I seriously think we are seeing the beginning of America seperating into two or three countries.

[Blue_In_AK]

256. We did elect a democrat to the Senate last time around, Mark Begich,

and Lisa Murkowski, who at least tries to be moderate, handily defeated Teabagger Joe, which is a sign that we're not as batcrap crazy as some of the southern states. And, as I mentioned, Alaska's true political nature has been muddied by the introduction of Texas and Oklahoma oil men and their politics into our system. If you do any research on Alaska's history, you'll find that it was a deeply Democratic state at the time of statehood. We have a very progressive state constitution (some would say socialist). Civil rights were guaranteed for our Native population back in 1945 (see Elizabeth Peratrovich), well before civil rights laws were passed in the Lower 48.

I blame everything on Big Oil, and so do a lot of other people, which is why Sarah gained her popularity here. A lot of people forget that she presented herself as a corruption-fighter during her early gubernatorial term, working closely with the Democrats in our state legislature. As for the Permanent Fund, I'd give it up in a heartbeat if Conoco-Phillips, BP and Exxon (not to mention Shell) would just get the hell out. I wouldn't even mind paying state taxes, and I'm not alone in that.

I also want to point out that over the past few years, our Senate has been overseen by a bipartisan majority. There was a 50-50 electoral split, Democrats and Republicans. All the Democrats and some Republicans formed the bipartisan majority, leaving the Tea Party wing in the minority. I like that.