WORD ON THE STREET: CATHERINE STEVENS SUPPORTING JOE BIDEN
With Sen. Lisa Murkowski signaling her “concerns” about whether she can support the president, and with other moderate Republicans like Gen. Colin Powell now opposing Donald Trump’s reelection, some Alaskans are starting to feel like the mainstream Republican world is turning against the head of its party, against the man who redefined the Republican Party in 2016 as a well-oiled, populist machine that fights for the common American.
Like whipping cream on that pie-in-the-face for Alaskans, word on the street is that Catherine Bittner Stevens, Sen. Ted Stevens’ widow, is planning an endorsement of Joe Biden in coming days. The media has been alerted and is standing by to herald her announcement. They’ll note that Aug. 9 is the 10th year of Ted Stevens tragic death in a plane crash in Alaska.
Which brings Must Read Alaska to the burning questions:
- What would Sen. Ted Stevens say today if asked his opinion about Trump? Would he denounce the president or would he try to work with him, flaws and all?
- Would Sen. Stevens approve of Catherine Stevens, a longtime Democrat, implying his support for Biden?
- Or would Stevens say, “My dear friend Joe Biden is just not right for Alaska”?
Sen. Stevens was a fierce fighter, and channeled the Incredible Hulk, wearing his famous Hulk necktie on the floor of the Senate whenever a debate or vote required him to summon his spirit animal. He had a mighty temper.
In the way that Trump is a fighter for what some conservatives think is best for America — strong borders, economy, and constitutional rights — Stevens was a tireless fighter for what was best for Alaska.
But Stevens could famously work with people from both sides of the aisle. The only Democrat he ever endorsed was Hawaii’s Daniel Inouye, but he worked with Joe Biden in the Senate, and the two men bonded; they both lost their first wives to accidents — Joe’s first wife Neilia died in a car accident in December of 1972, while Ann Stevens died in a plane crash in December of 1978.
Stevens later married Catherine and they had a daughter, Lily, who attended school with the daughter of Joe and Neilia Biden. Catherine and Lily, who lives in San Francisco, are close with Joe and Jill Biden, and when Ted Stevens died in a plane crash in 2010, Joe flew to Alaska to give the eulogy at Ted’s funeral.
But Sen. Stevens was also the kind of political operator who would not have withdrawn his support for Trump in the way that Sen. Lisa Murkowski evidently has. He would have kept an open line of communication with the Republican president, because Alaska has always done better with Republican presidents.
Also, Stevens adhered to the Ronald Reagan 11th Commandment: “Thou shalt not speak ill of any fellow Republican.” During the Nixon impeachment proceedings, Sen. Stevens just stopped talking about Nixon after he discovered that the president had lied to him. But he kept his opinions about the president to himself.
Stevens was railroaded by the same Department of Justice that tried to railroad President Trump for the past three years. In this, he might have a great deal of empathy for Trump and his experience with the Deep State.
Political observers recall that Robert Mueller was the man who ensured that Stevens lost his election in 2008; Mueller was the author of the Mueller Report, which falsely tied Trump’s campaign to Russian interference in the 2016 elections and led to impeachment, and a failed conviction in 2020.
[Read: Robert Mueller oversaw the witch-hunt against Sen. Ted Stevens]
For Alaska, Trump is arguably the best president Alaska has had. He opened up the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to responsible energy development. He ensured that mining companies are treated fairly by the Environmental Protection Agency and other federal regulators. He advocated tirelessly for the life-saving road to King Cove, (which has now been denied by a federal judge).
Trump likes the governor of Alaska and will take his call. He likes Sen. Dan Sullivan and Congressman Don Young, and they can pick up the phone and call him. He’s on the outs with Sen. Lisa Murkowski, after she signaled she’ll be voting against him for president and, by inference, throwing her support to Biden.
Ted Stevens, if a senator today, would be able to call Trump. He was never an ideologue, but he wouldn’t destroy a relationship with someone who could help Alaska. He famously said, “To hell with politics. Do what’s right for Alaska.”
Biden has, on the other hand, always voted against Alaska’s interests. In 2005, he had a pivotal vote to prohibit the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge coastal plain from being opened for oil and gas exploration, as it had been set aside for. He said opening ANWR was a “short-sighted” solution to a larger issue of oil dependency.”
The amendment he voted for, offered by Democratic Sen. Maria Cantwell of Washington State, defeated ANWR 51-49 that year.
“While we all agree on the need to lessen our dependence on foreign sources of energy, drilling in ANWR a decade from now will do nothing to address the immediate needs we have today. This is a very short-sighted, small-yield solution that will have devastating long-term effects,” said then-Sen. Biden. “Preserving what’s special about Alaska’s wilderness was one of former Senator Bill Roth’s highest priorities, and it’s one of mine, too.”
Soon, he was vice president to Barack Obama. Alaska’s ANWR stayed locked until Trump opened it up.
Whether Catherine Stevens goes through with her public endorsement of Biden is an unknown; she could just decide to stay out of the fray, or she could bring Lily, her daughter, into it with her.
With the Democratic nominating convention just 71 days away, everything is in play in this changing landscape of Alaskan politics.
