Alaska's most infamous half-term half-wit governor loses primary election......

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  • FORD
    ROTH ARMY MODERATOR

    • Jan 2004
    • 59239

    Alaska's most infamous half-term half-wit governor loses primary election......

    cnn.com
    Sarah Palin loses special election for Alaska House seat
    Eric Bradner, CNN



    (CNN)Democrat Mary Peltola won the special election to fill Alaska's House seat for the remainder of 2022, according to unofficial results released by the Alaska Division of Elections, thwarting former Gov. Sarah Palin's bid at a political comeback -- at least for a few months.

    Peltola emerged as the victor Wednesday when Alaska's Division of Elections tabulated ranked-choice ballots in the state's first use of the system.

    With her victory, the former state lawmaker will flip the seat held for nearly half a century by the late GOP Rep. Don Young, and is set to become the first Alaska Native in Congress.

    Mary Peltola could make history as the first Alaska Native in Congress

    The race for Young's seat had been viewed nationally through the lens of the attempted political comeback of Palin, who in 2008 became the Republican vice presidential nominee and, after losing, in 2009 resigned midway through her lone term in the governor's office.

    Palin had been endorsed by former President Donald Trump. He called into tele-rallies for her campaign and appeared at an event in Alaska in July to back Palin and other Republican candidates he has endorsed in this year's races.

    Palin has not run for office since leaving the governor's office. But she'll get another chance at the House race -- Palin and Peltola are also among those vying to fill the full term in a separate election in November.

    Palin criticized ranked-choice voting in a statement after the results were released on Wednesday, calling it a "new crazy, convoluted, confusing" system.

    "Though we're disappointed in this outcome, Alaskans know I'm the last one who'll ever retreat. Instead, I'm going to reload. With optimism that Alaskans learn from this voting system mistake and correct it in the next election, let's work even harder to send an America First conservative to Washington in November," she said.

    The special election process began when a field of 48 candidates -- including Santa Claus, a North Pole councilman and Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders supporter -- was whittled down to a final four in a June primary in which candidates of all parties ran together on one ballot.

    Palin; Peltola; Nick Begich III, a Republican businessman from the state's most famous Democratic political family; and independent Al Gross were the four that advanced. But shortly after the primary, Gross dropped out of the race, a move that consolidated Democratic support behind Peltola.

    Peltola, meanwhile, sought to seize on the Supreme Court's decision ending federal abortion rights protections, campaigning as a pro-abortion rights, pro-labor union candidate with a deep connection to issues like fishing that are closely tied to Alaska's identity and economy.

    Peltola's stint in the state legislature overlapped with Palin's governorship, and the two displayed a warm relationship on the campaign trail. Peltola also has connections to Young's family: Her father taught school with Young before he was elected to Congress. And Peltola once spent Thanksgiving with Young's family in the Washington, DC, area.

    Alaska's Division of Elections ran its ranked-choice calculation at 8 p.m. ET on Wednesday, more than two weeks after Election Day. Elections in Alaska are conducted largely by mail, and because some votes come from remote regions disconnected from road systems, the state allows 10 extra days for ballots to arrive and be counted.

    The state's voters in 2020 approved a measure to adopt a ranked-choice voting system: In open primaries that include candidates of all parties, voters cast one ballot for their top choice, and the top four vote-getters advance. Then, in the general election, voters rank those four candidates, first through fourth.

    A wrench was thrown into the process when Gross dropped out of the race shortly after making it into the top four. Gross' exit simplified the ranked-choice system: Instead of potentially having to eliminate two candidates and tabulate those candidates' supporters' second- and third-place choices, Alaska had to only eliminate one: Begich, who got 28% of the vote in the August 16 election to Peltola's 40% and Palin's 31%.
    How Alaska's ranked-choice voting system works

    The switch to ranked-choice voting appeared to go smoothly, despite the potential for confusion among voters who were casting primary ballots on August 16 for a single candidate for November's general election on the same day they were ranking the four candidates in order in the House special election.

    "Alaskans are a pretty savvy bunch. We've elected independent governors, US senators with a write-in campaign. We're used to elections looking a little bit different than most places," said Jason Grenn, a former independent member of the state legislature who is now the executive director of Alaskans for Better Elections, a group that pushed for the ranked-choice voting system.

    He was referring to former Gov. Bill Walker, an independent who is running again this year against Republican Gov. Mike Dunleavy, as well as Sen. Lisa Murkowski, a Republican who in 2010 lost the Republican primary to Tea Party candidate Joe Miller but then won November's general election as a write-in candidate.

    "Opening up the primaries, letting voters choose who they want to regardless of party affiliation, combined with ranked-choice voting -- it was really two different approaches that allow voters to have more power and have a louder voice," Grenn said. "They like to vote for the person, not the party."

