The Other McCain

"One should either write ruthlessly what one believes to be the truth, or else shut up." — Arthur Koestler

One-Way Flight to Anchorage

Posted on | August 30, 2010 | 60 Comments

That’s right — I booked my flight this morning, and Mrs. Other McCain has already packed my suitcase, so I’ll be in Alaska for Tuesday’s absentee-ballot count.

Frankly, I was planning to go later, but got an e-mail Sunday from a source who suggested I didn’t want to miss the action Tuesday and so I did something crazy: Booked a one-way flight on short notice, because (a) I wasn’t sure I had enough money yet to buy a round-trip; (b) it isn’t clear how soon they’ll have an official decision; and (c) maybe I can drop by and see the neighborhood where, uh, Joe McGinniss lives.

 IYKWIMAITYD.

OK, since I’ll be off the grid for about 12 hours, let’s round up the Alaska news, starting with this video of Joe Miller’s appearance Sunday on Face the Nation, courtesy of our friend Brian O’Connor at Red Dog Report:

“The government is going bankrupt. I don’t think anybody can deny it, sitting at $13.3 trillion in absolute debt and $130 trillion in future unfunded obligations.”

You want to see what media bias looks like? Check the lede of this story:

Joe Miller, the surprise leader in Alaska’s unresolved Republican Senate primary, said Sunday that the growing national debt requires “belt tightening” that should include cutting back on federal dollars that his state receives.

Got that? Not the “winner,” but merely the “leader.” Of course, the only reason the primary is “unresolved” is because Murkowski wouldn’t concede on Election Night and she apparently thinks the NRSC can pull some shenanigans with the absentee ballots.

Ian Lazaran at Conservatives for Palin has an important rejoinder to the PPP poll, which was hilariously wrong about the impact of Sarah Palin’s endorsement of Miller.

U.S. News & World Report has “10 Things You Didn’t Know About Lisa Murkowski,” to which we might add No. 11: She’s a loser.

Apparently, my friend Susan Ferrechio at the Examiner hasn’t gotten the memo:

In Alaska, Republicans may knock each other out on the November ballot and allow a Democrat to win the U.S. Senate seat held by the GOP for nearly three decades. Incumbent Lisa Murkowski trails GOP challenger Joe Miller by 2,000 votes and has not ruled out running as a third-party candidate if she is not the victor after state officials count absentee votes on Tuesday. A general election ballot with three candidates would split the Republican vote and make it easier for Democrats to win if they field a strong enough candidate.

Yes, there will be three candidates on the ballot in November: But if you think Lisa Murkowski’s going to be on the Libertarian ticket, you haven’t been paying close attention. It may not be up to Lisa to “rule out” a third-party campaign, OK?

Dan Riehl wonders why it took two years for Murkowski to pass the bar exam, and hints at a reason. Hey, Dan’s just askin’ questions . . .

OK, that should be enough Alaska news to hold you until Smitty can get back online this evening, when I’ll be on that long flight to Anchorage. This will be the longest trip yet for the increasingly legendary fedora I borrowed from Da Tech Guy, and my buddy Eric Dondero has promised to find me a sofa to sleep on, at least for the first night or two.

Booking a one-way fight when we’ve still got bills overdue has got Mrs. Other McCain  worried to death about this trip, but she’s praying, and you can’t go wrong with a praying woman. Thanks to everyone who has already contributed to the Shoe Leather Fund.

Maybe I’ll be able to update from the airport in a few hours, but other than that, my next dateline will be Anchorage. So for now, I will close with the five most important words in the English language:

HIT THE FREAKING TIP JAR!

UPDATE: As predicted, the LP tells Lisa the Loser to get lost.

I’ve deleted a few of the troll Waylay’s comments, and will delete him entirely if he ever again derogates the blog, per se. This is what is not allowed, you see? You can argue any political viewpoint you wish, but you can’t come into the comments of my blog to declare that the blog sucks. If you want to declare that my blog sucks, go get your own blog and call it, “Hey, That Other Guy’s Blog Sucks,” and see how much traffic you get. But you can’t use our bandwidth to delegitimize our project.

