Palin could do well in Congress

Former Alaska Governor Sarah Palin is running for Alaska’s now-empty seat in the U.S. House of Representatives and I’m voting for her.

The seat is available because our long-time congressman, Don Young, passed away last month after 49 years representing our state and this nation in Washington. Palin is one of 50 candidates for Young’s seat, many of them political unknowns.

I’m getting the evil eye from my wife for saying so, but if Palin were elected Alaska would — if nothing else — get lots of attention in both Congress and on the national stage. And that could work very much in the overall best interest of our state.

I’m not sure how well she would get along with Senator Lisa Murkowski but they are both very bright people and would presumably make a serious effort to work together on Alaska’s behalf. Our other U.S. senator, Dan Sullivan, seems to be doing a fine job with minimal fanfare. He presumably would work well with Palin and fill out a strong state delegation in Congress.

The reason my wife has what might be called mixed emotions about Palin is that Sarah was such a showboat when she was in the governor’s office. That can work against making positive accomplishments in such a job but it can also be used to help the state being represented.

It is fair to say that Palin is an intelligent woman with a flair for political drama. She was governor of Alaska from 2006 to 2009 and is best known for making waves in the national ocean of politics. She ran for vice president of the United States on the Republican ticket in 2008 with Arizona Senator John McCain running as president. They lost to the Barack Obama-Joe Biden team but the campaign gave Palin national attention that she is drawing on once again to make things happen

I’ll admit that Sarah’s political reputation is more for throwing monkey wrenches into the world of politics than it is for thoughtful governance. But sometimes a wrench is the right tool for a given job and she generally seems to know how to select the right implement to get things done.

Right now might just be a good time for Alaska to make a few waves on the national scene. Our oil-dependent economy is getting along with modest investments by the major companies and some not-so-major. It might be a good time to raise our voices, draw attention to our still-impressive potential and get on to whatever lies ahead.

It might or might not figure that investors on the national and international scene would be drawn to invest in a still-promising economy. But it might just be worth trying and Palin’s attention-getting proclivities could work in our favor.

If that endorsement seems excessively tentative, I must admit that I am not totally convinced that I am right. It seems to make sense and that is the most enthusiastic backing I can give to the idea right now.

Sarah Palin made waves on the national and international scenes once before and this might be a good time to make use of her obvious potential.

Tom Brennan is an Anchorage columnist and author of six books. He was a reporter/columnist for The Anchorage Times and an editor and columnist at The Voice of The Times.