Tony Knowles Gets Help (Anchorage Daily News)

Knowles gets help running his campaign

By NICOLE TSONG and RICHARD MAUER
Anchorage Daily News

(Published: June 9, 2004)

Former Gov. Tony Knowles has added an experienced political insider to his staff this week in his bid for the U.S. Senate seat.

Jim Messina has taken a leave of absence from his role as chief of staff for Sen. Byron Dorgan, D-N.D., to help Knowles in the newly created position of campaign director, Knowles' campaign said. He will be joining long-time Knowles aide Leslie Ridle, the campaign manager, in running Knowles' election effort.

Messina said Knowles' record as governor was one of the most impressive he has ever seen.

"He is an amazing leader," Messina said Tuesday.

Messina ran the 2002 re-election campaign of Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., in which Baucus won 63 percent of the vote. Messina also worked on Baucus' successful 1996 campaign, according to the publication Roll Call.

In between those campaigns, Messina served as chief of staff to Rep. Carolyn McCarthy, D-N.Y.

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Knowles spokesman Matt McKenna said the race for Senate will be close and that Messina understands and cares about Western issues.

Messina has joined the campaign just as Knowles has been decrying a political ad linking him to Democrats such as Sen. Ted Kennedy of Massachusetts and presidential candidate John Kerry and suggesting that he would join forces with people who oppose drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. Knowles is a long-time advocate of drilling for oil in ANWR.

But Kristin Pugh, a spokeswoman for Republican Sen. Lisa Murkowski, said she believes Messina also has a record of negative advertising.

"We also find it intriguing the week Tony Knowles is preaching how bad negative advertising is, he brings someone on with an expertise in just that," Pugh said.

Knowles spokesman McKenna responded that the only negative advertising to date has been Republican ads against Knowles.

Pugh added that it was "sad" that they needed to bring someone from outside Alaska to work on the campaign.

Messina, from Montana, is the second on-leave chief of staff working in the race. Murkowski's campaign manager, Justin Stiefel, is her own former chief of staff. Stiefel grew up in Anchorage and worked as an aide to Sen. Ted Stevens.

TIME OFF FOR REAGAN

U.S. Senate candidates Lisa Murkowski and Tony Knowles plan to suspend normal campaign activities in honor of former President Ronald Reagan.

"We all will miss President Reagan," Republican Sen. Murkowski said in a prepared statement. "His steadfast adherence to principle, his vision, his foresight, his civility, his humor and his basic decency should be examples to all of us in public service. The president had a clear vision, and during his eight years in office, like a laser, he followed policies to successfully implement that vision."

Knowles, a two-term Democratic governor, said, "Ronald Reagan will be remembered by Alaskans for his boundless optimism, abundant humor, a commitment to a strong national defense and for furthering a sense of pride and patriotism in America. ... As America mourns the sunset of his life, we thank him for reminding us that it is always 'morning in America.' "

The nation will honor Reagan with a state funeral on Friday. Murkowski said she will suspend all campaign messages that day. Knowles said he will suspend all campaign advertising Thursday and Friday and will postpone a campaign kickoff tour that was to take him from Anchorage to Mat-Su to Fairbanks starting Thursday.

OUTCRY OVER POLITICAL AD

Several citizens held a news conference Tuesday at Loussac Library to decry a political ad being aired against Tony Knowles by the Washington, D.C.-based National Republican Senatorial
Committee. The news conference was organized by the state Democratic Party.

Knowles has denounced the ad and called upon Lisa Murkowski to demand the committee stop airing the commercials. The citizens echoed his sentiments Tuesday, saying the ad was not factual.

Eric Britten, former chairman of the Anchorage Chamber of Commerce, said he believes ads should be about issues.

"We don't need to be sidetracked by innuendoes and falsehoods," he said.

Michael Orr, a business analyst for a Native corporation, said he was unsure of who he wanted to vote for until he saw the ad. It convinced him to call the Knowles campaign to volunteer.

"I wouldn't be up here if it wasn't for the negative ads," Orr said at the conference.

Murkowski has distanced herself from the ad, saying that she and her campaign did not know about it and had no part in coordinating it.

ROSS HAS A LITTLE FUN

Attorney Wayne Anthony Ross poked fun at U.S. Sen. Lisa Murkowski's father as he endorsed the daughter on May 27 in her bid to retain her U.S. Senate seat.

Ross praised Sen. Murkowski as willing to tackle "my issues, good family values." Ross, a board member for the National Rifle Association, said the NRA supported her and he endorsed her 100 percent.

But when asked about the call by another Republican candidate, Mike Miller, to the NRA to rethink its endorsement of Murkowski, Ross said Miller got into the race too late for the NRA to reconsider.

"I'm familiar with that," he said. Ross was referring to Frank Murkowski, who kept Republicans guessing about his intentions until he announced in October 2001 that he would quit the U.S. Senate and run for governor. Ross had filed as a Republican candidate for governor several months earlier.

Daily News reporter Nicole Tsong can be reached at [e-mail] or 257-4450. Reporter Richard Mauer can be reached at [e-mail]

I thought maybe this information would be helpful to any folks here that support Tony Knowles and are thinking of donating to him through this site.

Mark

•  Is this effective?

  The ugly campaigning against Knowles and the attempts to link him to Kerry and Kennedy? Do AK voters have some kind of hatred for these men?

  Lisa's campaign manager sounds incredibly shrill and desperate, like he's about to jump out of a high-rise building.

  At least Tony isn't ignoring the attacks, like Cleland did. I hope the voters don't take them to heart.

  by JamesB3 on Wed Jun 09, 2004 at 09:35:12 PM PDT

  •  the "Lower 48" effect

    Alaskans are suspicious of political outsiders, especially guys in suits. Alaskans are populists in many ways, and don't like anybody to tell them what to do--especially people from weird places like Washington and New York. Those are the people who are always trying to tell them what to do with their wide and open land. For many years there was a hold on any land title going from the Feds to the populace so in a huge land there was a shortage of land and homes. There are any number of other stories. Although old now, John McPhee's "Coming Into The Country" is still the book to give the feel of the people.

    by Rolfyboy6 on Wed Jun 09, 2004 at 10:36:26 PM PDT

    •  I know about their suspicions,

      I just wondered if you thought this would work against Knowles and for Lisa. Do you?

      The attacks being used are so blatant and ugly and if they're working, then Alaska is just anothe hate state and it's disgusting.

      by JamesB3 on Thu Jun 10, 2004 at 01:15:33 AM PDT

      •  They will have some effect

        Humans being what they are. But they are likely to have less effect in Alaska if they receive any response. Lisa Murakowski must be very desperate already to start character bashing this early in the campaign. Since she has her own problems (nepotism--"Daddy's Girl", Alaskan resistance) she probably feels she has to bash first. She's got a high powered campaign staff. Knowles just hired a tough campaign operator for these very situations.

        by Rolfyboy6 on Thu Jun 10, 2004 at 05:06:38 AM PDT

•  Hairdresser

  Baucus's campaign in `02, of course, was most famous for the "hairdresser" ad. Sigh.

  Well, with Baucus and Carolyn McCarthy under his belt, this guy at least knows how to help Dems in red territory. So he should be the right fit for Knowles in that regard.

  by DavidNYC on Wed Jun 09, 2004 at 10:21:18 PM PDT