JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) - Republican National Committee co-chair Sharon Day told the party faithful Thursday that while it’s never easy to defeat an incumbent, ousting Democratic U.S. Sen. Mark Begich is doable and not a mere “pie in the sky” notion.
Day, in a keynote address at the state GOP convention Thursday night, said the only hope for saving America and fighting back against President Barack Obama and his policies is for the Republicans to take back control of the Senate.
She called on activists to do something every day - from knocking on doors to handing out literature - in the run-up to the elections and to stand united.
“Stand united in the fight because if you don’t win, you can’t govern. And if we don’t govern, we don’t save this nation for the next generation,” she said.
Republicans see Alaska as key to their efforts to wrest back control of the U.S. Senate. The Republican National Committee has said it is planning to invest an unprecedented level of resources in the state as part of that goal, including with field staff and offices aimed at building up the ground game. The RNC also is seeking to spread a message of greater inclusiveness within the party.
A packed crowd filled a convention hall room at a downtown Juneau hotel to hear Day, including several state legislators and Lt. Gov. Mead Treadwell, who is among the high-profile Republicans seeking the party’s nomination for U.S. Senate. The others are former state Natural Resources Commissioner Dan Sullivan and Joe Miller, the 2010 GOP Senate nominee in the race eventually won in a write-in campaign by Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski.
The Anchorage Daily News reported that many Ron Paul supporters planned to skip the convention after two of their members were elected in 2012 and later removed from leadership posts. The party’s current chair, Peter Goldberg, said in any party there will be some fracture. But he said the voices of all Republicans are important to him and welcome in the GOP.
Day, in an interview before her speech, said there is an excitement within the party to reclaim the U.S. Senate seat currently held by Begich. She said she had not sensed any divisiveness within the party and believes the GOP is united in wanting to oust Begich and to see that Republican Gov. Sean Parnell is re-elected.
Day said Begich is vulnerable by virtue of being a Democrat in a state that’s a traditional Republican stronghold. But she said he has other vulnerabilities, too, like his support of the federal health care law. She said he also invited the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency into Alaska to weigh in on the proposed Pebble Mine project. EPA has said it initiated its review of the impacts of large-scale mining in the Bristol Bay region at the request of tribes and other stakeholder groups.
She told the convention audience to laughter Thursday night that the plan is to send Begich back to Alaska where he can “ride his snowmobile all he wants” - a nod to a recent campaign commercial featuring Begich on a snowmachine.
Begich campaign spokesman Max Croes said in an emailed statement that Begich’s opponents “rushed to the opportunity to have another Outside group come to Alaska to instruct Alaskans what to think, who to vote for and apparently to use the phrase ’snowmobile.’” While the word snowmobile is commonly used in the Lower 48, snowmachine is popularly used in Alaska.
He said Alaskans know Begich’s record of fighting for things like oil development offshore in the Arctic Ocean and in the National Petroleum Reserve-Alaska and delivering new Coast Guard cutters for Southeast Alaska.
Please read our comment policy before commenting.