    Murkowski, who's running for reelection this fall, congratulated Peltola on Wednesday, noting the history she is making. "While it will be impossible for Alaska to replace Congressman Young, Mary has a long track record of public service to our great state," she said in a statement on Twitter.

    All three candidates will get another shot at the House seat in November. Peltola, Palin and Begich were the top three finishers in the primary for the regular election for the next full term. Republican Tara Sweeney, an Alaska Native who is backed by the state's powerful Native corporations, finished fourth. But Sweeney only drew a small share of the primary vote at 4% compared to Peltola's 37%, Palin's 30% and Begich's 26% in that primary.

    Sweeney has said she plans to drop out of the race because she doesn't "see a path to victory, nor to raise the resources needed to be successful this November." Questions remain about the official timing of her exit from the race and whether Alaska elections officials will replace her on the ballot.

    This story has been updated with additional developments.
    Eat Us And Smile

    Cenk For America 2024!!

    Justice Democrats


    "If the American people had ever known the truth about what we (the BCE) have done to this nation, we would be chased down in the streets and lynched." - Poppy Bush, 1992
  • Nitro Express
    DIAMOND STATUS
    • Aug 2004
    • 32905

    #2
    She wasn’t a very good governor. Most the people I know in Alaska didn’t care for her. She’s more of a self-promoter than a serious public servant. I heard her administrative skills were not the greatest.
    No! You can't have the keys to the wine cellar!

    Comment

    • Terry
      DIAMOND STATUS
      • Jan 2004
      • 12070

      #3
      Palin still could prevail in the November general election, although getting beat by 5 points in this special election clearly isn't a positive harbinger seeing as - I think I'm correct here - candidates from all parties were on the ballot.

      Palin was quoted as saying "Really?!" after the loss was confirmed, and predictably is complaining about the ranked election as being too confusing.

      Seemed kind of odd that Palin then went on to claim she knew Alaskans recognized she wasn't the type of person who would retreat in the face of a loss. Um, didn't you resign the Alaskan governorship less than a year after the McCain/Palin ticket lost in 2008? Quitting in the face of impending ethics investigations rather than standing firm and fighting?

      From there (if memory serves) she went on to reality tv, being a paid commentator for Fox, churning out an autobiography, launching a paid subscription website...various short-term gigs that amounted to a bunch of cash grabs. Then she flirted with running for the presidency in 2012, but that ended up being another tease that came off as her trying to keep her brand relevant. By 2015, even her most ardent conservative media pundit advocates who lauded and defended her candidacy in 2008 were publicly distancing themselves from her in the wake of her rambling babble on display at a 2015 speech in Iowa.

      From there, let's see...she endorsed Trump and got a photo op with her, Trump and Ted Nugent in the Oval Office, so she did finally get into the White House. What else? Subsequent to that WH photo op didn't she appear in a bear costume on the Masked Singer to the tune of Baby Got Back? Yep. Sued the New York Times. Lost. Her husband divorced her. She was reduced to making side-hustle Cameo videos.

      I dunno. This whole run for the Alaska House seat came off to me as Palin frantically grasping at straws. In spite of being endorsed by Trump, she couldn't crack the 50% bar.

      I read a lot of articles about Palin in 2008. Even in the wake of the McCain/Palin loss that year, Palin had an opportunity going forward with that name recognition to forge a political base and expand upon it. Instead, she quit elected politics and went the celebrity branding route. I'm assuming for a majority of Alaskans that Palin's brand has become beyond tired and is now irrelevant. I suppose we'll see in November.

      Unless Palin quits the race, which shouldn't be surprising to anybody if that comes to pass.
      Scramby eggs and bacon.

      Comment

      • Seshmeister
        ROTH ARMY WEBMASTER

        • Oct 2003
        • 35530

        #4
        She was just about the first of the politician fuckwitapocolypse. There had been Dan Quayle who was maybe a bit iffy intelligence wise and Reagan's dementia in the second term but Palin was the start of really dumb people getting really high profile gigs.

        In the laziest writing of all time SNL just repeated literally word for word her speeches and got big laughs.

        Comment

        • Nitro Express
          DIAMOND STATUS
          • Aug 2004
          • 32905

          #5
          Originally posted by Terry
          Palin still could prevail in the November general election, although getting beat by 5 points in this special election clearly isn't a positive harbinger seeing as - I think I'm correct here - candidates from all parties were on the ballot.

          Palin was quoted as saying "Really?!" after the loss was confirmed, and predictably is complaining about the ranked election as being too confusing.

          Seemed kind of odd that Palin then went on to claim she knew Alaskans recognized she wasn't the type of person who would retreat in the face of a loss. Um, didn't you resign the Alaskan governorship less than a year after the McCain/Palin ticket lost in 2008? Quitting in the face of impending ethics investigations rather than standing firm and fighting?