This afternoon, I kissed my wife and hugged my kids good-bye and now I’m about to fly across the country to do what I do, and I don’t need some pathetic troll coming into the comments to say that what I do isn’t worth doing.

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Category: Alaska, Da Tech Guy, Dan Riehl, Election, Mrs. Other McCain, Senate, Shoe Leather Fund

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  • Kojocaro

    the idiots at cbs are still insisting the cabbie was stabbed because he was a muslim and the guy whop stabbed him opposed the mosque that is a lie the cabbie opposed the mosque whilst the stabber didn’t

  • http://www.2010blog.net John S

    Let’s hope she doesn’t concede by the time you get up there. Er, make that, let’s hope she does? But then you’ll have less to report on. Hmm.

  • Kojocaro

    the idiots at cbs are still insisting the cabbie was stabbed because he was a muslim and the guy whop stabbed him opposed the mosque that is a lie the cabbie opposed the mosque whilst the stabber didn’t

  • http://www.2010blog.net John S

    Let’s hope she doesn’t concede by the time you get up there. Er, make that, let’s hope she does? But then you’ll have less to report on. Hmm.

  • Dan

    Thanks for doing this!

  • Dan

    Thanks for doing this!

  • http://sisu.typepad.com Sissy Willis

    I want you to know we’re all counting on you … to take good care of the hat. Godspeed!

  • http://sisu.typepad.com Sissy Willis

    I want you to know we’re all counting on you … to take good care of the hat. Godspeed!

  • jefferson101

    I just hope we don’t wind up having to re-write the lyrics to “Lodi” before you get back!

  • jefferson101

    I just hope we don’t wind up having to re-write the lyrics to “Lodi” before you get back!

  • Jeff Weimer

    OK Stacy, I grant you a….Grant. $50 just hit your tip jar. Have fun, fly safely, and get back home.

  • Jeff Weimer

    OK Stacy, I grant you a….Grant. $50 just hit your tip jar. Have fun, fly safely, and get back home.

  • JeffS

    waylay, you’re the one who is condescending, telling Stacy how to proceed with this.

    Did you hit his tip jar? Enough, say, to pay for his Kia repairs? Or even $10? I doubt it, but yet you nag him how to spend his money.

    Condescending AND hypocrical. Stay classy, waylay.

  • JeffS

    “hypocriTIcal”. My bad.

  • JeffS

    waylay, you’re the one who is condescending, telling Stacy how to proceed with this.

    Did you hit his tip jar? Enough, say, to pay for his Kia repairs? Or even $10? I doubt it, but yet you nag him how to spend his money.

    Condescending AND hypocrical. Stay classy, waylay.

  • JeffS

    “hypocriTIcal”. My bad.

  • http://theothermccain.com smitty

    @waylay,
    Piling on the JeffS remark, Stacy is very likely to increase awareness of AK conservative bloggers.
    Also, he’s likely to give them a few helpful lessons in gonzo reporting and fearlessness.
    Why not survey the AK bloggers afterward, and see if your theory has merit?

  • http://theothermccain.com smitty

    @waylay,
    Piling on the JeffS remark, Stacy is very likely to increase awareness of AK conservative bloggers.
    Also, he’s likely to give them a few helpful lessons in gonzo reporting and fearlessness.
    Why not survey the AK bloggers afterward, and see if your theory has merit?

  • http://thecampofthesaints.wordpress.com Bob Belvedere

    Stacy: Godspeed in The Land Of The Midnight Sun.

    Smitty: Why waste your breath with gg?

  • http://thecampofthesaints.wordpress.com Bob Belvedere

    Stacy: Godspeed in The Land Of The Midnight Sun.

    Smitty: Why waste your breath with gg?

  • http://knappster.blogspot.com Thomas L. Knapp

    waylay,

    If you follow this blog at all, then you know that Stacy goes out of his way to highlight the work of, and drive traffic to, local bloggers wherever he goes.

