Republican in Name Only? A RINO? No, in my opinion he's a DEMOCRAT running for state House on a Republican ticket. He approached me at our district convention portraying himself as a conservative. He visits churches in our district and takes the same approach with them. The problem with that? He and his wife contributed (often the max) to democrats Mark Begich, Ethan Berkowitz, Tony Knowles, and yes, Barack Obama. And they contributed to the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee too.
Look for yourself. At the Federal Election Commission's web portal, enter the last name Colver and first name Jim to see his contributions, and then enter the last name Colver and the first name Marie to see his wife's.
I participate in several online groups in Facebook. Sometimes people send me a "friend" request, and often I approve the request if we've agreed about something -- usually either religion or politics. I am a little cautious, so I usually look to see if we have a "friend" or two in common before accepting a request. Somehow Jim Colver became my "friend," so I posted this new information on his Facebook page. Instead of denying or replying, he deleted my post and de-friended me. End of conversation.
Read more: Falsehoods, smear attacks distract from issues facing District 9
I confronted him again, this time with a "private message" on Facebook. He never replied. End of conversation. I spoke to another Facebook friend about it, and she sent him a message asking him about it. No reply. End of conversation.
So I called the state of Alaska Division of Records and requested his party affiliation and history of party changes (it is free, public information). This is what I discovered:
• 7/4/76, he registered originally as a Democrat.
• On 3/17/97, he registered as Undeclared.
Then he began having success in the political arena.
• Assembly Member, Matanuska-Susitna Borough, 2000-present
• Upper Cook Inlet Representative, Alaska Coastal Policy Council, 2001-present
• Candidate, Alaska House of Representatives, District 13, 2002
Seems to me that getting rid of the Democrat label helped him locally. We are a conservative community, after all. Only problem was that he didn't get elected to state House as an "undeclared" voter in 2002. I wonder if his financial supporters in 2002 are aware of his Democratic leanings. I wonder if they will support him again if they know whom he supported financially after they supported him.
That's not all. There's more:
• On 2/17/12, he registered as Republican.
Yep, Republican. Even after he and his wife sent money to Mark Begich and Barack Obama during the previous election cycle (his wife is his current treasurer for his campaign as a Republican according to his APOC reports). He was defeated in 2002 when he ran as undeclared for state House, so now he is running for state House under the Republican label, portraying himself to folks as a conservative. Imagine that.
I find it deceptive that he donated ONLY to Democrats during one election cycle and then in the next election cycle -- in 2012 -- registered as a Republican. Looks to me like he was "undeclared" and knew he could not go any further politically unless he affiliated with a specific party. People are fed up with Obama and Democrats (especially here in Alaska), so in my opinion, he made a political move as though politics were a game of chess. There is no other explanation I can think of, and since he isn't speaking to me, I can only draw my own conclusions. One thing I can't wrap my head around is how, in good conscience, a candidate can financially support only Democratic candidates and then run on the Republican platform.
Wait a minute. "Everyone else does it." In fact, the ARP even gets rid of conservatives when they get elected into their inner circle executive committee (Russ Millette and Debbie Brown). And, they sabotage and attempt to destroy the reputation of outstanding conservative candidates like Joe Miller when "We the People" vote him in as the Republican nominee because he supports the Republican platform.
I, as a registered Republican, am FED UP with politicians who lie to my face about supporting the Republican platform when they run for office. I am also FED UP with the outgoing Republican Party executive committee who betrayed my trust during the last election cycle and beyond. In fact, as a registered Republican, I intend to help other (loyal to the platform) party members take my party back!
So, that brings me back to politicians who run on MY party platform (in MY District 9) under false pretenses. In my opinion Jim Colver had it right the first time he registered: He is a DEMOCRAT!
Have you checked out the candidates in your district? You really should.
As for me, I am voting for conservative, stable, and HONEST George Rauscher in District 9, and for the same reasons in the federal race I'm supporting Joe Miller for Senate. By now everyone knows we need a huge change in D.C., and we need Miller, who has the COURAGE to team with other conservatives to accomplish that change for our liberty!
Carol Carman is a constitutionally conservative Christian, a lifelong Alaskan and lifelong Republican. Government decline, overreach and corruption have driven her to become politically active, and for that reason she has joined the Alaska Republican Assembly. She believes in respecting and returning to the authority of the Constitution, and in encouraging transparency, accountability, virtue, respect, integrity and moral courage in our politicians.
The views expressed here are the writer's own and are not necessarily endorsed by Alaska Dispatch, which welcomes a broad range of viewpoints. To submit a piece for consideration, e-mail commentary(at)alaskadispatch.com.