Alaska, Knocking and Rising

 

Mary Peltola

 

 

Amazing Number: 70,000. The total number of registered Democrats in all of Alaska -- which represents just 12% of the 574,000 total registered voters. About 65% of Alaskans are registered Independent, but the state as a whole has been solidly red. 

Which is why Mary Peltola, the first Alaska Native elected to Congress who is now the Democratic candidate for one of Alaska's Senate seats, has discovered a new (well, no, "new to her") secret weapon for winning an otherwise improbable campaign: Door-knocking with a new purpose (and not just knocking up the Democrats but going strong after the Republican-leaning-but-persuadable Independents, the vast majority). Rather than repeating by rote a "Vote for Mary" message, the "Ground Truth technique" is called "deep listening." (This kind of canvassing, based on good data, is old-hat in my neighborhood of Southern political organizing. But I understand why any brand of door-knocking in Alaska, where there's sometimes -- often? -- great distances between residences and pootie weather to boot, has probably never been pursued as a standard political activity by party organizers.)

Peltola has engaged Swing Left to implement the Ground Truth canvassing program, which is a great move, so long as two other things are true:

1. That Peltola has sufficient volunteers to mount that kind of painstaking and time-consuming voter outreach.

2. That those volunteers are thoroughly trained in listening techniques and can operate a phone to record data.

The Senate seat is currently occupied by carpet-bagger Republican Dan Sullivan, an ex-Marine who moved up from Ohio as an adult and who wouldn't dare deviate from MAGA. Pundits heavily favor Sullivan to hold onto his seat. The Cook Political Report has rated the race "Solid Republican," but more recently Sabato's Crystal Ball at the University of Virginia moved it to "Toss-Up." Peltola has to overcome the loser label: she only served one term in the House before losing reelection in 2024. True, she had beaten Sarah Palin in 2022, but that was politically "in the Long Ago." Peltola has been "moderate," which in her case means practical and rarely ideological, with the interests of Alaska uppermost. She's been one of the most independent Democrats, and she might just ride the wave into the Senate, especially if she can get a sizable chunk of the independent electorate engaged by simply listening at their doors.

"...In Spite of Donald Trump's Endorsement..."

 

Democrat Mary Peltola, a native Yu'pik woman, beat Sarah Palin last night in the Alaska special election to serve out Rep. Don Young's term (Young died in March). It was a "ranked choice" election, and all the candidates ran together in a scrum of nine. Peltola beat Palin with 2nd choice votes.

Peltola is 49, a former 10-year veteran of the Alaska legislature, and a preservationist/community activist. Blake Hounshell in the NYTimes: "She ran a relentlessly upbeat campaign that implicitly contrasted her reputation for kindness with the bombast and penchant for drama associated with Ms. Palin, even though the two women have been friends since serving together in the Statehouse as expectant mothers. They even exchanged text messages on the day of the general election for the temporary seat, with Ms. Palin advising Ms. Peltola to dress warmly for her final round of canvassing."

“I think respect is just a fundamental part of getting things done and working through problems,” Ms. Peltola told reporters as the first votes rolled in.

According to NPR, Palin never attacked Peltola, possibly because of their old bond, though Palin went after her chief Republican rival, Nick Begich III with the usual Palin slashes and insults. Meanwhile, Palin was calling Peltola "a sweetheart." Peltola also did not badmouth Palin, telling NPR, "The region where I'm from, there is a big premium on being respectful, on not using inflammatory language or harsh tones."

By Gawd, Mary Peltola tamed Sarah Palin.

And vanquished Trumpism. In Alaska. Which is pretty damn Republican but also pretty damn independent. Palin had been pleased to share the stage in Anchorage with Trump for a rally and endorsement. "Don't retreat. Reload," was her mantra. That's the school-yard pugnaciousness at the heart of Trumpism. Mary Peltola slew that bully.

Plus people are getting sick of it -- that Trumpist swagger, that I'm-armed-and-not-afraid-to-use-it attitude and penchant for intimidating, or trying to intimidate, people.

What I wrote on August 4, immediately after the Kansas Surprise upheld abortion rights: "I feel the pincers that grip the GOP right now, because I'm squeezing as hard as I can. Biden's not the issue this November. The Republican Party is, as it's been transformed by Trump and his flying monkeys of Cruelty and Fraud."

Wouldn't it be something if the perfect storm of aroused female electorate plus Trump fatigue actually produced a Blue Wave this November?