Anchorage Daily News

Missed the U.S. House debates last night? No, you didn't. ADN's Sean Cockerham recaps the evening on the Alaska Politics blog, from the opening salvos by Republican candidates Don Young, Sean Parnell and Gabrielle LaDoux to the fact that both Democrats, Diane Benson and Ethan Berkowitz, say they've toked, a question the Republicans were not asked. The Fairbanks Daily News-Miner live-blogged the event.

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Sen. Ted Stevens is back in Alaska campaigning, and the nation is watching. The senator's campaign rally Monday, his appearance with President Bush at Eielson Air Force Base and his request to have his trial early and in Alaska have set news analysts to remarking and remembering. Here is a selection of links to fill you in.

>"Placeholders" in the Republican Party in the event of an "accident." Former Anchorage Press reporter Casey Grove remembers a 2007 interview with Sen. Ted Stevens in which the senator alluded to Republicans who could take his place if he couldn't run. He said he's also heard word of possible "placeholders" from within the Alaska Republican Party who would run if Stevens were unable to for some reason. "You know, accidents happen, and people as old as me, well, nobody wants an accident," he said. "Something might happen along the line, and they think, ‘Well, I'll just file in case.'" (Los Anchorage.net)

>"If people can be judged by the company they keep, Stevens ought to be political toast no matter what happens in the courtroom." The Stump blogger Eve Fairbanks comments on Bill Allen's nephew remarking that he got crosswise with Allen when he began dating one of Allen's girlfriends. "One of Allen's girlfriends?" she writes. (New Republic)

>Sign seen hanging along Trunk Road in Wasilla: "Ted's Toast." It was mostly a photo story, images provided by Anchorage resident Dennis Zaki, some from the Stevens rally. The toast sign is definitely worth a look. (Talking Points Memo Muckraker)

>Photo of the day: Bush "warmly" acknowledges indicted Sen. Stevens. The photo shows a clapping audience surrounding a quiet Ted Stevens at Eielson Air Force Base. (Think Progress.org)

>The demise of a "senator for life." Michael Carey's Los Angeles Times analysis of Alaskans' reactions to the indictment. (Seattle Times)

Defining the Stevens legacy. Steve Heimel and Michael Carey, airing from 10 to 11 a.m. today, audio posted after the show airs. (APRN's Talk of Alaska)

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"Conservative and quirky Alaska" gets unusual attention from national Democrats. The Washington Post offers a long and thoughtful look at Alaska's relationship with the Barack Obama campaign, from campaign enthusiasts preparing to jump into rural Alaska by Bush plane to why John McCain is such a tough sell in the state.

"There's a sense of betrayal with McCain in the fact that he doesn't support (ANWR drilling)," Alaska pollster Dave Dittman said. "There's the sense that he's not any better than a Democrat."

Paul Jenkins at the Huffington Post points out McCain's special challenge with white voters.

Aggravating the situation for McCain: Smaller GOP states such as Alaska and Montana are threatening to break off, less because of demographics than of local conditions and Republican corruption and ineptitude. The presence of former GOP Congressman Bob Barr at the head of the Libertarian ticket will probably not be material in most states, but in some close contests (such as Montana and Alaska) his role could be remarkably akin to that played by Ralph Nader in 2000.

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Make way for the trucker. The Nation has a very long and detailed portrait of U.S. House Democratic candidate Diane Benson. The story includes a link to a 2007 interview of Benson with Indian Country Today in which Benson puts current politics into a more rustic paradigm.

"People see that there's a wounded moose in their midst. I remind them it's like a pack of wolves circling the moose. It took the first wolf to strike to start bringing it down. The fact is, I'm the one who was out there when it didn't look possible. I frankly think that's the kind of representation people need."

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Nancy Pelosi: If the Republicans "want Alaska, we'll give them Alaska." Pelosi made the remark on The Daily Show, but the point of this Forbes.com story on energy politics is that Pelosi is too late. The story makes the case that Alaska's waters "quietly reopen to drilling." Citing the lifting of various moratoriums since 2004, the story takes a close look at the shallow Aleutian Basin, making its more meager oil resources easier to get.

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Alaska sues over endangered species status of polar bears. Dick Kempthorne of the Interior Department got notice Monday, the Associated Press reports. The lawsuit, filed in Washington, D.C., claims the federal analysis did not adequately consider polar bear survival through earlier warming periods centuries ago.

Alaska objects to the conclusion that polar bears could be endangered within the "foreseeable future," a timeline the Fish and Wildlife Service put at 45 years, or three generations of polar bears. The state called that number arbitrary.

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One pipeline or two? CNNMoney.com updates its readers on Alaska's dueling pipeline proposals but quotes a state official saying only one is likely to be built. Kurt Gibson, deputy director for the Alaska Division of Oil and Gas, says two pipelines don't make economical or logistical sense. He predicts BP and Conoco Phillips will join the state's version when they get "fiscal certainty," or an agreement with the state over royalties and taxes that will lock the economics for them into place.

"They can commit gas to the TransCanada project and receive fiscal certainty, or they can move ahead with the Denali project and forgo fiscal certainty," Gibson said.

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110 Chinese scientists head to the Chukchi Sea. Their icebreaker is called Xuelong, or "Snow Dragon," and steamed into the Arctic on Saturday, according to China View. A head scientist onboard said climate change, and how it affects China, is one of their areas of work. They'll also be looking at Arctic geology and geophysics.

Meanwhile, the fact that the North Pole didn't quite melt out this summer is documented at the National Snow and Ice Data Center. BarentsObserver.com notes that with six more weeks of melt possible, that situation could still change.

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In other headlines of interest to Alaskans:

> Air Force colonel diverted to Alaska after Tinsley death (wral.com)

> Bush stops at Eielson, acknowledges Sen. Ted Stevens (Fairbanks Daily News-Miner)

> Video of President Bush's stop at Eielson (YouTube.com)

> What the president said (White House press release, Alaska Politics blog)

> Man faces attempted murder charge in strangling incident at Kasilof RV park (Peninsula Clarion)

> More parking, new traffic pattern aimed at making fair easy to get to (Frontiersman)

> Fire destroys Big Lake recreation home (Frontiersman)

> Mining expert talks about why he opposed Pebble. (KCAW)

> Anti-Pebble group issues report on environmental issues with Anglo-American (Peninsula Clarion

> Health and Social Service director Mike Leavitt blogs about his recent Alaska trip (hss.gov)

> Itinerant veterinarian heads to Arctic villages (TheCabin.net)

> No more free calls from prison (KTUU)

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