Ann Brown, chairwoman of the Alaska Republican Party, was off the mark in defending Nikki Haley’s answer about the cause of the U.S. Civil War. Whether the cause was the moral objection to slavery or the politicsof ending or stopping the spread of slavery can be debated — it was both — the point is that slavery was the root cause, and Haley did not mention it. Instead, her answer was a Sarah Palin- esque mishmash of words and phrases that served only as dog whistles to the far-right wing of her party. Ms. Brown’s defense was not much better.
— Mark Williams
Anchorage
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