    It’s not a question of local bloggers or a visit by and coverage from someone who purposefully works a “national beat” and does so by actually visiting. Not only is there room for both, they complement each other.

  • http://knappster.blogspot.com Thomas L. Knapp

    waylay,

    If you follow this blog at all, then you know that Stacy goes out of his way to highlight the work of, and drive traffic to, local bloggers wherever he goes.

    It’s not a question of local bloggers or a visit by and coverage from someone who purposefully works a “national beat” and does so by actually visiting. Not only is there room for both, they complement each other.

  • http://theothermccain.com/ Robert Stacy McCain

    Admiral Smith: I believe in your IT toolkit, you may find something called a “trollhammer.”

  • http://theothermccain.com/ Robert Stacy McCain

    Admiral Smith: I believe in your IT toolkit, you may find something called a “trollhammer.”

  • Rich Crowther

    Conservative Alaskan blogger? Gotta be an oxymoron in there somewhere.

    There are no conservative bloggers to speak of in Alaska. The local bloggers are the Palin hating freaks who hounded her post-2008 election: Shannyn Moore, Jesse Griffin, Jeanne Devon, et al.

    So Stacy can step on all the toes he likes, ‘cos he’ll be in a unique situation…a pioneer conservative blogger in the Last Frontier.

    Break out the deerskin, buddy.

  • Rich Crowther

    Conservative Alaskan blogger? Gotta be an oxymoron in there somewhere.

    There are no conservative bloggers to speak of in Alaska. The local bloggers are the Palin hating freaks who hounded her post-2008 election: Shannyn Moore, Jesse Griffin, Jeanne Devon, et al.

    So Stacy can step on all the toes he likes, ‘cos he’ll be in a unique situation…a pioneer conservative blogger in the Last Frontier.

    Break out the deerskin, buddy.

  • waylay

    Stacy is very likely to increase awareness of AK conservative bloggers.

    I certainly hope so….

    Also, he’s likely to give them a few helpful lessons in gonzo reporting and fearlessness.

    Why not survey the AK bloggers afterward, and see if your theory has merit?

    I’m not much aware of the state of the conservative blogger landscape in Alaska, but i cannot imagine the progressive Alaskan bloggers (many who have large audiences, far bigger than TOM’s, for ex. the MudFlats) would take lightly to an out-of-state blogger flying-in and “teach” them about reporting their state’s politics.

    But then i may have made a mistake to overestimate the standards and success of conservative bloggers in Alaska…

    In that case, i hope RSM’s work would ignite much needed fire under some unmotivated Alaskan arses.

    @JeffS

    Maybe Stacy is warming up for the November mid-terms. This kind of field work and first hand reporting is useful before the elections, not after. It tells you the pulse of the people, the issues dear to them, how prepared the campaigns are etc… i just don’t see much value for a blogger covering the absentee ballot counting in giving insights that the MSM mayn’t be able to provide.

  • waylay

    Stacy is very likely to increase awareness of AK conservative bloggers.

    I certainly hope so….

    Also, he’s likely to give them a few helpful lessons in gonzo reporting and fearlessness.

    Why not survey the AK bloggers afterward, and see if your theory has merit?

    I’m not much aware of the state of the conservative blogger landscape in Alaska, but i cannot imagine the progressive Alaskan bloggers (many who have large audiences, far bigger than TOM’s, for ex. the MudFlats) would take lightly to an out-of-state blogger flying-in and “teach” them about reporting their state’s politics.

    But then i may have made a mistake to overestimate the standards and success of conservative bloggers in Alaska…

    In that case, i hope RSM’s work would ignite much needed fire under some unmotivated Alaskan arses.

    @JeffS

    Maybe Stacy is warming up for the November mid-terms. This kind of field work and first hand reporting is useful before the elections, not after. It tells you the pulse of the people, the issues dear to them, how prepared the campaigns are etc… i just don’t see much value for a blogger covering the absentee ballot counting in giving insights that the MSM mayn’t be able to provide.

