About half of voters polled by the Rasmussen Reports company expect violence to occur when the election results are revealed after Nov. 5.
In a quick poll conducted by Must Read Alaska on X/Twitter, 89% of respondents said they think Democrats will riot and ransack cities if Trump wins. That is not a scientific poll, however.
In the Rasmussen Reports national telephone and online survey, 51% of likely voters believe it’s likely there will be a violent reaction if Vice President Kamala Harris is elected president, including 26% who say such a reaction is Very Likely.
However, 47% also think a violent reaction is likely if former President Donald Trump wins, including 23% who say violence is very likely to follow a Trump victory.
The survey was conducted among almost 3,000 voters on Oct. 17, and 20-21.
Voters have strong feelings about this election with both presidential candidates evoking emotional responses from people. Those who do not like Donald Trump have severe reaction to him, known as Trump Derangement Syndrome. Already in this campaign cycle, at least two known assassination attempts have been made on Trump, and Kamala Harris continues to compare him to Hitler, stoking deep emotional responses from Trump-haters and providing cover for a violent reaction to his election.
This week, President Joe Biden said it is time to lock up Trump, before he bumbled his way into explaining he meant something different.
Trump Derangement Syndrome is a term traced back to the late political writer Charles Krauthammer, who first came up with the phrase “Bush derangement syndrome” in 2003.
Krauthammer, who was no fan of Trump’s, said Trump Derangement Syndrome is like a “general hysteria” that resulted in an “inability to distinguish between legitimate policy differences and signs of psychic pathology” in Trump’s behavior.
Later, others have noted that the hatred some people have of Trump impairs their judgment.
“Signs of TDS can be observed along a continuum of reactions, ranging from verbal expressions of intense hostility toward President Trump to overt acts ofaggression and even violence against anyone supporting or anything symbolizing him. The recent assassination attempt on Trump’s life provides compelling evidence of the volatility and potential dangers of TDS if left unchecked,” writes psychologist Alex Pattakos Ph.D. in Psychology Today. “In the case of TDS, “Donald Trump,” broadly defined to include anything associated with him, has come to represent such an unconditional stimulus. As such, it triggers what appears to be an automatic response or reaction.”
Alaska conservatives are voting in greater numbers than ever since early in-person voting started on Monday.
Monday’s turnout for early voting across the state was 9,882.
That is as high as the total early-vote count was by Day 4 of early voting in 2022’s general election. Alaskans have been waiting in lines as long as an hour and a half to bank their votes early.
Also, absentee ballots requested from the Division of Elections now exceed 10% of the entire voter roll in Alaska. The deadline for requesting an absentee ballot is Saturday, Oct. 26. Information at the Division of Elections on how to have a ballot sent to you by mail is here.
Anecdotally, voters tell Must Read Alaska that there are a lot of conservatives in line with them. At the Gambell Street voting location in Anchorage, people waited for an hour to vote on Tuesday. Those who voted there Monday waited for 90 minutes.
In Fairbanks, about 100 voters were in line at 2:30 p.m. on Wednesday, the third day of early voting.
The Republican National Committee has a new program this year called “Swamp the Vote,”which is to encourage conservatives to get their ballots in quickly, which helps their candidates turn their focus attention to those who haven’t voted yet. Banking votes economizes the efforts of the campaigns and helps the campaign donations go farther.
“Republicans must win – and we must use EVERY appropriate tool available to beat the Democrats, they are destroying our great country! Whether you vote early, absentee, by mail, or in person we are going to protect the vote,” the Swamp the Vote website says.
“Do your part to fix the damage Joe Biden and Kamala Harris have caused by Swamping Them with Votes. Request your absentee or mail ballot or pledge to vote early in-person today! You can also confirm your voter registration details or pledge to vote on Election Day.”
There are 11 days remaining in the 2024 general election that ends Nov. 5.
The Republican-led House Energy and Commerce Committee released a report Wednesday saying that the Biden-Harris Administration spent nearly a billion dollars promoting COVID-era messaging, much of which turned out to be untrue or misleading.
The Congressional report examines the $900 million spent by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services on COVID-era messaging to the American people.
“Americans cannot afford another botched government response to a future pandemic,” the report said.
The report cites “errors and failures” in the U.S. Center for Disease Control’s “We Can Do This” advertisements and marketing materials.
The report said that much of that taxpayer-funded marketing included incorrect information about vaccines, the danger to children, masks and more, according to the report.
“Much of the scientific content directly featured in or alluded to in Campaign ads and other promotional material was drawn from CDC recommendations, guidance, and research, critical parts of which proved to be deeply flawed,” the report said.
For instance, the report cited the CDC telling Americans that taking the COVID-19 vaccine would prevent them from getting COVID, something that turned out to be false.
“This ultimately had a negative impact on vaccine confidence and the CDC’s credibility when proven untrue,” the report said.
