I'm writing in response to Win Gruening's Sept. 11 op-ed. Gruening pens a rambling diatribe against Sen. Mark Begich, blaming Begich for saying his opponent is not Alaskan enough to hold office.
Dan Sullivan, the candidate Gruening supports, hails from Ohio. That would have nothing to do with whether the Ohio Sullivan is qualified to serve as Alaska's U.S. Senator except for the fact that his Alaska credentials are questionable. Sullivan moved to Alaska in 1997, but according to multiple news sources, from 2006 until 2010 Sullivan claimed his principal residence was a home he owned in Bethesda, Maryland in order to receive a tax break on the home.
Sullivan has the financial support of the right-wing billionaire Koch brothers and Republican political operative Karl Rove. My fears about Sullivan are not connected to whether or not he's "Alaskan enough," but whether Sullivan was hand-selected by the Kochs and Rove and, because of their support, his vote in the U.S. Senate will be owned by their Outside corporate interests.
As Gruening stated, his own grandfather was from New York. Ernest Gruening was appointed governor of the Territory of Alaska by President Franklin Roosevelt, and later became one of Alaska's first U.S. senators. Unlike Dan Sullivan, Ernest Gruening earned his Alaska credentials by dedication and hard work. He was not an opportunist looking for a stepping stone to something better. Ernest Gruening was a fighter who jumped in and took on issues that changed Alaska for the good of its residents, not Outside corporate interests. Ernest Gruening fought to change the tax structure of the territory so the Outside corporate canned salmon industry (reminiscent of today's oil industry) would no longer have a stranglehold on Alaska. He fought to pass an anti-discrimination bill nearly 20 years before the federal Civil Rights Act of 1964. He was brave enough to oppose the war in Vietnam, when he was one of only two senators who voted against the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution.
His grandson's rant about who is really "Alaskan enough" is meant to discredit and deflect attention from the hard work Sen. Begich has done. Begich has worked across the aisle to secure $1 billion in funding for Alaska roads, ports, harbors, and bridges; he holds a seat on the Senate Committee on Veterans' Affairs in order to secure health care, jobs and other benefits for Alaska's large veteran community; he has worked to increase oil and gas development; and he supports women, the fisheries, rural Alaska, and education. Begich is working on issues of great importance to Alaska's seniors -- he is working to "scrap the cap" on Social Security to insure the program's viability, and is working to repeal the government pension offset and the windfall elimination provision.
Begich is carrying on the legacy of the late Sen. Ernest Gruening, fighting for the people of Alaska, not Outside corporate interests. Begich is a real Alaskan fighting for real Alaskan people and causes.
If Dan Sullivan is elected to the Senate, Alaskans will take a back seat to Karl Rove's American Crossroads and Koch Industries, the corporate interests who bought and paid for Sullivan's election. I believe the late Sen. Gruening would be appalled to think Alaskans would support such a candidacy.
Kimberly Metcalfe, Democratic National Committeewoman from Alaska, is a lifelong Alaskan who was born and raised in Juneau. Her father, Vern Metcalfe, served in the Territorial Alaska House of Representatives under Gov. Ernest Gruening.
The views expressed here are the writer's own and are not necessarily endorsed by Alaska Dispatch News, which welcomes a broad range of viewpoints. To submit a piece for consideration, email commentary(at)alaskadispatch.com.