The biggest problem for Senator Begich happens to be his party affiliation that links him directly to President Obama’s national policies.
As the President said recently, “I am not on the ballot this fall. But make no mistake: [my] policies are on the ballot. Every single one of them.”
If not for that, Mark Begich might win. He’s a good politician, good hand-shaker, good smiler, eloquent, and a life-long Alaskan.
And doubling down, Begich is also under the finger of his Democratic Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, who has blocked every piece of reform legislation coming out of the Republican-led House. Mark’s votes tell us this.
Sometimes in Alaskan politics, whose side your on does matter.
Unfortunately for Mark, when you’ve caught the virus of Obama, it’s as politically deadly as catching Ebola.
GOP Senate hopeful in Alaska connects Begich to Obama
At campaign stops, Sullivan repeats this catchy phrase: “More freedom, less government.” He argues that President Obama’s administration has been a case study in federal overreach — and that Begich has enabled the feds rather than fighting them.
Begich’s campaign countered that Sullivan’s anti-federal rhetoric rings hollow, in part because Sullivan shared responsibility for controversial government surveillance programs launched under the USA Patriot Act. Begich has been a vocal critic of those programs, which he says violate people’s privacy rights.
For Sullivan — who could help the GOP take control of the Senate by winning in November — the challenge is linking Begich to Obama, who is deeply unpopular in Alaska. Through six years in office, Begich has branded himself as an independent voice. As he said to The Post this year about Obama, “I’ll be a thorn in his [posterior].”
Like many GOP challengers running against Democratic incumbents, Sullivan is trying to frame the election around Obama and Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.). During a pep talk at his campaign office in Soldotna, Sullivan told supporters, “Imagine the last two years of Obama with Harry Reid in charge, how much damage could happen to this country. We need to beat Mark Begich, retire Harry Reid and start taking this country back!”
Sullivan is betting that in a state where Obama lost to Mitt Romney by 14 percentage points in 2012 — and where the number of registered Republicans is nearly double the number of registered Democrats — a partisan message will carry the day.
“I don’t know that I’m against Mark Begich, but I’ve been a Republican all my life,” Dale Bagley, 50, who owns a real estate company, said in Soldotna. “I felt like for six years, we’ve lost a valuable seat there that should belong to a Republican.”
See Full Article: WashingtonPost.com
