If tea partiers and Planned Parenthood and right-to-lifers from the Lower 48 want to come up north and campaign for their chosen causes and candidates with money and moxie and get-out-the-vote, have at it, folks. Some Alaskans get the vapors over Outside involvement in our elections, and that's Outside with a capital O because that's Outside in the old bumper-sticker sense — "We don't give a damn how they do it Outside."
Fact is, Alaskans tend to be selective about applying that principle. When it comes to campaign money, Outside money is only tainted when it's the other guy's Outside money. Our side's Outside money, well, you see that's different. We're just leveling the playing field in a battle where the other guy has brought in all his Outside money and leaves us no choice.
Some Alaskans resent national tea party participation in the Joe Miller-Lisa Murkowski Senate race in the Republican primary. The argument is: These Outside agitators got no business up here; shoot, we got our own tea party.
What are we afraid of? That they'll bring too many motor homes to clog our summer travel?
National money going to statewide elections isn't anything new here or anywhere else. Of course this Alaska Senate race will attract Outside interest; Sarah Palin has endorsed Miller, and Murkowski has taken some hammering from the hard right. Tea partiers have claimed victories elsewhere. What about Alaska?
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