          From there (if memory serves) she went on to reality tv, being a paid commentator for Fox, churning out an autobiography, launching a paid subscription website...various short-term gigs that amounted to a bunch of cash grabs. Then she flirted with running for the presidency in 2012, but that ended up being another tease that came off as her trying to keep her brand relevant. By 2015, even her most ardent conservative media pundit advocates who lauded and defended her candidacy in 2008 were publicly distancing themselves from her in the wake of her rambling babble on display at a 2015 speech in Iowa.

          From there, let's see...she endorsed Trump and got a photo op with her, Trump and Ted Nugent in the Oval Office, so she did finally get into the White House. What else? Subsequent to that WH photo op didn't she appear in a bear costume on the Masked Singer to the tune of Baby Got Back? Yep. Sued the New York Times. Lost. Her husband divorced her. She was reduced to making side-hustle Cameo videos.

          I dunno. This whole run for the Alaska House seat came off to me as Palin frantically grasping at straws. In spite of being endorsed by Trump, she couldn't crack the 50% bar.

          I read a lot of articles about Palin in 2008. Even in the wake of the McCain/Palin loss that year, Palin had an opportunity going forward with that name recognition to forge a political base and expand upon it. Instead, she quit elected politics and went the celebrity branding route. I'm assuming for a majority of Alaskans that Palin's brand has become beyond tired and is now irrelevant. I suppose we'll see in November.

          Unless Palin quits the race, which shouldn't be surprising to anybody if that comes to pass.
          You did a very good job of describing why Sarah Palin isn’t popular in Alaska. All of above is why she doesn’t generate much excitement.
          No! You can't have the keys to the wine cellar!

          Comment

          • Nitro Express
            DIAMOND STATUS
            • Aug 2004
            • 32905

            #6
            There’s a lot of money to be made being a political pundit. Rush Limbaugh who was a talented radio guy made way more money going political than he ever would have made being a regular radio guy. Glenn Beck was not as talented as Rush in radio but the guy is loaded because he got political. Alex Jones came from public access TV and grew a huge operation because he’s political. Ted Nugent would be long forgotten but he’s very political and that gets him a ton of attention which he turns into $$$$$. Sarah Palin wanted to get into this game and make $$$$$. The problem is Sarah is boring. She doesn’t have the dynamic personality required to make it in political showbiz.
            No! You can't have the keys to the wine cellar!

            Comment

            • Nitro Express
              DIAMOND STATUS
              • Aug 2004
              • 32905

              #7
              One key to being a successful political celebrity is you have to be very adept at triggering your political opposition. You really have to set them off and then you have to mock them in creative and funny ways. In short you have to be a good comedian and showman and then the icing on the cake is telling your audience what they want to hear. You can’t be boring. Sarah just didn’t have the personality or talent for it.
              No! You can't have the keys to the wine cellar!

              Comment

              • Nitro Express
                DIAMOND STATUS
                • Aug 2004
                • 32905

                #8
                Sarah’s biggest break was John McCain needed a warm body with a vagina to have as a running mate. That put her in the limelight and she tried to milk it for all it was worth and she did for a bit but she’s not interesting enough to keep it going. She faded. Trump was interested in her because he figured she had enough celebrity clout to be a winner but he miscalculated that. Sarah was past the sell date.
                No! You can't have the keys to the wine cellar!

                Comment

                • Seshmeister
                  ROTH ARMY WEBMASTER

                  • Oct 2003
                  • 35530

                  #9
                  Originally posted by Nitro Express
                  There’s a lot of money to be made being a political pundit.
                  The leaked phone messages in the Alex Jones case show he was averaging $200k a day but on a really good day he made up to $800k.

                  I think Hannity is on $30 million a year or so?

                  For money like that they will say anything...

                  Comment

                  • Terry
                    DIAMOND STATUS
                    • Jan 2004
                    • 12070

                    #10
                    Originally posted by Nitro Express
                    You did a very good job of describing why Sarah Palin isn’t popular in Alaska. All of above is why she doesn’t generate much excitement.
                    I'd think it would ultimately boil down to her quitting in 2009: if she wasn't willing to stand and fight for her own political interests, why would an average voter ever think she'd stand and fight for theirs?
                    Scramby eggs and bacon.

                    Comment

                    • FORD
                      ROTH ARMY MODERATOR

                      • Jan 2004
                      • 59239

                      #11
                      Eat Us And Smile

                      Cenk For America 2024!!

                      Justice Democrats


                      "If the American people had ever known the truth about what we (the BCE) have done to this nation, we would be chased down in the streets and lynched." - Poppy Bush, 1992

                      Comment

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