In another instance, the report points out that federal health officials and the CDC initially downplayed the need and usefulness of masking only to later reverse course and strongly urge Americans to mask, even outdoors.
“Dr. Anthony Fauci, former head of the National Institute of Allergies and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), advocated against mask wearing on February 5, 2020, stating ‘Masks are really for infected people to prevent them from spreading infection to people who are not infected rather than protecting uninfected people from acquiring infection,’” the report said.
“By April 3, 2020, the CDC completely reversed course and announced new mask wearing guidelines, recommending that all people wear a mask outside of the home,” the report continued, adding that “In December of 2022, after leaving the Biden White House, former COVID-19 coordinator, Ashish Jha, freely admitted what many had been saying all along—’[t]here is no study in the world that shows that masks work that well.’”The report also pointed out that “The CDC had inconsistent and flawed messaging about the effectiveness of masks” and that “the CDC consistently overstated the risk of COVID-19 to children.”
“The CDC continues to recommend COVID-19 vaccines for all Americans ages six months and older, which has made the United States a global outlier in COVID-19 policy,” the report said.
That marketing was used by lawmakers and local and state officials to justify extended lockdowns on businesses, which hurt the economy and put many small business owners out of business or to justify school closures, from which research now shows students have still not recovered.
“While the Biden-Harris administration’s public health guidance led to prolonged closures of schools and businesses, the NIH was spending nearly a billion dollars of taxpayer money trying to manipulate Americans with advertisements—sometimes containing erroneous or unproven information,” Energy and Commerce Committee Chair Cathy McMorris Rodgers, R-Wash., sain in a statement.
“By overpromising what the COVID-19 vaccines could do—in direct contradiction of the FDA’s authorizations—and over emphasizing the virus’s risk to children and young adults, the Biden-Harris administration caused Americans to lose trust in the public health system,” he added.
Reporting has shown that during the pandemic the federal government successfully pressured social media companies to censor Americans’ posts on COVID-related issues that did not toe the party line.
Meta CEO and Facebook Founder Mark Zuckerberg said earlier this year in a public letter that he regretted complying with those federal requests.
“Our investigation also uncovered the extent to which public funding went to Big Tech companies to track and monitor Americans, underscoring the need for stronger online data privacy protections,” McMorris-Rodgers said.
The lawmakers on the Republican-led committee pointed out that the federal government’s pushing of unproven or incorrect medical data has led to an overall distrust of federal health agencies and vaccines on the whole.
“The entire premise of the Biden-Harris ‘Stop the Spread’ campaign was that if you got vaccinated for COVID-19, you could resume daily activities because they said vaccinated people would not spread the disease,” Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigations Chair Morgan Griffith, R-Va., said in a statement. “Despite lacking scientific basis, the administration bought into this CDC claim and misled the American public. As a result, vaccination coverage with other vaccines appears to have declined, I believe because of a growing distrust of information coming from our public health institutions.”
Gallup released polling data in August showing that fewer Americans now say childhood vaccines are important, “with 40% saying it is extremely important for parents to have their children vaccinated, down from 58% in 2019 and 64% in 2001.”
Every few years, moderate and conservative voters seem to find themselves in the position of voting against propositions generated by left of center entities. We haven’t yet reached the insanity of the California ballot which features dozens of initiatives and propositions, but the few that do make the Alaska ballot are usually suspect.
Our November 5 general election will be an exception.
For Alaskans who prefer limited government, less regulation, fiscal responsibility, and traditional and transparent elections, you can advance those political values by voting Yes on Ballot Measure 2. Furthermore, you will be striking a blow against one of the biggest “dark money” campaigns in Alaska history.
Ballot Measure 2 is entitled “An Act Restoring Political Party Primaries and Single-Choice General Elections.” It would repeal “jungle primaries” and restore traditional primary and general elections where the highest vote-getter wins.
Passage of this measure will restore Alaska’s electoral system to what it was prior to 2022 and what had been in place for over 20 years. It would repeal all the electoral provisions incorporating “top 4” primary rules and “ranked-choice voting” (RCV) in the general election.
Amid the avalanche of deceptive outside dark money ads blasting the airwaves and social media, you might be tempted to believe that democracy will end if we change our method of voting back to what served us and most Americans well for hundreds of years.
Don’t be fooled.
RCV proponents claim the system improves voter confidence by providing more candidate choices, decreasing negative campaigning, and ensuring majority rule. Yet, experience in Alaska has not borne this out. Many elections remain uncontested or with only one challenger, negative campaigning has not been reduced, and because of “exhausted ballots,” there is no guarantee that candidates will win by a majority of votes.
Furthermore, RCV is more expensive, generates confusion, and the lack of transparency caused by complicated counting and delaying final results for weeks has contributed to further diminishment of trust in our electoral system.
