After previously suggesting she might be interested, former Governor Palin today announced she would run for the seat vacated by the death of Rep. Don Young -

https://www.axios.com/palin-alaska-us-ho...b001b.html

https://www.adn.com/politics/2022/04/01/...ars/#palin

This special election — winner gets to serve in Congress for about 4-5 months — will be the first time Alaska has put its new/unique electoral system into action. There is a non-partisan primary from which, I believe the top 4 vote-getters advance to a run-off. And then that run-off utilizes ranked-choice voting. So that will be interesting to watch unfold.

I honestly have no idea who else is running besides Palin, nor any idea of what her chances are.

Sarah Palin is a genius compared to Biden* and kamala.

Here we are

(04-01-2022 10:52 PM)shere khan Wrote:  Sarah Palin is a genius compared to Biden* and kamala.

Here we are

scary shite.

(04-01-2022 10:45 PM)Native Georgian Wrote:  This special election — winner gets to serve in Congress for about 4-5 months — will be the first time Alaska has put its new/unique electoral system into action. There is a non-partisan primary from which, I believe the top 4 vote-getters advance to a run-off. And then that run-off utilizes ranked-choice voting. So that will be interesting to watch unfold.

I honestly have no idea who else is running besides Palin, nor any idea of what her chances are.

You're right, and the Anchorage Daily News says there are 50 other candidates in the race besides Sarah Palin. It is going to be fascinating to watch, and I would think her chances of making the top 4 are excellent given her universal name recognition.

She's popular in Alaska, at least back last decade. I would think she has a good shot.

(04-01-2022 10:45 PM)Native Georgian Wrote:  This special election — winner gets to serve in Congress for about 4-5 months — will be the first time Alaska has put its new/unique electoral system into action. There is a non-partisan primary from which, I believe the top 4 vote-getters advance to a run-off. And then that run-off utilizes ranked-choice voting. So that will be interesting to watch unfold.

I honestly have no idea who else is running besides Palin, nor any idea of what her chances are.

This ranked voting is the stupidest thing ever cooked up. Everyone's second choice could end up the winner. EVERYONE GETS A TROPHY.

Rank voting may actually have a place, but the rules I've seen for a few are so complicated only a handful of people would understand who actually makes it forward. Some of the rules are more complex than knowing who gets into a college football conference championship in the event of a 3 way tie.

If its not simple, then its being constructed in order to favor some sort of outcome.

(04-02-2022 11:47 AM)UofMstateU Wrote:  Rank voting may actually have a place, but the rules I've seen for a few are so complicated only a handful of people would understand who actually makes it forward. Some of the rules are more complex than knowing who gets into a college football conference championship in the event of a 3 way tie.

If its not simple, then its being constructed in order to favor some sort of outcome.

"the best design is the simplest one that works." - A. Einstein

(04-02-2022 11:42 AM)THE NC Herd Fan Wrote:  

(04-01-2022 10:45 PM)Native Georgian Wrote:  This special election — winner gets to serve in Congress for about 4-5 months — will be the first time Alaska has put its new/unique electoral system into action. There is a non-partisan primary from which, I believe the top 4 vote-getters advance to a run-off. And then that run-off utilizes ranked-choice voting. So that will be interesting to watch unfold.

I honestly have no idea who else is running besides Palin, nor any idea of what her chances are.

This ranked voting is the stupidest thing ever cooked up. Everyone's second choice could end up the winner. EVERYONE GETS A TROPHY.

Everyone doesn't get a trophy, there can still be only one winner in the end. It's just designed to make that winner someone with more consensus, for example the 2nd choice of 75% of the voters may be a better representative of the people's will than the first choice of 40% of the voters, opposed by a majority of the voters.

It doesn't need to be super complicated, although I haven't checked to see if Alaska's system includes any quirks. You're basically looking for someone to get 50%+ of the votes, once that happens it is over. So for example in a four candidate election like Alaska's will be -

Round 1 - nobody gets 50%+ of the vote, so the one with the least votes is eliminated.
Round 2 - the 2nd choice votes of those who voted for the eliminated candidate are added in, if somebody now has 50%+ of the vote they are the winner. If not, start back at round 1 and repeat until a candidate gets 50%+ of the vote.

A couple of advantages are that ranked choice voting, also called instant runoff voting, may help break the 2 party stranglehold as voters no longer need fear wasting their vote if they support a 3rd party candidate as their first choice. It may also help us to purge extremist candidates in both parties, electing more centrist candidates who have some appeal to members of both parties.

For example, consider a controversial Representative like Ilhan Omar or Marjorie Taylor Greene. They sit in very safe blue/red districts and are in little danger from the other party at any point. So the Democratic/Republican primary is the only election where they face any real jeopardy, and they may face multiple opponents there allowing them to prevail with just a plurality of the vote.

Now imagine they had to run in a system like Alaska has, where the top 4 advance from a jungle primary to a ranked choice vote. In Ilhan Omar's blue district that would likely be her, two other Democrats, and 1 Republican who advance as the top 4 vote getters. The Republicans can safely vote for the GOP candidate first, knowing they will either win OR their 2nd or 3rd place votes for the Democrats who are not Ilhan Omar will be counted. A Democrat wins the district in the end, but it is more likely to be a Democrat with greater appeal to the Republican voters in the district than it is under the current system where Ilhan Omar faces off against only a doomed Republican in the general election. It could work the same way in Marjorie Taylor Greene's district, just insert her name wherever I said "Ilhan Omar" and switch "Democrat" and "Republican".

