Poor Dan Sullivan, I think he was born with a pair of silver flip flops on. His Cleveland, Ohio, parents were caught last week by the Center for Public Integrity trying to funnel $300,000 to a super PAC supporting their son. The contribution was originally listed as coming from the Glenmede Trust Company -- a wealth management company that manages over $25 billion for rich folks.
Unfortunately for the Sullivans, they mistakenly listed their $3 million beachside condo in Florida instead of Glenmede's Philadelphia address on their filing. Oops. This donation is on top of the other $250,000 that Dan's mommy and daddy had donated to a different super PAC to help little Danny. How this is different than what disgraced Alaska gubernatorial candidate John Lindauer did is beyond my pay grade.
It's becoming apparent that there is really nothing Danny Boy or his family won't do or say to get him elected. And that includes changing his positions and statements more times than diapers in a nursery -- and for the same reason.
By now, we all know how, over a four-year period, Dan claimed he lived in Alaska from between zero and 10 years. In 2009, Dan applied for an Alaska fishing license as a nonresident. In 2010, Dan claimed he was a one-year resident when he applied. Then, in 2013, after filing for U.S. Senate, Dan claimed he was a 10-year Alaska resident. He's now being investigated because from 2006 through 2010, Dan lived in his $1.3 million home in Maryland, and declared Maryland as his "principal residence" -- so he could get thousands in tax credits from Maryland.
When he was attorney general, he crusaded against the Stand Your Ground bill. Politician Dan then ran ads taking credit for the bill's passage. Politifact.com rated his claim ' False'. Mead Treadwell challenged Dan to produce one piece of evidence that Dan fought to pass Stand your Ground. Never happened.
Attorney General Dan waged war on subsistence and Native rights, filing lawsuits and supporting legislative initiatives and state policies against our way of life. Candidate Dan, now trying to court rural voters, talks about how he will fight for rural Alaska.
During the primary, trying to appeal to conservatives, Dan opposed increasing the minimum wage, saying it would kill jobs. In the general election, trying to appeal to moderates, Dan now says he supports increasing it -- and apparently supports killing jobs.
There was the awkward 10 seconds of silence from primary Dan when asked if he wrote in Lisa Murkowski's name back in 2010. Afraid to alienate conservatives who despise Lisa, he half-heartedly answered "no." Now he's cozying up to Lisa. All I can say is, Lisa, enjoy your last two years in office because, having burned your Republican bridges, I think it safe to say you have now burned your Democratic bridges.
Lisa talks about having Dan has a "partner" in D.C. What would that mean to Alaskans if Dan Sullivan is elected to the U.S. Senate? For starters, under Senate rules, seniority is determined by length of service. If there is a tie, they look at a state's population. Which means Dan would be dead last in seniority. Number 100. Does she need a partner to keep Alaska Native women from being protected under the VAWA?
Lost would be Sen. Begich's clout and seniority. And his position on the Senate Appropriations Committee which he used to bring Alaska over $2 billion in Recovery Act Investments -- more per capita than any other state. And over $1 billion in transportation infrastructure just in the last two years. These have created tens of thousands of jobs across Alaska. Alaska is a young state and we need these investments to grow our economy.
Since Danny orchestrated the oil tax giveaway, Alaska now has billions less in revenue for our oil resources (not to mention 250 fewer jobs at BP). Now Lisa Murkowski wants to sabotage the other plank of our economy by having us lose a seat on the Appropriations Committee?
Lost would be Begich's chairmanship of the Senate Oceans Subcommittee -- which he has used to fight for the largest industry in Alaska.
Don't worry though -- Dan has a plan to make up for this loss of clout: he wants to make it harder to get Social Security by "means testing" and raising the age of eligibility. He supports a plan to slash Medicare benefits and force seniors to pay more for prescription drug benefits, costing many seniors an additional $900 per year. I guess if you can try to buy your kid a U.S. Senate seat you aren't so worried about that $900.
No thank you. I'm voting to keep Social Security, and Medicare for folks like my parents. I'm not going to flip flop for Cleveland Dan. I'm Alaskan -- and here we wear XtraTuffs.
Shannyn Moore is a radio broadcaster.
The views expressed here are the writer's own and are not necessarily endorsed by Alaska Dispatch News, which welcomes a broad range of viewpoints. To submit a piece for consideration, email commentary(at)alaskadispatch.com.