  • Rob

    Trollhammer FTW!

  • Rob

    Trollhammer FTW!

  • JeffS

    waylay, what part of “Stay classy” do you fail to understand? Whether you are right or wrong is immaterial; the fact is that you are a harpy, and a pretty incompetent one at that. The Troll Guild Master will want to have a few words with you later on, methinks.

  • JeffS

    waylay, what part of “Stay classy” do you fail to understand? Whether you are right or wrong is immaterial; the fact is that you are a harpy, and a pretty incompetent one at that. The Troll Guild Master will want to have a few words with you later on, methinks.

  • waylay

    Thomas L. Knapp wrote, “If you follow this blog at all, then you know that Stacy goes out of his way to highlight the work of, and drive traffic to, local bloggers wherever he goes.

    I have been following this blog for a few months, and i am not aware of this fact. Thank you.

    “Not only is there room for both, they complement each other.”

    I’m all for more grassroots’ reporting and activism, whether its from progressives or conservatives. Its good for the health of politics. Had RSM gone to cover the “Next Joe Miller” in Delaware that would have been applauded from a grassroots perceptive, but I just don’t see the similar value in covering the ballot counting and Lisa’s plans by being on the ground. And given RSM’s open contempt towards Lisa Murkowski and the standards of his sources and reporting so far, i suspect he itching for some serious mischief when he lands there. IOW RSM doesn’t give the confidence that he can be trusted to be honest in his grassroots reporting.

  • waylay

    Thomas L. Knapp wrote, “If you follow this blog at all, then you know that Stacy goes out of his way to highlight the work of, and drive traffic to, local bloggers wherever he goes.

    I have been following this blog for a few months, and i am not aware of this fact. Thank you.

    “Not only is there room for both, they complement each other.”

    I’m all for more grassroots’ reporting and activism, whether its from progressives or conservatives. Its good for the health of politics. Had RSM gone to cover the “Next Joe Miller” in Delaware that would have been applauded from a grassroots perceptive, but I just don’t see the similar value in covering the ballot counting and Lisa’s plans by being on the ground. And given RSM’s open contempt towards Lisa Murkowski and the standards of his sources and reporting so far, i suspect he itching for some serious mischief when he lands there. IOW RSM doesn’t give the confidence that he can be trusted to be honest in his grassroots reporting.

  • Rob

    From the eXtreme right…in so many words I think Dr.Paul is saying keep the issue local, lets focus on the budget and the wars, granted he could’ve been more tactful. He did call Pelosi crazy…so that’s a sign of sanity.

    Guess where Paul will be on 9/4/2010? In San Francisco with John Dennis at rally.

  • Rob

    From the eXtreme right…in so many words I think Dr.Paul is saying keep the issue local, lets focus on the budget and the wars, granted he could’ve been more tactful. He did call Pelosi crazy…so that’s a sign of sanity.

    Guess where Paul will be on 9/4/2010? In San Francisco with John Dennis at rally.

  • Joe

    Time to unleash the hammer.

    Any reference to the lesser troll known at “thor” is merely coincidental.

  • Joe

    Time to unleash the hammer.

    Any reference to the lesser troll known at “thor” is merely coincidental.

  • Joe

    Too bad you don’t have time to go to Denali or go salmon fishing.

  • Joe

    Too bad you don’t have time to go to Denali or go salmon fishing.

  • JeffS

    Heck, Joe, Stacy can fish right there in Anchorage, near the railway station, on Ship Creek. Mrs. Other McCain might like her some fresh salmon.

  • JeffS

    Heck, Joe, Stacy can fish right there in Anchorage, near the railway station, on Ship Creek. Mrs. Other McCain might like her some fresh salmon.

  • Rob

    Joe,
    Good point. Stacy go fishing.

  • Rob

    Joe,
    Good point. Stacy go fishing.

  • waylay

    Seriously RTSM, what the f*** are you going to Alaska? Get your a** to Delaware! ASAP.

