Alaska’s U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan, who attended the first three days of the Republican National Convention, said the party is unified with a common vision for the future.
In an exclusive interview with Must Read Alaska, Sullivan said the platform for the party is strong on policy helping working Americans, energy dominance, and national security.
Sullivan gave a “big shout out” to Sen. Marsha Blackburn of Tennessee and Rep. Mike Waltz of Florida, who is the first Green Beret to serve in Congress, for coming up with a platform that has the party fully unified.
In it are the words “Drill, Baby, Drill,” something that Sullivan thought Donald Trump probably had a hand in inserting as language.
In his talks with Trump, Sullivan said the presidential nominee brought forward the idea of creating an “iron dome” type missile defense for America, similar to what Israel has. Sullivan said that Alaska would play a large role in such an endeavor.
Sullivan met with several former and possibly future national security figures this week, including former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, former Director of National Intelligence Richard Grenell, and former Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Strategy and Force Development Elbridge A. Colby.
“We will have a very strong foreign policy, in sharp contrast to the weakness of Biden,” Sullivan said. “Peace through strength.”
Speaking about J.D. Vance as the vice presidential nominee, Sullivan noted with pride that Vance would become the first U.S. Marine in history to become vice president.
Sullivan remembered that he attended events in Ohio in 2022, when Vance was running for Senate, and that Vance attended Sullivan’s retirement party when he left active service in the Marines.
There’s a bond between them as Marines: “We have an ethos: Always faithful, semper fidelis. It applies to Marines but also to the American people we serve. Vance stopped and looked at the camera and said, ‘To all the Marines out there: Semper Fi.’ I loved that!”
Sullivan also appreciated that Vance has a focus on helping the working men and women who built this country.
People now have a choice between the Democrats, who view themselves as the party of working Americans but who are not, Sullivan said. It’s the Republicans who have the real interests of working Americans, as the Democratic Party is now being run by and for coastal elites and left-coast radicals.
For Sullivan, who formed up a group in the Senate called the Labor and Working Americans Caucus, it’s a focus he has had for years, as his home state is one that is very much the heart of working-class families.
“Alaska is ground zero. Think of everything we do, from oil rigs, to ice roads. The Democrats want the state of Alaska shut down,” he said.
Sullivan also touched on the personal life story of J.D. Vance, whose book “Hillbilly Elegy” talks about the terrors of a child growing up around opioid and fentanyl drug use. It’s an issue that is exceedingly important to Sullivan and that he has worked on continuously, as Alaska has serious issues with substance abuse.
On the fun side of the convention, he hosted a gathering for Alaskans at a local beer brewing company in Milwaukee, and brought in Sen. John Thune of South Dakota and others to speak.
Wow, it’s good to see Dan get out once in a while. We’ve heard from him two times this month, a record?
Give me a break! It is clear, at least to those still alive. The country is under the control of a group of maniacs. How will any president or party change that?
Sullivan must be hoping Trump wins and his status will improve. The GOP platform is a bunch of screaming points written it all caps. It will take away rights from women, expel mass amounts of people from the USA, will result in increased pollution as industries will not be held accountable for any of it. They have no real plan, just a bunch of sound bites that the Trumpers will scream and holler about but will result in no real action. The Trump grift will be on steroids if he wins.