Alaska and the done deal
This morning I was thinking about why Ted Stevens (apparently) won, and whether or not all rabid idiot Alaska Republicans who voted for him should be tried for aiding and abetting a felon, when it struck me that it might have been the inevitability of Obama's win that hurt Begich's chances.
Well, not directly, of course, but consider this. All networks knew that since Obama took Ohio, it was a done deal for him, and were just waiting for 11pm ET to announce that he won. On the other hand Alaska's elections are not over until 12 midnight ET, so I bet that enough Alaskans (mostly democrats, I guess) who intended to vote for Obama and Begich in the last hour decided not to vote, because it was a done deal anyway. I bet those are the roughly 4000 votes that Begich is missing.
What do you think? Can you blame the networks? Should Democrats have anticipated this problem? Did they?
Update: Oh, wait, it appears things are looking up. Begich is now ahead by 814 votes. My opinion of Alaska has greatly improved.
Well, not directly, of course, but consider this. All networks knew that since Obama took Ohio, it was a done deal for him, and were just waiting for 11pm ET to announce that he won. On the other hand Alaska's elections are not over until 12 midnight ET, so I bet that enough Alaskans (mostly democrats, I guess) who intended to vote for Obama and Begich in the last hour decided not to vote, because it was a done deal anyway. I bet those are the roughly 4000 votes that Begich is missing.
What do you think? Can you blame the networks? Should Democrats have anticipated this problem? Did they?
Update: Oh, wait, it appears things are looking up. Begich is now ahead by 814 votes. My opinion of Alaska has greatly improved.
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I don't think you can really blame the networks, you have to blame the voters.
DemConWatchBlog has a really interesting take on this:
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While at the phone bank, we had a volunteer from Alaska. He was here in Pennsylvania because his mom lives here, and she was one of our volunteers. He and I had a conversation one night wherein he was explaining to me why, before he came down to work, he absentee voted for Obama, Young, and Stevens. Further, why he didn't care about the potential conviction. (When I spoke to him, the verdict had not yet been announced.)
He explained that Alaska is not like the rest of the country. The state does not get the same amount of shared funds that other states do, and that things are really expensive, due to the distance involved.
He further pointed out that the only way Alaska gets funding for the infrastructure projects they need is via earmarks, and Ted always brought them dollars. Then, the state would reallocate to the areas of greatest need. The monies would go for things like hospitals, roads, bridges, schools, and other legitimate uses. While there was some graft, without the earmarks, the state could not be self-supporting, as the tax base couldn't expand much more. Therefore, Ted is generally beloved.
A lot of the people he knows believe that electing Begich would not put him anywhere near the power position Stevens holds. Similar feelings and information about Young's position.
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November 5, 2008 4:53 PM | Reply | Permalink