Alaskans are getting excited... election time is a couple of months away and we can smell Progress just around the corner. Just a little hard work, a little more good luck, and a loud mouth Tea Partier and we just might manage to get another Democrat in the Senate.
So, I wanted to introduce the rest of you to meet Scott McAdams, Democratic Candidate for US Senate, from Sitka, AK. He's not perfect (see his comments about ANWR), but he's no Blue Dog. Some are comparing him to Alan Grayson. We can only hope.
The best interview I can find is a three part series from a great blogger, AKMuckraker, up in Alaska (also a fellow Kossack). I apologize in advance from taking so many quotes from her blog, The Mudflats, but the press hasn't had much to say about McAdams and I'm getting information from the source that exists. Also, if you're interested in learning more, you should visit The Mudflats and read the entire interview. It is enlightening, to say the least.
Without further ado, here is where McAdams stands on a few very important subjects:
From The Mudflats, Interview, part I
On Oil:
That’s an interesting question. We are an oil and gas state, there’s no question about it. You look at our state treasury and 89% of our revenue comes from oil and gas. It’s an interesting question… what does the state look like post Kuparuk oil? I think it’s a vision we have not yet framed. I think we are almost in a collective state of denial, yet when I go and talk to young leaders in this state… I mean, I’m 39. If I stay in public service at the state level – say I wasn’t a candidate – and stayed in public service to the state, my retirement date is December 2030, long after the projections of Kuparek oil, of Prudhoe Bay oil being gone. I don’t think we have an answer or a solution. I don’t think we have vision, and yet what we do have is a world class level of potential as it relates to renewable energy. We need vision and leadership.
On BP and the Liability Cap:
So why would we open up our subsistence way of life to that? What’s the value of the Inupiat culture? What’s the value of the Chu’pik the Yup’ik, the Siberian Yup’ik cultures? What’s the monetary value of the Alutiiq and others who are still facing the devastation of the Exxon Valdez oil spill? Is there a liability cap? This is critically important. This is one of the reasons I’m in this race, because I am from coastal Alaska. I learned to read, write, reason and work in a town where 85 cents on the dollar comes from commercial fishing. So, when I see a billion dollar commercial fishery, and a $750 million charter industry in Louisiana, facing peril… When I see the city of New Orleans with one of the biggest sectors in their economy being tourism, and their tourism ties right back into their cuisine and their culture as a sea port, $10 billion can’t even begin to pay down the loss. $75 million is an insult.
From The Mudflats, Interview, part II
On Fisheries Management (and, more importantly, his view of SCIENCE):
I do believe in fisheries management that’s science based. There’s a lot of folks that will make economic arguments as it relates to fisheries. I think that cultural and subsistence rights in fisheries need to be enhanced and protected, but I think at the end of the day as it relates to managing the biomass we do need to look to science. Right now we live in a governance environment – sometimes locally, sometimes state, but definitely at the federal level that allows outside interests to defy logic, reason and scientific method.
On NCLB:
I think that one of the first things that we can do is rewrite the No Child Left Behind Act. There is no such thing as a standardized kid so why do we have standardized tests? We are talking about 165 communities across Alaska, only three of which have more than 30,000 people. Almost every city in this state is a rural city. And there are issues of culture and language and regional life that I think need to be part of the core curriculum of a classroom as we move into the 21st century. Integrating technology into the classroom more often. So I think shoring up some of the issues we have in rural Alaska as it relates to K-12 education is a first step.
From The Mudflats, Interview, part III
On State Rights vs Federal Government:
I guess I’d start by saying that I believe and a lot of Alaskans believe that sovereignty does begin with the individual, and that a person’s right to choose what they think, who they affiliate with, who they love, how they pray, is protected in our constitution and is self-evident. As it relates to the role of the federal government in the lives of individual people, I think that while sovereignty begins with the individual, then the community, then the state, then the nation – I also believe that a person’s liberty ends where another person’s begins. And so when you look throughout history, this case for self-determination through local decision making, and this case for individual and civil rights – a person’s rights end where they infringe on another’s. And so the landmark cases of the 20th century? Civil rights.
