Berkowitz-Benson Fundraiser a Huge Success - and Other Items

I. Judy and I hosted an end-of-reporting period fundraiser last Friday for the Berkowitz-Benson campaign. Over 60 people attended to hear Diane give a rousing speech contrasting the differences between what little the Parnell administration is doing to secure Alaska's future health, prosperity, sustainability and overall quality of life, and what a Berkowitz-Benson administration might achieve.

After Diane's presentation, several people spoke about our upcoming local elections this Tuesday, in the Mat-Su Borough. Over half the people there are going out every day, waving signs, knocking on doors, calling registered voters from our party, from the non-aligned, and from the sensible fringe of the Valley GOP.

It isn't just anecdotal how many moderates are beginning to catch on to the fact that Berkowitz' Four-Part Alaska Ownership Stake planks to the campaign platform are one of the most innovative concepts forwarded during a gubernatorial race in our short history. We were happy to raise quite a bit of campaign cash for spreading the word on Ethan's and Diane's commitment.

Thanks especially to all our co-sponsors.

II. I'd like to take a moment to also thank my colleagues in the Alaska progressive blogging community for their support in getting the word out on our fundraiser. And for the fine work they are doing to assure Sean Parnell gets booted out onto his soft butt on November 2nd.

They know that I'd be out there right now, fighting just as hard for Hollis French to replace Sean Parnell, as I'm fighting for Ethan.

Ethan Berkowitz is a man with whom I've been at odds on one issue or another over the years. And, like any political platform I've seen up here, there are a few things I don't like in his. People who fail to understand how breathtakingly original the "Ownership Stake" approach is, might go down the Parnell platform's issues, one by one, and compare them to the Berkowitz-Benson campaign's proposals.

And particularly when it comes to important womens issues, a subject about which Diane Benson has done as much to change the awful current situation as has perhaps any woman or person alive, it is good to see that my colleagues fully recognize that in their intense focus on what a great candidate Ms. Benson is for women, and how different her actions in this regard are to Mr. Parnell's prayers.

Thanks again, friends.

III. Friday, welcoming our guests, I observed that the brilliant red shrubs in our front yard were gifts from John Stein and his late wife, Karen Marie, when we moved into our house in 1995. The small trees have grown from clippings to brilliant plants, as our local political climate has also reddened in a different way.

But the plants keep refreshing themselves, blooming each spring, a bit larger. Hopefully, there will be a time again soon, when Karen's and John's gift will bloom in a more progressive spring, in a more sustainable climate, and into a renewal of true progressive values in the Mat-Su Valley.