‘Unity ticket’ brings fresh tone to campaign

Alaskans became part of history in the making earlier this week when two candidates for governor decided to put their differences aside and join forces in a united front against incumbent Gov. Sean Parnell.

It took some maneuvering, but when the dust settled, independent candidate Bill Walker, a registered Republican, and Democratic candidate Byron Mallott, booted party politics to the sidelines and formed a nonpartisan “unity” ticket. Predictably, hard-core partisans on both sides howled.

Strident Democrats felt let down and even disenfranchised after casting votes less than a week earlier in the primary election. Their Republican counterparts were dismissive of the notion that ideology and partisan agendas could possibly be secondary to doing what’s best for the state and its people.

But we have a strong suspicion that for everyone who felt disenfranchised or otherwise turned off by Walker and Mallott merging their efforts, there were plenty of other voters who were energized. Because for all of the apparent political divisiveness in this state, Alaska voters, as a whole, do not reflect the hyper-partisanship that too often passes for business as usual in the halls of the Capitol.

According to state Division of Elections statistics, there are 498,277 registered voters in Alaska. It may come as a surprise to some, considering the chest-thumping and sense of entitlement that often accompanies partisan wrangling, that even if registered Republicans and Democrats are combined, they’re still very much in the minority here.

Voters who spurn affiliation with either of the two major parties make up nearly 60 percent of Alaska’s electorate. The largest chunk of those voters checked either the “nonpartisan” or “unaffiliated” box on their voter registration forms.

So it is no stretch to believe that many Alaska voters welcome the more nonpartisan approach to politics and state government represented by the Walker-Mallott ticket. Count us among them.

To be very clear, this is not an endorsement of Walker and Mallott. We have lived through enough elections over the years to be skeptical of campaign rhetoric, especially when it sounds so good.

In their “unity” announcement on Tuesday, Walker and Mallott pledged to “focus on what unites rather that what divides us.” This is sound footing for any campaign, and it is especially good news for voters weary of the endless bickering and negative ads that seem to proliferate at election time.

With nine weeks to go until the November election, we are hopeful that the right tone is being set now and that voters can look forward to an issue-focused campaign where ideas are debated reasonably and without rancor.

Walker and Mallott have already pledged to do so. And Gov. Parnell, who brings a deliberative, roll-up-his-sleeves-and-get-busy work ethic to his job, has always conducted himself like a gentleman on the campaign trail.

So this one looks like a win-win for Alaskans. Who knows? Maybe we’ll even see greater voter participation because of it.