07:00

Some commentators have recently made hay over the admittedly-juicy story that Sarah Palin avoided endorsing Sen. Stevens when she was accosted by reporters in New York recently.

When a reporter asked Palin, Alaska's governor, if she supports the re-election of Stevens, she replied: "Ted Stevens' trial started a couple of days ago. We'll see where that goes."

I know this is counter-intuitive, but I think this isn't a particularly big deal. Palin has been tiptoeing on eggshells lately, particularly in the wake of repeated exposures of gaps in her knowlege by the mainstream media. Her decision to not give a ringing endorsement of an indicted senator to a reporter on the street isn't an unwise one, as many will paint it. It's simply a pragmatic decision by a candidate who can't afford any more missteps.

One thing that's certain is that this is not going to fight her plummeting approval ratings in Alaska; it furthers the growing perception she's putting her campaign for Vice President above Alaska. (Which she is, of course: she'd be insane not to.) This narrative really started gaining traction when Alaskans who asked other Alaskans questions about their own Alaskan governor were given the phone number of McCain's Virginia headquarters.

This incident certainly won't fight the idea that Palin is siding with Outsiders (i.e. McCain et al.) over Alaskans (i.e. Stevens--whatever his other flaws, he is universally recognized as One of Us in Alaska) in order to win the Vice Presidency.

Stevens' Trial Gets Underway

2008-09-24T17:30:00.000-07:00

The first federal trial of a sitting US Senator in over 20 years has started this week. If you follow this blog, you probably already know the score: Stevens must win this trial to have a serious shot at keeping his seat in November. If he loses, or the trial is in an ambiguous position come November 4th, the only way he could conceivably survive is if he is somehow able to brilliantly advance the witch-hunt frame I discussed Monday. However, the odds are heavily stacked against that (albeit potent) narrative singlehandedly saving him from the likely electoral ruin a conviction would bring.

The only somewhat-new story here is the impressive prominence of the witness list, which includes everyone from Sen. Ted Kennedy to retired Gen. Colin Powell. No word on who will actually show up and who will pull a Todd Palin/Karl Rove maneuver.

Stevens Wants Alaskans to "Have Faith"

2008-09-22T13:06:00.001-07:00

Senator Stevens has, in recent days, advanced a relatively interesting counter-narrative aimed at combating--or at least coloring--coverage of his corruption trial.

The Senator is asking Alaskans to have faith.

"Uncle Ted" is asking Alaska to believe in him.

"Alaskans work on the basis of faith. I have faith in them and they have faith in me," said Stevens, the Senate's longest-serving Republican. "If they have faith in me, this is just another bump in the road."

Though pundits and media who observe from the Lower 48 may not fully appreciate this tactic, it's an extremely smart move by Stevens--perhaps the best of his available options. Alaskans have a tendency to hang together, particularly when a threat or intrusion is perceived as originating from Outside. This effect is magnified when the threat seems to come from "elitists and lawyers" in Washington. By identifying himself as One of Us, Stevens may be able to successfully portray his corruption trial as an anti-Alaskan witch hunt designed to take away our things.

If he can do this, and get Alaskans to believe in him one more time, he may just have given himself a real shot at survival.

New Poll Gives Begich Some Air

2008-09-20T17:27:00.000-07:00

A new poll by Maryland-based Research 2000 for the unwaveringly liberal DKos has Begich up 50% to 44%. Despite the DKos connection, we can, generally speaking, trust the accuracy of this poll; it's not politically laced in the same was polls conducted by Hill committees are considered to be. In any case, this is good news for Begich, as it shows that Palin's coattails are thinning in Alaska as her national favorability ratings come back down to Earth from admittedly stratospheric heights. The Begich camp still has to watch the danger that Alaska will be somewhat insulated from Palin's setbacks on the national stage, allowing Stevens to ride her coattails far more effectively than he would be able to otherwise. However, this poll indicates that may not be a significant factor at this point.

Additionally, FiveThirtyEight have updated their Senate projections, which now reflect the tightening of the race that has occurred since the end of August. Before the update, their simulations had Begich winning 88% of the time. Now, they select Begich 75% of the time and Stevens 25% of the time. The Alaskan senate race is also now considered to be the 4th-most competitive in the nation, just behind Minnesota, Oregon, and North Carolina.

Speaking of Rangel

2008-09-19T17:13:00.000-07:00

Rangel is in the Alaskan news again, so soon after being the subject of yesterday's post.

Just thought you should know.

