The real primary winner? Corporations

So we’ve now had a week to digest the results from the primary election and to divine the meaning of the two most notable things to happen: one, the weakening of the future prospects of the Senate coalition and two, the sound defeat of Prop. 2, the Coastal Zone Management initiative.

That divined meaning is this: complete and utter capitulation by Alaska voters to the will of corporate interests.

In my opinion, bipartisanship is a good thing. We only have to look briefly to the national stage to see the dysfunction that unrestrained partisanship brings. The party line votes against anything of interest or value to the other side, Republican leaders saying out loud that their top priority is to deny the president a second term, the 30-plus votes for repeal of the Affordable Care Act just because. Endless partisan rancor, division and gridlock.

I’m not being critical of Republicans necessarily. It would likely be just the same if the party situation were reversed. No, I’m being critical of the total waste of effort that partisanship brings about.

Here in Alaska, like a little shining beacon of light in a dark and partisan wasteland, we have the Bipartisan Working Group. Republicans and Democrats working together, quite functionally and cooperatively. Six years ago, when the coalition formed, nobody figured it would be around for long. The inevitable forces of division would surely have a say and the thing would crumble. But we got 10-10 splits in the Senate two cycles running, and that made the continuation of the coalition necessary.

It’s interesting to note how the working relationship within the coalition remains healthy. They decided early on that their sacred cows would be taken off the table. The Republicans agreed not to go after what was really important to Democrats, and the Democrats agreed likewise.

They came to the conclusion that in order to work cooperatively together, they each need to not screw with the other side just for the sake of screwing with them. Which, of course, is what happens altogether too much in politics.

Imagine, we’ve had six years of the Senate working on stuff that’s actually important. Like, for example, resisting the efforts to have Alaska’s oil tax laws rewritten for the benefit of the oil industry.

Now don’t get me wrong, I like the oil industry as much as anyone. I like my Permanent Fund Dividend check. I like the fact that, by and large, they do very dirty work in Alaska remarkably safely and cleanly (we won’t mention the Gulf of Mexico), and that they’re the economic engine that keeps this state ticking.

I get that. I respect the fact that their interests are financial, and that their bottom line is for the benefit of their shareholders.

And I don’t begrudge them their right under our political system to do everything they can, politically and legally, to maximize their profits. It’s the American way and good on them.

But it’s also our duty as Alaskans not to roll over like a bunch of wussies and give them everything they want whenever they (or our wussy governor) want it. And, ladies and gentlemen, it’s the Bipartisan Working Group that has actually had the spine to stand up and be counted on that score.

So it’s too bad that a bunch of self-appointed “patriots” in the more conservative parts of this state didn’t recognize the particular value that bipartisanship brings, instead believing that any Republican who does anything cooperatively with a Democrat has committed a sin akin to shacking up with Beelzebub. Whatever.

To compound this idiocy, we saw the largest corporate campaign ever mounted in Alaska succeed in killing Proposition 2, the Coastal Zone Management Program. Local control, anyone? It really was a no-brainer. Every single state in the country that has coastline has a Coastal Management Program. Except us, now.

Frank Murkowski set the ball rolling on killing it and you all finished the job. Good on you.

A couple of million bucks to kill the thing was a drop in the bucket for the corporate interests that ponied up the cash for this one. But even they could scarcely have hoped that Alaskans would abdicate our responsibilities to the extent we did.

Did that long drink of corporate Kool-Aid taste good, then?

It’s called state’s rights, people, and we have really dropped the ball on ours.

Honestly, where’s Wally Hickel when we need him?

Ivan Moore is a public opinion pollster who lives in Anchorage and works for a variety of clients — political, corporate, public sector or just plain curious —around Alaska. His opinions are his own. He can be reached at ivan@ivanmooreresearch.com.