reply to
post by plumranch
Alaska has a population of just under 700,000 people spread over several thousand miles and roughly 15% indigenous (Eskimos and Indians)
I would imagine that Alaska is the state with the largest amount of natural resources but that is hard to quantify. Oil, natural gas, coal, minerals,
fishing, tourist, etc. I found this regarding Palins position on mineral development which I consider to be accurate:
"Governor Palin has supported mining across Alaska and resisted efforts to list species such as the polar bear or beluga whales as endangered as such
listings may hamper mineral development. In Alaskan politics, contentious issues can arise around resource development far more acutely than at the
national scene. This is evidenced by the struggle between various Native groups and environmentalists over the Pebble Mine project adjoining Bristol
Bay, near the world’s largest sockeye salmon fishery. Despite her fishing credentials, the governor is a supporter of this project as well."
REMARK: I appreciate your politeness, Mr P. You are nicer to me than I have been to you. Good for you! [But see my question below.]
On Sarah Palin. Perhaps she should look to Richard Nixon and his 1960 defeat and then his 1968 comeback for both inspiration and offering a plan.
Recall that Nixon lost a very close race to the upstart Catholic playboy, Jack Kennedy! Nixon: “How could a good Protestant boy loose to a
Catholic?” Say hello Al Smith. It was a very close race. In fact it was so close the saying, “lost by less than one vote” became popular for a
while. That phrase referred to the fact that Kennedy’s wining popular vote margin was slightly fewer than the total number of precincts in America.
Nixon always claimed the election was stolen from him in Chicago where the Democrats were notorious in stuffing the ballot boxes. See Note 1. That was
true - and may still be - but that begs the question. It was equally true in Illinois that the Republicans were notorious for stuffing the ballot
boxes in DOWNSTATE Illinois. Maybe in some perverse way, democracy was well served by the BEST ballot stuffer WINING?
Anyway, you may recall that Nixon ran for governor of California in 1962 and was defeated by Democrat Pat Brown, father of Jerry Brown who was later
(the hippie) governor of California. After that loss, Nixon held a press conference in which he grew angry, said that was his last press conference
and that “they [the press] would not have Nixon to kick around anymore!”
Apparently, once the presidential bug bites you, there is no cure. The Western Wing of the GOP gained the 1964 nomination for Barry Goldwater - AuH2O
- who became the FIRST of the line of Republicans we now call the Neo Cons. More recently we are calling them economic buccaneers! Nixon and Ford were
not in that line but Reagan, Bush Sr and Bush Jr are or were.
Playing in part on the country’s remorse over the assassination of JFK, Texas Democrat Johnson easily defeated Goldwater. See Note 2. To say the
least, the Republicans were deeply disappointed following the Democrat’s 1964 sweep of the presidency, the House and Senate along with a number of
governorships.
Nixon saw a vacuum. None of the prominent Republicans were available to help in the 1966 off year races. He began to give speeches anywhere he was
asked. Like early C&W singers, he was on the fried chicken, peas and mashed potatoes circuit! At Rotary Clubs. At the Kiwanis club. At the American
Legion halls. At 4-H clubs. And of course, speaking on the stump on behalf of any and all Republican candidate for county clerk on up.
Despite losing his last 2 races (1960-1962) Nixon had after all been Ike’s vice president for 8 years and for a few days when Ike suffered a heart
attack, he had been for all practical purposes (if not legal) America’s acting president! That is getting close to the prize! By the time of the
1968 Republican convention, it was Nixon who had all of those hard earned favors to call in! Nixon won the nomination on the first ballot and named
Governor Spiro Agnew of Maryland (to geographically balance the ticket) as his vice presidential candidate. Who would have thought the ground work had
just been laid that would end with America’s first UNELECTED president? Gerald Ford. Bush43 being the second.
There are several lessons here. Some are superficial. Others are more subtle. I offer this however merely to point out that even the most unlikely
persons (Nixon in 1962) could succeed if you follow the advice of the Little Engine That Could. Aside: The Little Engine that Could is a moralistic
children's story that first appeared in the United States. The book is used to teach children the value of optimism and hard work. Some critics
contend that the book is a metaphor for the American dream. In the public domain, the best known incarnation of the story “The Little Engine That
Could” is attributed to "Watty Piper," a pseudonym used by publishing house Platt & Munk, with illustrations by the esteemed Lois Lenski.
en.wikipedia.org...
Q. I noted that Todd Palin claims some Inuit accessory. He does not look much like the Inuits I have seen on tv. I wonder if his claim is really a
calculated subterfuge to get him into a special or privileged position to allow him or his “partners” to catch sockeye salmon? Can you up-date me
on this? It sounds much like half the people of Rhode Island claiming to be part Narraganset indians so to share the casino and tobacco profits?
Note 1. It seems everyone who was even close to Chicago in 1936 and old enough to walk, tells essentially the same story. (Which may go far
towards authentication). It seems the Democrats had chartered Greyhound buses for election day. Early on election day, the buses went to every college
in Cook County, and loaded up with student volunteers.
The buses toured the city, stopping at numerous precincts, where all the happy passengers would disembark, cast a ballot for Roosevelt then it was
back to the bus and on to the next precinct. For this good day's work, they got $5 and a fried chicken box lunch! That’s the story.
Note 2. Texas politics are as “rough and tumble” as any in Illinois or anywhere in America including Alaska. Smoke filled rooms chose all the
national party presidential candidates from 1796 until 1972. The Dems reformed the system in 1972 and were followed in 1976 by the GOP.
Anyway, Johnson won his senate seat in 1936 by 38 votes, hence the nom de plume or appellation (I never know which) “Landslide Lyndon.”
[edit on 2/2/2009 by donwhite]