Begich Returns Tainted Contribution from Rangel

2008-09-18T18:59:00.000-07:00

The Begich camp has decided to contribute a $10,000 donation from Democratic New York Representative Charles Rangel to charity. This decision comes on the heels of Rangel's deepening scandal over his alleged tax impropriety--there are questions about how accurately he has paid his federal taxes in recent years. Rangel has a long, rich history of scandal, both financial and otherwise, and it's a smart move by Begich to distance himself from the controversial NY Democrat.

It's extremely important for the Begich campaign to successfully divorce themselves from any hint of impropriety in this campaign. While it's always important to avoid distractions such as this, it's absolutely crucial in this campaign because ethics and corruption have become such looming issues in the electorate's mind; it's likely that Stevens would be cruising to a double-digit victory were it not for the alleged corruption uncovered in his office over the past year. If Begich becomes affiliated at any point with any sort of improper behavior, however nebulously, he loses the ability to wield the corruption-busting sledgehammer that has served him so well. That hammer is the thing that has enabled him to break into this race; losing it now would rob him of a vital weapon in the final stretch of this campaign.

Stevens' Sandwich: The Approval is the Meat

2008-09-16T16:52:00.000-07:00

This is somewhat breaking, so I'll be snappy and nimble.

Federal Election Commission (FEC) rules dictate that the ubiquitous "I'm Candidate X and I approve this message" approval clause must come at the beginning or end of televised, campaign-sanctioned ads. A recent ad by Stevens is in clear violation of this rule, as it features Stevens' endorsement in the middle of the ad.

This story is early, so I've no solid indication yet as to whether or not this is just static/minutiae or if it will develop into a significant distractor later in the news cycle. This could easily be used to advance the insofar potent Stevens-as-irreparably-corrupt frame. It's well-known that at this stage, even a pebble (NB: intentions of the author vis-a-vis this pun intentionally left ambiguous) in the wrong place can trip up a runner in a race as close as this.

A direct link to the Democrats' press release is here. Kudos to fellow Alaskan political blogger at I Eat Gravel for hosting.

New Poll(s) Confirm a Close Race

2008-09-15T13:31:00.000-07:00

Two news polls, one reliable and one not, are out. Disparate levels of trustworthiness aside, both indicate the same thing: any daylight that was once between Begich and Stevens has winked out for the time being. Whether this is because Stevens has legitimately pulled level with Begich or if the daylight is simply being obfuscated by clouds from the political storm Palin has generated is yet to be seen.

In any case, the reason this post refers to two new polls as "Poll(s)" is because one was released by Rasmussen and will be taken as seriously as that merits, and one was released by the NSRC, and as such is intrinsically politically laced. Ambiguous plural(s) aside, the NRSC poll has Stevens leading for the first time in a poll of any kind, 46% to 44%. The poll was conducted in the immediate aftermath of Palin's Aug. 29th selection. Rasmussen shows an equally-close race, but a different result, with Begich holding on 48% to 46%.

Additionally, Begich folks can find some residual good news in the favorability ratings of Rasmussen's poll. Begich has a 61% favorability rating to Stevens' 52%. These numbers, largely influenced by the indictment, indicate that some folks may be voting for Sevens even though they have a negative opinion of him. This phenomenon is not uncommon as Alaskans trade what they perceive as fitness to govern in a candidate for pure power and influence in a candidate. 40-year incumbents have the latter in spades, but are not guaranteed to have the former.

Personal note: Vegas was interesting this weekend; Nevada is certainly an entertaining, fractious battleground. In one apartment complex, I met woman who had passed her citizenship test just days beforehand and was unbelievably proud to register to vote; living across the street from her was a man who shouted to me that Obama was a nigger; downstairs from him, a reserved Hispanic father voting for McCain because he felt safer with a military man in office. I have no idea how that state is going to fall, and anyone who tells you they do is lying.

Stevens' Corruption Trial Will Proceed

2008-09-11T21:37:00.000-07:00

Since the day the federal indictment of Senator Ted Stevens was handed down, his talented, resourceful legal team have been launching counterattacks designed to score a quick dismissal for their client. Yesterday, a significant portion of those counterattacks were rebuffed.

D.C. District Court Justice Emmet Sullivan shot down several of Stevens' legal motions to dismiss the case, including questions about the charges' statute(s) of limitations. He also made strong statements regarding the direction of the case, saying that he intended to give the defendant the pre-election verdict he has publicly requested, and that it is unlikely Stevens' team's other peremptory attempts to dismiss the case will see any more success than the ones put to rest today.

