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Gold/Mining/Energy : Alaska Natural Gas Pipeline

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To: Snowshoe who wrote (295)	5/8/2007 10:35:15 PM
From: Kenneth Kirk	Read Replies (1) of 570

Ouch. I knew some of those guys and would've sworn they were clean as a whistle. This raises several interesting political questions. My first thought was that this is really thinning our political ranks (I'm a Republican), but actually only one of the indicted politicians was still in office; the other three were former legislators. Of course Tom Anderson's wife is still in office, and this is bound to be a major issue if she stands for reelection the next time around. However she isn't up for reelection until 2010. Kohring will be out if he gets a conviction, but he comes from a fairly conservative district anyway which will probably replace him with a solid Republican. Based on the offices the FBI previously searched, everyone was expecting an indictment of Cowdery and Ben Stevens, but neither of those things happened. Even if they do, Cowdery was expected to retire at the end of this legislature anyway, and Stevens is another former legislator. I would say that this whole mess strengthens Gov. Palin's hand, since she was elected as a reformist who was on the outs with the party establishment anyway (full disclosure: I am on the GOP State Central Committee, but I supported Sarah so I don't count). This could be a big advantage for her as they go into the final fight over AGIA. Legislators will be hoping that being connected to her protects them from any electoral fallout. In the long run the question will be whether this will taint the GOP in the next election, the way the Mark Foley scandal tainted Republicans nationally. However Alaskans tend to be less party oriented than the national populace, and there's plenty of time before the election cycle for candidates to downplay their party credentials. And, I suspect that a lot of the candidates will suddenly realize that it's not a bad idea to be holding onto the coattails of America's Hottest Governor.

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