State News Recap: Exciting Crimes Edition October 22, 2008

Thought I’d recap some Alaska politics stories that are getting a lot of buzz right now for those of you who don’t hang out in the same corners of the internet(s) as myself.

• The Republican National Committee has reportedly spent $150,000 on clothes and accessories for Sarah Palin and her family in the last seven weeks.  That’s almost twice what she makes in a year as governor (just over $81,000).  If I had known that being John McCain’s VP candidate would net me that kind of scratch to spend on clothes, I would have put my name in the hat.  I can explain the duties of the vice president better than Sarah can…
• Ted Stevens’ fate is now in the hands of the jurors.  Here’s my prediction, which isn’t too bold but does disagree with a few political minds I’ve picked on this topic: If he beats the rap, he wins re-election.  If he is convicted of any charge, he loses.  Going out onto a limb a little further, my bet is that even if he is re-elected he won’t run again in six years.  The era of Ted Stevens as the Republican version of the “Lion of the Senate” is coming to a close.
• Back to Sarah for a minute- she is scheduled to give her deposition in the Troopergate probe on Friday.  You may well be thinking, “Didn’t that whole thing wrap up a week or two ago?”  The answer is yes and no.  The Legislature’s probe is already over, and it found that she abused her power and acted in an ethically irresponsible way, but stopped short of accusing her of breaking specific laws.  The Alaska Personnel Board, at Palin’s request, is operating a second probe which is still ongoing.  Sarah will give her deposition to the APB probe; she declined to participate in the Legislature’s investigation.
• In case you’re of a mind to believe that Republicans are responsible for all of the scandals in Alaska politics, think again.  John Brown, a Democrat running against incumbent Republican Jay Ramras for State House in District 10, ran into some trouble over the last week.  First, an old conviction for using cocaine surfaced.  This conviction is nearly thirty years old, so while it wasn’t great news for Brown and likely lost him a few votes, it wouldn’t have been a game-changer by itself.  Unfortunately for Brown, a few days later it came out that his campaign manager was making false accusations about Jay Ramras on the website of the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner, using an anonymous username to disguise his identity.  The cocaine conviction story was thereby resurrected and amplified, with the addition of a story which suggests that Brown’s campaign is in disarray.  At this point, Brown is dead in the water.