By FRITZ PETTYJOHN
The best way to see how the political winds are blowing is at Election Betting Odds.com. Every 20 minutes it averages the odds from six different betting sites. A month ago, Kamala Harris had a slight lead. Today Donald Trump is up 61 to 38. What happened?
It started when Harris rolled out her new appeal to black men, offering them $25,000 to get into the marijuana business. It was stupid – deprecating and invidious. Her downward slide accelerated when, in an attempt to appeal to the macho man, she featured an endorsement from some doofus claiming he ate carburetors for breakfast.
The final weeks of the campaign revealed Harris as an empty suit. Like Hillary Clinton in 2016, she has nothing to offer except more of the same. The ultimate rationale for her candidacy is that she’s not a blithering idiot like Joe Biden. And she’s not Donald Trump.
It didn’t work for Hillary, and it’s not working for her.
In a telltale sign of desperation, her closing argument is to compare Trump to Adolf Hitler. The dreaded October surprise was the revelation that Trump’s embittered former chief of staff heard Trump saying complimentary things about Hitler’s generals. Her closing argument is that Trump is a fascist.
Miracles happen, and there’s a small chance this line of attack will propel her to the White House. But fewer and fewer bettors are willing to put their money on it.
This is all fabulous news for Alaska, its economy and work force. We may never see an economic boom like the old pipeline days, but good times are on the horizon. Gov. Mike Dunleavy may, or may not, be the next Secretary of the Interior, but in any event, he has Trump’s ear, and the development of Alaska’s natural resources will be high on Trump’s agenda.
Which brings us to Nick Begich and Mary Peltola.
How is it possible for a voter to support Trump, and then turn around and vote for Peltola? She’s a Native candidate, amiable and attractive, it’s true. But does it make any sense for Alaskans to have their only member of the House to be as incompetent as Peltola has proven to be?
In contrast, Nick Begich shows promise of being as effective an advocate as his grandfather, the original Nick Begich. Thousands of Alaskans have had the chance to meet Nick. He’s an impressive candidate, smart, affable, energetic, and ready to get to work for the people of Alaska. He’d be a great asset to the state, just as his grandfather was.
The only way he can lose is if some of Trump’s voters desert him for Peltola. How, in the name of all that’s holy, can you explain that decision?
It can only be people who, for whatever reason, sympathize with someone who is clearly over her head. We can only hope there aren’t too many of them.
Fritz Pettyjohn’s first venture in politics was working for Goldwater for President in 1964. He served in the Alaska Legislature in the 1980s and writes the blog ReaganProject.com.