Despite RCV promoters’ claims that RCV electoral systems are sweeping the nation, it is a mixed bag at best. As of October 2024, only three states, Alaska, Maine, and Hawaii (for special Federal elections only), had implemented similar systems. Ten states have statutorily prohibited RCV. While voters in four states—Colorado, Idaho, Nevada, and Oregon—are considering in 2024 whether to enact RCV, voters in Alaska will decide whether to repeal it and voters in Missouri will decide whether to prohibit it.
RCV boosters cannot afford to allow Alaska to succeed in deciding for themselves how they would prefer to run their elections as it would undermine their mantra that RCV has been wildly successful. Accordingly, opponents under the name “Vote No on 2” have collected over $12 million to defeat Ballot Measure 2.
The primary donors to that campaign are left wing Democrat political organizations from out of state that have virtually unlimited funding. Just three organizations, Article IV, Unite America PAC, and Action Now Initiative, have collectively contributed $10.5 million. Their contributions are funding a TV, radio, and social media campaign blitz that will run non-stop through election day.
And they are playing fast and loose with the facts.
One ad, featuring a veteran, states: “Many veterans like me choose not to register with a political party and that’s why I’m voting no on Measure 2. Measure 2 would force thousands of veterans and active-duty military to join a political party just to participate in Alaska’s primary elections.”
This is not true. In fact, reverting back to our traditional system of primaries would allow independents, non-partisans, and undeclared voters to vote for any primary candidate they prefer – regardless of political party.
Another ad states: “Alaska finally has an election system that isn’t controlled by political parties or special interests.” Given the amount of money funneled through left wing Democrat organizations to influence this campaign and the original campaign where RCV passed by the thinnest of margins, that statement doesn’t pass the red-face test.
Alaskans have an opportunity this time around to set the record straight by voting YES on Ballot Measure 2.
After retiring as the senior vice president in charge of business banking for Key Bank in Alaska, Win Gruening became a regular opinion page columnist for the Juneau Empire. He was born and raised in Juneau and graduated from the U.S. Air Force Academy in 1970. He is involved in various local and statewide organizations.
The Division of Elections has mailed out a second informational postcard to voters to show them how ranked-choice voting works. It’s something the division does to help people who are confused by the odd voting system that Alaska now uses.
This time, unlike the Division’s official voter instruction sent earlier this fall, the candidates are listed as Candidate A, Candidate B, Candidate C and Candidate D.
On the prior instructional offering from the Division of Elections, a candidate named “Harris” was listed in the presidential column, and the division, for unknown reasons, illustrated for voters how to mark “Harris” first for president.
That caught the eye of critics who said that the Division of Elections appeared to be trying to swing the vote toward Kamala Harris.
Division Director Carol Beecher has been explaining on talk radio that it was essentially an error and that the new flyer corrects the problem with unintentional bias.
The Division made another mistake in the official voter pamphlet, when it listed House District candidate Mia Costello as a Democrat. The division sent a correction to all voters in that district showing Costello as a Republican.
In her latest email request for funds from her supporters, Rep. Mary Peltola for the first time admitted that she is losing her race for reelection to Congress.
“I hate coming to you with bad news, but with just 14 days until the election, I have no choice. A new poll shows me losing to my extremist opponent, Nick Begich,” Peltola wrote on Tuesday. She showed an image that has her with 40% support and Nick Begich with 44% support, and she stated that 16% are undecided.
“I’m not going to sugarcoat this: It looks like the millions that Mike Johnson and his super PAC are pouring into Alaska to lie about me and my record are working,” Peltola said, lying once again to voters. She has ten times the campaign treasury that Begich has.
“But here’s the good news: This poll shows that 16% of voters are still undecided. So this race will be won by whoever gets to those undecided voters first!
Then she asks people to donate $10 to $50.
“… my campaign team and I are reaching Alaskans by foot, by mail, by TV, and phone. But to reach every undecided voter and win, I need you to fuel our campaign in these last 14 days. So please, will you split $25 between the Alaska Democratic Party and my campaign to help me win over undecided voters and defy the odds once again in November?,” Peltola’s campaign writes in an email coordinated with the Democratic Party.
Peltola must have her own secret polling, because what she is telling Alaskans in this email does not add up to the polls published in September and October by the National Republican Congressional Committee. Her numbers are off. Only 10% are undecided.
Peltola is either not being honest with voters or has her own polling data that she is not detailing.
All fall, Peltola has been spending money on “feasts” that she has been holding around the state with her supporters, and earlier this fall she had a “FREE BEER!” sign on the window of her campaign headquarters in Fairbanks.
At the end of the third quarter, Peltola had over $3.3 million cash on hand, compared to Nick Begich, who had $440,700 in his campaign account.
Ammunition is in short supply, according to Ammoland, a website dedicated to news about firearms and ammunition.
