You win some, you lose some…
My apologies for not posting yesterday. Things have been a bit off for me lately. I plan on getting back to regularly posting on Tuesday’s and Thursday’s ASAP. Your patience is appreciated.
Tuesday, August 16, 2022 was primary day in Alaska and Wyoming. This election season primaries are big news and yesterday’s action was no exception. Many anticipated what may be one of the most profound statements by voters yet – Liz Cheney’s re-election bid.
If you’ve any interest at all then you already know the results – “Lizzie Lost Big Time” would be my headline. The vote was so lopsided one could say Lizzie Cheney not only lost, she got spanked – hard. 
Not to worry about her political future yet, she’s already considering a run for president. She did not indicate whether she would see the democrat, republican or communist party nomination.
The overall consensus about her loss is Wyoming voters have had enough of her January 6 rhetoric and/or her rabid anti-Trump stance. For my money there are lots of reasons to kick her can as far away from any political aspirations as possible, or at least, insist she run with the crowd she identifies with the most. I’m still saying she’s somewhat left of Stalin.
Wedged between news reports swarming around Lizzie’s bid, was the revelation of just how she did in her short Congressional career. She took office in 2017 with a reported net worth of $7 million. According to Breitbart, this figure has ballooned to “possibly more than $44 million in 2020”. Of course I’m wondering why she couldn’t use her purported financial savvy to steer our country from red to black ink. She’s not answering my calls.
Have you ever wondered a) why we citizens keep voting for millionaires? and b) just now those in “public service” seem to grow their wealth exponentially while on the government payroll. From what I’ve seen, such isn’t limited to our “representatives”. Much has been said about our “ruling class”. This term grates against my very being. This is America and as such no “ruling class” should exist, but reality begs to differ. We’ve allowed those who have risen to positions of wealth to also accumulate power. Donald Trump is no exception. Let’s face it, if someone with little or no means desires to run for office, it might be easier to climb Mount Everest. It would certainly be more affordable in most cases.
Moving north to Alaska, the state’s new “ranked choice” voting system is being rolled out to decide who will represent Alaska citizens in Washington. While the link above takes you to the Alaska Election Commission’s page on their ranked choice scheme, it was easier for me to understand their approach when I viewed their “rack card”.
Sarah Palin who is vying for Don Young’s House seat, seems to hate it. Lisa Murkowski, up for re-election to the Senate has already declared victory. She edged out her Republican challenger by less than one percent. Thanks to the new scheme, her challenger, Kelly Tshibaka, is far from out of the running. Near as I can make out, the top four will advance to the general election and duke it out there. From the vote tallies I’m seeing, the race will be between the the RINO Murkowski and the Republican Tshibaka. The top Democrat was only able to glue together about 5600 votes total, compared to Murkowski and Tshibaka collecting over 38,000 – each. Surprisingly enough, Palin’s democratic competitor was the largest vote getter in the House race, garnering over 40,000 votes to Palin’s 35,000+. This may well be a case where a Republican split vote would put a Democrat in office.
A note here, Al Gross, an independent who topped Democrat Mary Peltola with over 20,000 votes to Peltola’s 16,000, dropped out. It appears most of his votes went to her in this round.
As I am no fan of political parties, I see Alaska’s ranked voting system as a potential boon for the citizens of that state and possibly a model for other states. What I don’t know is what it takes to get on a ballot but from the plethora of choices in Alaska, I’m thinking it is pretty easy. At this point those candidates with strong party affiliations seem to have the upper hand but this could change on a dime. Meanwhile, Alaska’s election could be one of the most interesting for this Mid-term. Maybe it’s time those wanting to represent citizens were evaluated on what they stand on instead of what their party decides is politically expedient.