This could turn out to be the most entertaining election ever, we have Sarah Palin AND Santa Claus on the ballot! So much for my thinking nobody could beat her in the name recognition category -

https://twitter.com/SantaClausforAK/stat...0995715081

https://www.santaclausforalaska.com/

The 51 candidate scrum also includes Emil Notti, who is 89 and best I can tell only ran for any office once before - against the late Don Young in 1973, when he was first elected to the House (where he remained until his death, becoming the longest-serving Republican in Congress ever) -

https://www.adn.com/politics/2022/04/01/...in-alaska/

She needs to primary Murkowski.

(04-02-2022 02:21 PM)Eagleaidaholic Wrote:  She needs to primary Murkowski.

She'd likely lose that race, under the new system at least. They'd both almost certainly make the top 4, but then Murkowski would blow her away in ranked choice voting just like she will Trump-anointed Kelly Tshibaka. If Gov. Palin wants back into elected office, I think this is a smart race for her to try with. The frontrunner though is likely Nick Begich, who comes from an Alaska dynasty (albeit a Democratic one, in the past) and was already running against Don Young before his death -

https://www.alaskansfornickbegich.com/meet-nick

"Palin’s unexpected bid jolts Alaska". Interesting article, but it sadly fails to mention Santa Claus -

https://www.politico.com/news/2022/04/02...a-00022555

(04-02-2022 08:37 PM)Gamenole Wrote:  "Palin’s unexpected bid jolts Alaska". Interesting article, but it sadly fails to mention Santa Claus -

https://www.politico.com/news/2022/04/02...a-00022555

pining for santa = toonces unfulfilled

She was Trumped before Trump and unfairly maligned not so much by the opposition but by weak GOP on the inside, namely Democrat operatives masquerading as Republican strategists (Wallace who has her own show on MSNBC & Schmidt.) Kamala is everything they accused Sarah of being and more.

(04-02-2022 10:29 PM)BigTigerMike Wrote:  She was Trumped before Trump and unfairly maligned not so much by the opposition but by weak GOP on the inside, namely Democrat operatives masquerading as Republican strategists (Wallace who has her own show on MSNBC & Schmidt.) Kamala is everything they accused Sarah of being and more.

I doinked one these wannabees for a few years in Youston ... it was muh last run a few moons ago...



#neitherInTop20 .... @history

Good lord No - the last thing we need is AOC-Right.

I have an idea for a great experiment and an absolute winner television program.

Put AOC and Palin in a round room and tell them to find a corner.... put a camera on them and see how long it takes before one of them surrenders.

(04-02-2022 10:29 PM)BigTigerMike Wrote:  She was Trumped before Trump and unfairly maligned not so much by the opposition but by weak GOP on the inside, namely Democrat operatives masquerading as Republican strategists (Wallace who has her own show on MSNBC & Schmidt.) Kamala is everything they accused Sarah of being and more.

I disagree with most of what you said, but not that Sarah Palin was treated unfairly by the media in 2008. Was she in over her head? Yes. But she certainly isn't the bumbling rube that she was ridiculed as. Case in point, her absolutely accurate statement that you can see Russia from land in Alaska which was caricatured into the famous "I can see Russia from my house!" punchline to the degree that today I imagine most people think that is what she actually said. Palin was making an excellent point about the proximity of Alaska to Russia and Asia that was lost on the ignorant masses of Americans who can barely find a map, let alone a foreign country. Most Americans have no idea that Russia is much closer to Alaska than Cuba is to Florida, or that Attu & Kiska in Alaska's Aleutian Islands were the only US soil occupied by the enemy during WW2.

(04-03-2022 03:47 PM)Gamenole Wrote:  

(04-02-2022 10:29 PM)BigTigerMike Wrote:  She was Trumped before Trump and unfairly maligned not so much by the opposition but by weak GOP on the inside, namely Democrat operatives masquerading as Republican strategists (Wallace who has her own show on MSNBC & Schmidt.) Kamala is everything they accused Sarah of being and more.

I disagree with most of what you said, but not that Sarah Palin was treated unfairly by the media in 2008. Was she in over her head? Yes. But she certainly isn't the bumbling rube that she was ridiculed as. Case in point, her absolutely accurate statement that you can see Russia from land in Alaska which was caricatured into the famous "I can see Russia from my house!" punchline to the degree that today I imagine most people think that is what she actually said. Palin was making an excellent point about the proximity of Alaska to Russia and Asia that was lost on the ignorant masses of Americans who can barely find a map, let alone a foreign country. Most Americans have no idea that Russia is much closer to Alaska than Cuba is to Florida, or that Attu & Kiska in Alaska's Aleutian Islands were the only US soil occupied by the enemy during WW2.

But republicans contributed to the problem by completely mishandling her. I don't know whether and to what extent it was because 1) the McCain team were worried that she would steal attention from McCain himself, or 2) they tried to turn Sarah the Barracuda into some sort of sympathetic abused female sympathy figure in a play for the Hillary voters (an idea so stupid that only republicans could have thought of it), but whatever the rationale, she was completely mishandled.

The weakness insisted by the democrats and their media buddies was that she had been mayor of a small town and governor of a small (population-wise) state, and lacked foreign policy experience. But that state happens to be the only state that borders on two foreign countries, one (Canada) perhaps our closest ally and the other (Russia) perhaps our first or second biggest enemy/rival. There had to be a way to leverage that into foreign policy opportunities. And when asked about the small population of Wasilla or Alaska, her response should have been, "So what's the largest city that Obama or Biden has been mayor of? And what's the largest state that Obama or Biden have governor of?" Followed by a brief lecture on the difference between executive positions (mayor, governor, president) and debating societies (legislature, senate).