You look at the need for federal intervention into what otherwise would be a state’s rights issue, as it relates to civil liberty. Again, I think that without making a constitutional law I think that the role of the federal government to step in to matters of individual liberty is only made when one neighbor is allowed to infringe upon the liberty of another. And I think the American federal system has worked pretty well in that way.
During times of crisis, national supremacy did rule the day as it related to Brown vs. Board of Education, and as it related to the Civil Rights Movement. But, you know, I do support an Alaskan’s right to bear arms. I also support an Alaskan’s right to marry whom they choose. I also support an Alaskan’s right to choose what they will do with their own body, because I also believe that is a matter of civil liberty and individual right.
On Federal Spending in the State of Alaska:
Finally, the last thing I’d say in response to how I feel about federal spending in Alaska is that this state is less than 1% privately held. Let me use this as my case in point – The Department of the Interior has 45% of their land holdings in the state of Alaska, yet only 3% of their workforce manages 45% of their land holdings, and their core mission is the management of America’s lands. So when you talk about equity and propriety, and you look at the actual numbers… Alaska is an abstraction in the minds of most people. Our sheer size, even to ourselves is hard to comprehend. It takes dollars to run this set-aside land and I think that sometimes we get a bad rap as being a federally dependent state when in fact, on a per acre basis there may be an inequity in the way Alaska is managed.
On ANWR:
For instance… ANWR is like a house that’s sitting empty on the market and our congressional delegation is our realty team that needs to sell that house. And that house sits empty. My question is, if you’re going to be the leader of the minority, what Democrat are you going to convince to open ANWR and how are you going to do it? I don’t think you can play the shame and blame game of partisan politics while at the same time building good will to open ANWR. So that’s one of my fundamental in this race – Lisa, how will you open ANWR as a leader in the Republican Party?
and, from the first interview:
I think if we develop ANWR… if we develop any oil and gas in this state, that there ought to be a portion of that goes into a renewable energy permanent fund.
On why he is a Democrat:
I’ve got a great story that illustrates why I’m a Democrat. Goldman Sachs holding company has an interest in Burger King, and a few years ago PepsiCo and their fast food subsidiaries Taco Bell, and KFC and Pizza Hut and also McDonald’s made a direct concession to Florida tomato pickers that they would add one cent per basket to the wages of tomato pickers in Florida. And Goldman Sachs through their subsidiary or through their holding Burger King threatened to sue Florida’s tomato growers if they honored that one cent per basket agreement that was made from a company directly with the growers with the pickers. If the growers honored that agreement, that they would sue the growers. And the growers went in and shattered the deal. Well, the total amount of money that would have benefitted 10,000 tomato pickers was less than the bonuses that 12 of their board of directors made that year.
That’s why I’m a Democrat. Because I believe demand creates its own supply. I believe if you put money into the hands of working people, put money into the hads of everyday people, that’s what stimulates and grows our economy. I believe in social justice, I believe in the rights of the minority, despite the passion of the majority.
Here are a few links that you need to visit:
Official Campaign Page - honestly, they should update the page with the quotes from The Mudflats Interviews. But take a look and sign up to help!
Facebook Page, currently at just over 700 members. Let's see what we can do to change that.
ActBlue Page, just over $28,000 raised as of last night. I'm sure we could add a more few dollars. Remember, money goes a long way in Alaska - advertising doesn't cost as much as the lower 48.
Twitter with McAdams
Twitter with Team McAdams and the campaign staff will keep you up-to-date.
Here is Scott McAdam's first diary and second diary here on DKos. Let's hope he writes a new diary soon.
I hope this man gets to be my next US Senator. I haven't been able to live in Alaska for many years (the military just hasn't seen fit to send us back), but I love the place and miss it dearly. Alaska taught me how to be an open minded progressive who honors difference of opinion. People like Scott McAdams had a lot to do with it.