POL318 Assignment #1
The first issue important to the people of Alaska arose directly from political actions involving the Republican candidate for the Senate seat, Senator Lisa Murkowski.
Lisa Murkowski’s father, Frank Murkowski, was a United States Senator. In 2002 Frank Murkowski was elected Governor of Alaska and resigned from his U.S. Senate seat. On December 20 of 2002 Governor Frank Murkowski appointed his daughter, Lisa Murkowski, to fulfill the remaining two years of his Senate term.
This action caused some people’s attitudes across the state to be much like that of Republican Jim Whitaker. Mr. Whitaker said that Mrs. Murkowski’s appointment “is nepotism and therefore contrary to the democratic principles of representative government. An action of this type undermines the public trust and is therefore of great concern."(National Journal.com, Alaska Senate Race 1 2004) Simply put, “The appointment created an uproar.” (National Journal.com, Cook Report 1)
The appointment is still an issue to the state, as evident in a recent Anchorage Daily News article about the Tony Knowles campaign’s way of attacking Senator Lisa Murkowski. The fact that Tony Knowles is trying to distance himself from directly attacking the appointment by saying “he will not bring up nepotism in the U.S. Senate Campaign.,”( Tsong, 2004) proves that the issue looms large. This issue obviously might benefit Tony Knowles because of the backlash against Murkowski's appointment, however the degree to which it will affect the campiagn remains to be seen.
Two of the more prominent issues important to Alaska arise because of the unique situation of the state of Alaska. Alaska's history is tied to the federal government and to the state of natural resource extraction from within it's borders. In fact, "Alaska remains heavily dependent on oil and on the federal government, so there is some reason for unease about its economy." (Nat. Jou. AK Profile 1) The state of Alaska's economy is very important to voters as "the state government benefited when oil prices were high in 2000, but was strapped when they fell in 2001 and 2002." (Nat. Jou. AK Profile 1)
Two issues that fall under the category of natural resource extraction and the economy include drilling for oil in the Artic National Wildlife Refuge, or ANWR, and logging in the Tongass National Forest. Drilling for in the ANWR is an issue because "ANWR is estimated to have between 9 and 16 billion barrels of oil, the most by far in any untapped U.S. oil field." (Nat. Jou. AK Profile 2) Both Candidates have endorsed drilling in the ANWR, and so the issue may not be as contentious in this election cycle. (Knowles Website and Murkowski Website)
For a look at Fishing Issues: Fishing
For a look at broader issues: Issue Comparison
Chris Burks
Davidson College Box 6020
Davidson NC 28035
704-894-5167
Site Created: Wednesday, September 8 2004.
Site Last Updated: Friday, Spetember 10 2004.