Speaking as a constitutional law student, my opinion is that Stevens' claim that portions of the prosecution's violate the speech or debate clause of the Constitution (designed to protect legislators from arrest or intimidation by the executive branch) stands on speciously-constructed legs. There's no clear indication that the evidence in question is directly pursuant to Stevens' legislative duties. Since the clause's aim is to protect legislators acting in their official capacity, it is doubtful it will apply to the predominantly extra-congressional dealings addressed in the indictment.

There are also polls to be discussed--among other things--but I'll be in Las Vegas for the weekend and may not be able to get to them before I leave.

Until then.

Palin's Bounce?

2008-09-09T23:35:00.000-07:00

Really quick:

Palin's selection has already created a a situation unique to this election in which one party's vice presidential nominee is being directly evaluated vis-a-vis the other party's presidential nominee.

Now, it appears that Palin has done--er, is being credited by the mainstream media as having done--something else which falls far outside what we consider to be a VP nominee's traditional sphere of responsibility and influence. Yes, the Republicans' entire post convention bounce is being characterized by many outlets as the Palin Bounce (here, here, ad nasueam). To my knowledge, such an overwhelming amount of the credit for a boost in the polls attributed mostly to the VP candidate alone, combined with the inordinate amount of coverage and legitimacy lent to Palin by the media thus far, are facets unique to this election. It's not uncommon to see an enthusiasm gap between parties, but we aren't used to seeing it between ticket-mates.

The Palin Effect

2008-09-08T11:57:00.000-07:00

As I alluded in my previous post, it's nigh-impossible to discuss Alaskan politics without talking about the state's newborn political megastar, Sarah Palin. Since Palin's selection for Vice President by the McCain campaign, her already immense popularity has swelled both broader and deeper. Broader in that it no longer stretches from Barrow to Juneau, but from Barrow to Florid a; deeper in that it seems to have solidified her already formidable support in Alaska in terms of her approval ratings and even the polity's perception of the Republican Party in general. This has, in turn, had an enormous effect on the Begich-Stevens race.

The storyline for the race to date stands as follows:

In sum, an early modest lead for Begich--owed to growing perception amongst Alaskans of Stevens as corrupt and general dissatisfaction with the Republican Party and an unpopular Republican president--exploded into a 20+ point lead for Begich after Stevens' indictment on seven felony counts of failure to properly disclose gifts from VECO, an oil-services company. The race has qualitatively and quantitatively seemed to be solidly in Begich's hands since the indictment. However, Palin's selection seems to be a genuine game-changer (sorry, Newsweek).

Alaska-based pollster Ivan Moore has quantified this coattail effect (which begs the question of whether or not pantsuits have actual coattails). He finds that Begich went from holding a commanding 55.5% to 38.5% lead in a poll conducted August 9-12th to nearly falling within the margin of error by the start of September (remember that Palin was selected Aug. 29). The numbers now stand at Begich 48.9%, Stevens 45.6%. Ivan Moore is regarded as a competent, reliable Alaskan pollster; these numbers aren't statistical noise, but they may be simply a transient bubble. Until we have further evidence, it would be prudent to take these numbers seriously. This means that we can confidently say the race has tightened an incredible amount--we'll have to see how Palin's coattails hold up.

Hello, World

2008-09-04T20:23:00.000-07:00

This post will serve as a requisite brief introduction.

I am a political science student attending a private college in California. I was born in Alaska, and subsequently lived there for 18 years. I have been involved in Alaskan politics for years, and have met everyone from Tony Knowles to Ted Stevens in the process. This blog will primarily focus on the campaign currently being waged for Ted Stevens' seat in the US Senate. Senator Stevens has held the seat since his initial election in 1968, but faces his most serious electoral challenger in 40 years in democratic Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich, who was born and raised in the state.

Bears and Ballots will not be narrowly limited to this race, however; I will address the wider context in which the race occurs, and will use the race as an avenue to explore Alaska's fascinating, unique, and criminally misunderstood political climate. I have worked on both the Begich and Stevens campaigns in the last few months, and have met both candidates. I would recommend supplementing the perusal of this blog with the indefatigable blog of Andrew Halcro, one of the better contemporary statesmen Alaska has seen.

And, yes, speaking as an Alaskan political scientist living in California who has suddenly found himself quite a recherché commodity, I am sick of talking about Sarah Palin.