AK: Remote Super Tuesday Outpost
By Christopher Lee
Big, sparsely populated and very remote, Alaska will be far removed from the action on Super Tuesday in more ways than one.
Candidates get little bang for their buck by campaigning or running ads there and, unsurprisingly, presidential hopefuls have spent no time on the ground and little on ads. And, of course, the winters in Alaska make Iowa and New Hampshire appear downright balmy.
None of that will stop party die-hards from coming out on Tuesday, of course. Democratic officials say moving the party's caucuses up from their usual March date to Super Tuesday has generated substantial interest, including telephone inquiries from reporters across the country and the world -- even Al-Jazeera.
In 2004, just 700 of the Alaska's 68,000 registered Democrats took part in the caucuses in eight locations - in a state three times the size of California. This year there will be 28 locations, and party leaders are expecting a bigger turnout. Some of the districts are so large, and travel in them so difficult, that groups of voters will meet via teleconference as they help determine who will get the 13 of the state's 18 national delegates that are awarded in proportion to vote totals by candidates.
While the main Democratic matchup is Barack Obama vs. Hillary Clinton, Tuesday's contest probably represents the best shot for badly struggling former Alaska Sen. Mike Gravel (D) to leave any kind of impression at all in the race.
Republicans will be holding their first caucuses - technically a "presidential preference vote" -- in eight years, having skipped the exercise when President Bush was seeking re-election. The party has more than 118,000 registered voters in the state. At stake are 26 delegates to the Republican National Convention that will be awarded based on the percentage of the vote won by each candidate.
Whichever Republican walks away with the eventual nomination can probably count on Alaska in November. Bush took 61 percent of the vote there in 2004 and 59 percent four years earlier, and Alaska has not sent a Democrat to Congress in more than 30 years.
Posted at 6:57 PM ET on Feb 4, 2008
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Posted by: getdeb1 | February 5, 2008 4:23 AM
sunrise41510, you either are being paid by Billary or you can't read or hear. What Sen Obama said was basically the same Bill Clinton has said. Sen Obama never said the Republicans had good ideas--he basically said they had commanded the attention of voters. His point, I think, is that a person with vision can draw from the underlying needs and wants of the people. Sen. Obama has that vision.
Posted by: cdonham | February 4, 2008 9:56 PM
Obama said REAGAN AND THE REPUBLICAN IS THE PARTY OF IDEA FOR THE LAST 15 YEARS. Are we nominating a Republican candidate of Democrat one?
Posted by: sunrise41510 | February 4, 2008 8:14 PM
Don't forget to watch Hillary Clinton's town hall meeting tonight, Mon Feb 4, where she will answer the voter's questions, on the Hallmark Channel or at http://www.hillaryclinton.com
6 PM pst
7 PM mst
8 PM cst
9 PM est
Hillary All the Way!!!!!!!!
Posted by: Hillary08 | February 4, 2008 8:11 PM
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This article makes me sad. Living in AK I have to wonder if the author did any research for this at all. Did he call someone? Someone actually in the state? You're saying Gravel? The short story is he got voted out of office up here. You know who Alaskans like? Ron Paul. Paul Paul Paul, people are waving signs for him at -40. And Sources? For anything? Puff? What? This could have been a decent analysis of the crazy politics of the 49th state, but it's not. At all.