Dennis Zaki Blog - AlaskaReport

Fake it ’til you make

UPDATED (See videos below)

I went to the Alaska Women’s Political Caucus forum in Anchorage on Sunday. There was one person everybody wanted to hear from. Lt. Governor Sean Parnell. He managed to dodge this one too. He was slapping hands at the Governor’s picnic in Fairbanks.

I’d say the forum was a tie. All three candidates did very well, even Coconut Don. At one point Don said “My ethics and my wife’s ethics and my families’ ethics should never have been questioned” to quite a few chuckles in the audience. We were all waiting for Don to explode but it never happened. Why the hell else would we be inside for three hours on a Sunday afternoon in the middle of summer. We wanted action.

Rare sighting - Don Young without his glasses

Ethan Berkowitz

Diane Benson

Coconut Don wasn’t drunk at the forum. When you take a lot of pictures of people you get quite a few outtakes with closed eyes, smirks, and sometimes gold like this one. Don Young is by far my favorite photography subject. I’ll miss him after his election defeat. I guess I’ll still be able to get pictures at his corruption trials though.

Diane Benson on Earmarks

Ethan Berkowitz and Don Young on ethics (yes, Don actually talks about ethics)

Ethan Berkowitz on the Iraq War

Philip Munger at Progessive Alaska writes: “Ethan’s speech is better than I had thought it to be upon first live listening. And so is Diane’s. Benson’s is perhaps the finest speech by a national level candidate, speaking on issues close to the concerns of women, in Alaska history.”

I concur. Benson’s speech was spectacular and got a huge roar from the crowd. Ethan’s was great too and had the crowd going after mentioning the Republican’s corruption.

Diane Benson Speech

Ethan Berkowitz Speech