    DE-Sen: Castle facing primary pressure from the Right

    While the Coons camp was likely trying to come up with a tasteful way to attack Castle on his age, the O’Donnell camp isn’t going for subtle:

    “It’s kind of obscene how they’ve been pimping this 70-year-old bad heart Republican. We just want a fair primary,” [O'Donnell's campaign manager] said. “Where does he get his passion from? There aren’t enough F-minuses from the NRA Republicans in Delaware. There aren’t enough pro-human-cloning Republicans in Delaware.”

    [...]

    Update: Tea Party Express will actively work for O’Donnell.

  • waylay

    Seriously RTSM, what the f*** are you going to Alaska? Get your a** to Delaware! ASAP.

    DE-Sen: Castle facing primary pressure from the Right

    While the Coons camp was likely trying to come up with a tasteful way to attack Castle on his age, the O’Donnell camp isn’t going for subtle:

    “It’s kind of obscene how they’ve been pimping this 70-year-old bad heart Republican. We just want a fair primary,” [O'Donnell's campaign manager] said. “Where does he get his passion from? There aren’t enough F-minuses from the NRA Republicans in Delaware. There aren’t enough pro-human-cloning Republicans in Delaware.”

    [...]

    Update: Tea Party Express will actively work for O’Donnell.

  • Pingback: Alaska Libertarian Party to Lisa Murkowski: No Thanks Sweetie! | Political Byline

  • http://knappster.blogspot.com Thomas L. Knapp

    Waylay,

    Well now … we’re branching off into a couple of different issues here.

    I’ll hit the one we were on first: Whenever Stacy takes off on one of his “shoe leather journalism” trips, the coverage coming back invariable includes photos of, plaudits for, and links to the like-minded bloggers in the area where he’s going. Matter of fact, he typically seems to crash on their couches and draft them as chauffeurs, and they seem to be glad to provide those amenities in return for the attention he directs their way… so ‘nuf said on that.

    Now, to the other issue:

    - I agree with you that Stacy has an obvious ax-grind going with Murkowski in particular and the GOP “establishment” in general.

    - I agree with you that the five-point-lede stuff likely doesn’t require a Robert Stacy McCain visit to gather or report.

    But, he wants to go there; his readers seem to want him to go there and will likely pony up to cover his expenses; and his blogging from there will likely be interesting, whether or not it’s overly informative with respect to the five-point-lede stuff in a way that it wouldn’t have been if he’d chilled in Maryland.

    Knowing, however, that both he and Eric Dondero will be in Alaska for the next few days, I am flirting with the notion of doing a flip-flop and assuming a hardcore “SECURE THE BORDERS!” position.

  • http://knappster.blogspot.com Thomas L. Knapp

    Waylay,

    Well now … we’re branching off into a couple of different issues here.

    I’ll hit the one we were on first: Whenever Stacy takes off on one of his “shoe leather journalism” trips, the coverage coming back invariable includes photos of, plaudits for, and links to the like-minded bloggers in the area where he’s going. Matter of fact, he typically seems to crash on their couches and draft them as chauffeurs, and they seem to be glad to provide those amenities in return for the attention he directs their way… so ‘nuf said on that.

    Now, to the other issue:

    - I agree with you that Stacy has an obvious ax-grind going with Murkowski in particular and the GOP “establishment” in general.

    - I agree with you that the five-point-lede stuff likely doesn’t require a Robert Stacy McCain visit to gather or report.

    But, he wants to go there; his readers seem to want him to go there and will likely pony up to cover his expenses; and his blogging from there will likely be interesting, whether or not it’s overly informative with respect to the five-point-lede stuff in a way that it wouldn’t have been if he’d chilled in Maryland.

    Knowing, however, that both he and Eric Dondero will be in Alaska for the next few days, I am flirting with the notion of doing a flip-flop and assuming a hardcore “SECURE THE BORDERS!” position.

  • http://qwertyaltofuroi.blogspot.com Red

    I always appreciate a firsthand account from someone thorough. Good luck in AK Stacy!

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