doogie of www.adn.com fame
For the past couple of election cycles, Frank Murkowski has played
Hamlet. "Should I run for governor? Should I stay in the U.S.
Senate? O! what a rogue and peasant slave am I." Finally, this
week, he said he would run for governor in next year's election.
That could be a good thing. Maybe during the campaign Alaskans
can find out what Frank has accomplished in the past 21 years.
Yeah, I know, he's been taking up space in the Senate and keeping
a gray suit from collapsing. But that's where he's been and what
he's been wearing. And I'm told his office does good constituent
work. But that's what his staff has been doing. What exactly has
the man himself accomplished?
Frank could argue that, during his first two terms, he couldn't do
much. He was in the minority in the Senate, with little control over
the nation's agenda and not much more over what happened in
Alaska. But from 1995 until this year, Frank was chairman of the
Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee. And what did
Alaska or the nation gain from his stewardship?
If you believe that the best energy policy is to cut oil consumption
and develop alternative energy sources, Frank did nothing. No
higher fuel efficiency standards for automobiles. No push for
development of renewable energy sources.
If you believe that the best energy policy is to produce more oil and
gas, Frank didn't accomplish much for you, either. No drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. No gas pipeline.
As a result, the United States is still dependent on imported oil. Which means that we are still propping up autocrats in the Middle East and pussyfooting around on issues like state-sponsored terrorism to keep them happy.
Heck, even if you believe that the best energy policy is the one that gives you a job in Alaska's oil patch, you didn't get much from Frank, except a lot of whining about the opponents of ANWR drilling.
So Frank's going to have a tough time proving that his tenure in the Senate helped either the state or the nation. But then, he's not going to run the sort of campaign in which he spends much time looking voters in the eye. His campaign will be a lot like his drive-by announcement.
Frank's handlers can't let their guy have unscripted encounters with the press. He is not, to put it kindly, the sharpest pencil in the box. And debates with the Democratic candidate, Fran Ulmer? Forget it. She'd clean his clock.
Instead, we'll get Frank the too-busy-being-a-senator-to-be-a-candidate candidate. Frank at staged events. And lots and lots of television ads, paid for by all the friends Frank has made in the past 21 years.
But what will those ads say? Well, one cynic of my acquaintance says Frank will take credit for every single thing Ted Stevens has ever done. But I'm thinking his campaign machine might need more original material. So I'm sponsoring the Name One Thing Frank Has Done Contest. Just send me an e-mail, which includes your real, verifiable name, containing one thing you know for sure Frank Murkowski, himself, has accomplished. First prize is you get to run as Frank's lieutenant
governor. Robin, Gail, I expect to hear from you.
By the way he will be the next governor bar a severe trip on his tool. Old (for Alaska) banking family who knows who to loan to and when in the Bush. To be fair he did a fair amount to protect jobs in the Tongass when Clinton overroad the agreements on logging terminations.
thanx,
bill
thanx,
bill