“In the wake of mounting global tensions and disruptions to key supply chains, the U.S. ammunition industry is facing significant challenges. Several recent developments are converging to create a perfect storm that could lead to a gunpowder shortage, threatening both military and civilian ammunition supplies,” the news site reports.
In May, Alliant Powders, a leading producer of reloading powders l(Bullseye and Unique), suspendedshipments of its smokeless powders, a decision driven by global conflicts — most notably the war in Ukraine. the company could not get a key ingredient — nitrocellulose — so prioritized its military contracts, diverting all nitrocellulose to ammunition production for defense purposes. This has left civilian reloaders scrambling for alternatives, Ammoland reports.
In addition to military customers being prioritized, there’s China. In August, China started restrictingexport of nitrocellulose and antimony, two critical components in ammunition production, Ammoland reports.
“Antimony, essential for hardening lead bullets, and nitrocellulose, used in propellants, are both vital to keeping the U.S. ammunition industry running. China’s decision has created widespread concern in the defense sector as the U.S. relies heavily on Chinese imports of these materials,” the report says.
In January, Alaska Attorney General Treg Taylor signed a letter to the Biden-Harris Administration, objecting to the administration’s attempt to curtail ammunition to the general public.
No transformation has been more profound than that of Sen. Cathy Giessel of south Anchorage.
Once upon a time, she was pro-life, pro-resource development, pro-PFD, foe of big labor and prototype Republican. Her metamorphosis has shed all but the empty label “Republican.”
What is the new Giessel?
Death to the PFD; death by abortion; death by taxes/regulation to business; and new best buddies with big labor (who now fund her campaigns).
She holds joint fundraisers with Democrats to raise money to defeat Republicans. She joined the Democrats as soon as she was elected. She was elected with 34% of the vote (due to the weird workings of rank voting – which she loves).
When someone does a 100% about-face, they owe an explanation. But there is none from Giessel.
The best explanation seems to be a personal lust for power, revenge of perceived personal slights and generally instability. I think we all remember her unexplained rabid opposition to the appointment of Rep. Laddie Shaw to the State Senate. Inexcusable, unjustifiable and inexplicable … but typical Giessel.
She is not on the ballot in 2024, so voters will have to wait until 2026 to rid themselves of this basket case. But she does have new “best friends” in the State Senate.
Most are Democrats. This election only one Democrat is in a serious race — incumbent Democrat Sen. Scott Kawasaki who is facing a spirited challenge from an excellent candidate, Republican Leslie Wein Hajdukovich.
Giessel’s wants power, craves power, lusts for her old title, “Senate President.” Never mind that hers was the most dysfunctional and mean-spirited tenure in State history. That is what she wants.
So who are these “Republican” candidates Giessel needs elected? Coincidentally the same ones being funded by Outside big labor bosses: Senators Jesse Bjorkman of Nikiski and Kelly Merrick of Eagle River.
Voters do have better choices: Experienced, proven conservatives: Ben Carpenter, running against Bjorkman and Jared Goecker, running against Merrick.
The decision is yours.
Electing those three challengers will tip the Senate and keep Giessel the “weasel” on the back bench, where she belongs and will deny the big labor bosses the control they crave of our Legislature.
Donate and vote. The choice is yours.
Tuckerman Babcock is the former chairman of the Alaska Republican Party, 2016-2018. He lives in Soldotna.
The Juneau Assembly voted Monday to spend as much as $2 million for a containment system along a portion of the Mendenhall River to protect homes in the populated Mendenhall Valley from future glacial flooding. Two floods have occurred this year so far, the first on Aug. 6, which impacted more than 300 homes, and left many uninhabitable. The second, which occurred last week, spared homes but caused concern since it came so quickly on the heels of the last flood.
The Hesco barriers are containers that can be filled with sand, similar to oversized sandbags. Such barriers, placed end to tend, can become a type of levee.
The flooding is now a regular occurrence. As the the Mendenhall Glacier has receded, it developed a feature known as Suicide Basin, essentially a pond of ice and water that fills up and then releases. In August, about 14.5 billion gallons of water gushed out of the glacier pond and powered through many homes, businesses, and streets, leaving a path of destruction.
Other solutions include building a large levee around a portion of the Mendenhall Lake to control the flow from the lake into the river.
That idea would take the cooperation of multiple federal and local agencies, and might be subject to environmental group lawsuits.
The Hesco solution might end up being paid for by the residents of the impacted areas through what’s known as a Local Improvement District, where the burden is shifted to those impacted. That might cost each homeowner $100,000 or more, which in turn could impact property values, assessments, and property tax collections.
The burden for some homeowners would be greater if they had those installed on their properties, even though the benefit would be provided to homes hundreds of yards away. In addition to aesthetic concerns, there is no guarantee that the Hesco barriers will actually prevent flooding.
