Candidates square off

MAT-SU -- About 240 local voters got a chance to hear three candidates hoping for the Republican Party of Alaska's nomination for Lieutenant Governor at the Mat-Su Republican Women's Club Lincoln Day dinner Friday, Feb. 15.

State senators Loren Leman of Anchorage, Robin Taylor of Wrangell and Wasilla Mayor Sarah Palin squared off in a friendly debate. Former state representative Gail Phillips of Homer was invited, but declined to attend.

At times, the debate sounded more like a partisan rally for republican gubernatorial front-runner Sen. Frank Murkowski than an examination of issues. Taylor whipped the audience into applause by boosting Murkowski as potentially the first republican victor in the governor's race since Walter Hickel's win in 1966.

"We are finally, for the first time since Wally Hickel's first term -- think about this -- we are going to elect a republican governor," Taylor said.

Taylor's remarks are, however, inaccurate. Jay Hammond won the republican primary in 1974 and went on to serve two terms as governor. The audience at the Lincoln Day forum didn't seem to mind. They applauded after Taylor's gaff, and applauded again as Taylor called for party unity and support for Murkowski.

"How good did you feel when George Bush made it into office?" Taylor asked. "You're gonna feel twice as good when we elect Frank Murkowski."

Palin and Leman said they, too, would stump for Murkowski and all three stuck close to what's become known as Ronald Reagan's 11th commandment -- speak no ill will of fellow republicans before the primary.

Republican Party of Alaska Chairman, Randy Ruedrich, upon introducing the debate, noted that candidates should plan to keep their responses light. Ruedrich called the debate, "A friendly encounter with no boxing gloves and no right to even throw a punch."

Punches were thrown, however, at the pubic school teacher's union.

A local radio reporter cited information from the publishers of Education Weekly and Teacher's Weekly that claimed Alaska's per-pupil spending was falling faster than any other states' and asked the candidates to comment.

Taylor discussed republican-led attempts to rewrite school district spending formulas and dismissed the Education Weekly statistics as propaganda from the National Education Association.

"The Alaska Legislature has funded education at an above-the-inflation rate for the last three years," Taylor said. He also said local contributions to education can be factored in to show that Alaskan schools are not losing funding.

"Anybody that tells you that we haven't been funding education -- that we haven't been increasing education -- that's somebody that's standing in the NEA union line waiting to go on strike against your school district if you don't give them another big raise," Taylor said.

Taylor and Leman both supported accountability in education and standardized tests and said the republican-led legislature has been committed to education funding.

"But more importantly there has been a strong commitment to accountability," Leman said, "in making sure that teachers are prepared to teach, that students are there to learn and that parents are involved in their children's education."

Leman said he helped write legislation to promote home-schooling, a comment that drew applause. He also said he believes home-schooling, charter schools and state-wide correspondence schools need to be reinforced.

Palin said she comes "from a family full of teachers," and the her perspective was both personal and political.

"I know that throwing more money at a project, at a program, isn't always necessarily the key," Palin said. "It's motivation, and it is rewarding these good teachers and those who are working hard to produce for our children."

Palin said, as a mother of four she is "acutely aware" of some of the problems Alaska's schools have. "Certainly I'm going to support a governor who has education as a top priority for our state of Alaska," she said.

This year's Lincoln Day dinner was the biggest ever, according to Mat-Su Republican Women's Club president, Judith Carmony. Carmony said 255 tickets sold and about 240 people attended. The club raised funds in conjunction with the event and plans to donate to republican candidates after the August primary. The club also raised money for their booth at the Alaska State Fair, and for the Marianne Hermon scholarship fund which gave $4,000 to six Alaskan students last year.