Ken Burch, excellent letter in the Juneau Empire.

[Blue_In_AK]

:thumbsup:

[Ken Burch]

1. Thanks, Blue.

I had a crazy right winger in the comment box below it complaning that it was a free campaign ad.

He's mad because only Empire endorsements of the GOP candidates are supposed be free campaign ads.

[Blue_In_AK]

2. I saw that.

Actually, it seems you were treated relatively kindly compared to the comments to the pro-Benson letter in the Fairbanks News Miner. http://www.newsminer.com/news/2008/aug/16/fine-candidate/

There are some real hateful people up there. My guess is most of these were die-hard conservatives or Don fans. They certainly don't seem to be very well informed.

I guess Diane is a long shot, given all of Ethan's outside money, slick ads and pollster in his pocket, but wouldn't it be wonderful if she pulls this off?

I hope you don't mind if I link to your letter...

http://www.juneauempire.com:80/stories/081508/let_319011883.shtml



P.S. I hope you read Alaska Ed's response to my Howie Klein thread.

[Ken Burch]

3. I didn't feel persecuted or anything. And yes, those Fairbanks responses were far worse

But what did strike me was that almost the exact same post about not publishing "free campaign ads" appeared in the News-Miner thing as well. I think that may be an orchestrated meme, and we need to watch out for it.

[northofdenali]

4. The News-Minus is so far right that they make

Attila the Hun look progressive.

Great letter, Ken.

And THIS one comes from Fairbanks :thumbsup:

[Ken Burch]

5. Thanks, North.

I hope we can pull this off.

There was never any reason for the national party to interfere with our primary.

[Blue_In_AK]

6. NOD!!!

Where have you been, girl? I haven't seen you around these parts in quite a spell. :) Did I tell you we're going to Nome for a week for the Iditarod finish? We can hardly wait until March.

Aside from the Fairbanks Daily News Miner, do you get any feel for how people in Fairbanks are responding to Diane? I am so hoping she does well.

[northofdenali]

7. Hey, girlfriend - been on the road whenever it wasn't raining!

On that mean-ass motorcycle. Some days, even when it WASN'T raining.

Diane has quite a bit of support here locally. During the big Golden Days parade, there were lots of booths setup on 1st Avenue near the Visitor's Center, and Diane's was one of the busiest. She, of course, wasn't just attracting attention to only her cause(s), she was also way out there for Obama! One of her volunteers had made some :kick: with lots of beads earrings, and was giving out instructions on how to bead your own.

This, being Fairbanks, you see a lot of Repuke signs, but I'm seeing more and more Dem signs as well.

Primary is next Tuesday, of course, and I'm sure you've seen the standard Repuke trick of "their own" ballots while Ak Independence Party, Democratic Party and Libertarians (wow, what a wierd mix) all are on one single ballot. I hope it won't confuse too many of our brain-dead voters, and there are a LOT of 'em up here. Of course, the Brain-Dead Ballot (R-Bridges to Nowhere) is the simplest to use.

Nome, hmmm? Got room for 2 more? Lance will do it again!

:hug:!!!!

[Blue_In_AK]

8. I'm really happy to hear Diane's doing well up there.

She's such a genuine person that it's hard not to like her if you ever spend any time. I had the pleasure of driving her over to Glennallen for a rural providers conference (me driving so she could get some rest) and then we went to an Athabascan fiddle dance afterwards. It was a real kick. You can tell so much more about a person in a casual setting like that than you can from sound bites on TV.

[Ken Burch]

9. She still needs donation.

At least we've finally got her tv ads going.
Christ, it would be galling if Ethan won. Not that he's terrible, but that it would validate the idea of the DCCC imposing THEIR hand-picked candidates.

We've got to stop them. Thanks for your support.
Could you possibly go to http://www.bensonforcongress.com and write in a short endorsement statement? Personal testimonials really help.