EAT-AND-GREET: Embattled congressman faces critics with humor and a little jig.
U.S. Rep. Don Young held a picnic on the Park Strip Monday, handing out Mountain Dew and Diet Pepsi as hundreds of people waited in line for a plate of free food and to shake hands with Alaska's lone congressman.
All the while, a small but loud cluster of protesters chanted slogans at Young from a few feet away. Young, standing in front of watermelon slices and hamburger plates, ignored some of the taunts and danced along with others.
"FBI! FBI!" the protesters yelled.
Young smiled and did a little dance, shaking his hips and pumping his arms. "They'll never get the best of me," he said at one point to a supporter who was making his way through the line.
Young is running for re-election and under federal investigation for his ties to the oil field services company Veco. One of the grills at the picnic was stamped with a plate-size Veco logo. A Young aide, Steve Hansen, said the grills were rentals and will be paid for by the campaign.
Young's annual pig roast fund-raiser in Anchorage last week drew more than 200 supporters and dozens of protesters.
Monday, fewer critics showed for his hastily arranged meet-and-greet picnic on the Park Strip. They were able to crowd within feet of the congressman for nearly 90 minutes as he served food, leading to jostling between supporters and protesters, a crying girl, and somebody grabbing somebody's shirt.
Signs for the picnic began appearing around town late last week, and the event drew hundreds in the afternoon heat.
Carl Washington, who is 32, stood shirtless resting on a BMX bicycle. He wore an "I'm a Young man" button hanging from a necklace.
He said he likes it that Young has been able to bring federal funding to Alaska. As for Young's critics, Washington said people try to knock you down if you're successful.
He pointed to the long, single-file line. "If you look at the people here -- low income. And I don't mean to disrespect nobody. People carrying backpacks. They're hungry."
Toward the end of the line stood Peter Brink, 42. He said it's become too expensive to live in rural Alaska and that he left Bethel in March. He's now homeless in Anchorage, he said.
Asked what he'd like to tell Young, he said: "There's too many companies that are controlling our congressmen."
Young arrived at about 5:30 p.m., shaking hands with well-wishers as he made his way to the food tent. Protesters who had been standing along I Street quickly followed, getting as close as Young's handlers would allow as a seemingly endless river of people picked up plates of hot dogs and beans, watermelon and salmon.
Mitchell Cannon, a 17-year-old who had been handing out Young buttons early in the day, had switched sides and written "Benson 08" on his T-shirt -- a reference to Democratic House candidate Diane Benson. Hansen, the Young aide, confronted a protester who was yelling into the tent, and Hansen said the man grabbed his shirt.
In the middle of the crowd, a 10-year-old girl cried, and Young supporters and critics argued as grill smoke blew across the strip.
Young made no speech. Reporters stood among the supporters and protesters, shouting questions:
Congressman Young, what do you think of all this?
"I love it! I love America!" Young replied.
Congressman Young, have you done anything wrong?
"The Lord is with me," he said.
Young left about 7 p.m. as the protesters complained about the Young supporters and the supporters complained about the protesters. Volunteers continued to serve watermelon and soda, and from 9th to 10th Avenue, the Park Strip smelled like smoke.
Find Kyle Hopkins' political blog online at adn.com/alaskapolitics or call him at 257-4334.
