Potential GOP congressional candidates (against Stevens and Young in Alaska)

Former Republican gubernatorial candidate John Binkley agrees with Palin that the public is upset.

"They don't like the back room deals that have been cut. I think there have been errors in judgment in people as they've dealt with people like Bill Allen, and what that's caused for our state, for our delegation. And they want a change. They don't want to see that business as usual," Binkley said.

Like Binkley, former Lt. Gov. Loren Leman says he's not planning to run against Young or Stevens, but also says that's subject to change.

"And if nothing changes that would suggest, that would make them vulnerable to changing, then I don't think I would be in that race. But I am interested in serving in additional statewide office. I loved serving as lieutenant governor. I love the people of Alaska. It was a great opportunity to serve and if the right opportunity is there for me, then I well could be in the race," Leman said.

House Speaker John Harris also is taking a wait-and-see approach, saying he's not running against Young yet, though it has been said he is.

"I don't intend to. And the only way that I would do that is if there were some issue that came that was above and beyond what's out there now, that the Alaska people lost confidence in the congressman. I don't know if that's the case at this point. I don't see it. But it could be," Harris said.

So for Young and Stevens, the risk is that if you take away their credibility, they can't stop a herd of elephants from charging.

You never seem to ping me to these primary race threads anymore. ;-)

I read somewhere that Stevens/Murkowski/Young trio was the longest serving state delegation to Congress, until Frank got promoted to Governor and used the opportunity to appoint daddy's girl to his seat (so basically it's still "Stevens/Murkowski/Young" representing Washington today)

I agree with what ClintonFatigued said that the ideal situtation is that Stevens & Young retire. That being said, since Alaska is relatively safe GOP, spending time and money to defeat them in a primary is doable.

Unlike you, I tend you agree with the American Conservative Union that an incumbant who votes conservative at least 80% of the time is acceptable and not my enemy. Stevens & Young don't make the cut. Ol' Pork Barrel Ted has a pathetic 64.5% ACU rating, which means he'd probably be borderline "failure" is conservative voting records were like college term papers. He's to the left of pro-abortion little Lisa. Young is better, he score a 76.9%. While I'd probably vote for him in the general election, we can do better in the primary. And aside from their ACU ratings, Stevens & Young seem old and tired and content to just insert pork into congressional bills all day. We could use dynamic conservative personalities to represent Alaska.

Palin/Binkley/Leman is the new generation of Alaska Republicanism. Stevens/Murkowski/Young is a relic of a past era.

"You never seem to ping me to these primary race threads anymore. ;-)"

Not deliberately, there's a lot of people I could ping but I often end up missing a lot of folks' names (I don't keep a ping list, it's in my head).

"I read somewhere that Stevens/Murkowski/Young trio was the longest serving state delegation to Congress, until Frank got promoted to Governor and used the opportunity to appoint daddy's girl to his seat (so basically it's still "Stevens/Murkowski/Young" representing Washington today)"

Yes, that seems to be true (or was). A record of 21 years and 11 months from Jan '81 to Dec '04. The second and third longest stretches seemed to be set by Vermont (16 years from 1991-2007 with Leahy, Jeffords & Sanders and 14 years from 1975-1989 with Leahy, Bob Stafford & Jeffords). It's highly rare for any state to go longer than 8 to 10 years without a change to the delegation.

"I agree with what ClintonFatigued said that the ideal situtation is that Stevens & Young retire. That being said, since Alaska is relatively safe GOP, spending time and money to defeat them in a primary is doable."

I think both men, especially Stevens, would have to be carried out feet-first (or in handcuffs, which may be very likely) before they'd leave their offices. Stevens is approaching his mid 80s, he has nothing else to do. Young is in his mid 70s, so the same thing for him.

"Unlike you, I tend you agree with the American Conservative Union that an incumbant who votes conservative at least 80% of the time is acceptable and not my enemy."

Let's not rehash Lindseed Graham in this thread. You may be his only apologist on FR, dude. ;-) The ACU rating is not the be-all and end-all of judging Congressional pols. Martinez in FL ought to be the greatest thing since sliced bread with his 100% from the other year. But his selling out our nation on the altar of shamnesty makes him no better than Ted Kennedy.

"Stevens & Young don't make the cut. Ol' Pork Barrel Ted has a pathetic 64.5% ACU rating, which means he'd probably be borderline "failure" is conservative voting records were like college term papers. He's to the left of pro-abortion little Lisa. Young is better, he score a 76.9%. While I'd probably vote for him in the general election, we can do better in the primary. And aside from their ACU ratings, Stevens & Young seem old and tired and content to just insert pork into congressional bills all day. We could use dynamic conservative personalities to represent Alaska."

Nobody ever made the argument that the crusty Stevens is a Conservative. Most descriptions of him fit the liberal mode, but his being the King of Pork for Alaska have insulated him. He's never faced a substantial Dem opponent in his Senate career (aside from his first election effort after his appointment when he faced the AK House Speaker, but still won by a wide 60-40% margin; and discounting his initial losing run in 1962 against "Mr. Alaska", Ernest Gruening (Stevens even stole that sobriquet from the venerable Gruening)). As you can well see, being in office can be just as addictive to both parties. It took an insurgent Mike Gravel to depose Gruening (something that was not very well regarded in AK, and his grandson later ran in 1980 to avenge the loss, with the resulting ugly primary battle that Gravel lost helping Frank Murkowski win -- Murkowski had run for the House as long ago as 1970, but lost to Nick Begich when it was an open seat).

"Palin/Binkley/Leman is the new generation of Alaska Republicanism. Stevens/Murkowski/Young is a relic of a past era."

The question is whether the latter two of the first group will step up. As damaged as Stevens and Young are, it will take a lot of courage to challenge them, as they probably won't go without a fight. It's the fight that is troubling, because the uglier it is, the more it benefits the rodents. After 36 years of a one-party delegation, they can make the legitimate argument for change. Not even Hawaii has gone that long with the rodents (having had a GOP Congresswoman as recently as 1991).

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