John McNicotine is now for the tobacco lobby after years of working against it.  He not only opposes the cigarette taxes he used to support but also opposes FDA regulation of the tobacco industry after years of supporting it.  McNicotine is an ex-smoker and should understand just how addictive nicotine is, and he even acknowledged the exceptionally high death rate for tobacco users when he joked that cigarette exports to Iran were part of his plot to kill Iranian citizens.  For McNicotine to cave in to the tobacco cartel is the ultimate flip-flop:
http://www.boston.com/...

Why has McNicotine caved in to the interests of the tobacco drug cartel?  It couldn't possibly have anything to do with hiring tobacco lobbyist Charlie Black as his senior adviser.  Move along folks.  There's nothing to see here:
http://firedoglake.com/...

Now let's use the traditional Rethug "moral values" and "sanctity of life" frames against McNicotine!  There's more in the flip.

Following this endorsement.

FAIRBANKS — Republican Mayor Jim Whitaker has said he is endorsing Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama.

"My goal is to let Republicans have a clear understanding that their right to vote should not be restricted by any party affiliation," the borough mayor said. He said the economic and political challenges facing the state and country are broader than political parties alone can address and suggested Republicans should consider crossing party lines by focusing on the strongest candidate this year.

http://www.newsminer.com/...

Comes this.

Ivan Moore for the Anchorage Press and KTUU. 8/9-12. Likely voters. MoE 4.4% for overall sample, ~6.2 for primary samples. (7/30-31 results)

Stevens is surging back! Kidding. Begich has locked in support, while Stevens rebounds slightly (or maybe it's just float in the MoE).

In the House:

The good news is that Berkowitz is competitive with Parnell, but the really good news we're all hoping for is a Young victory in the GOP primary next Tuesday. Luckily, with the fragmented multi-candidate field, Young doesn't have to reach 50 percent. But with the massive MoE for these primary sub-samples, the GOP House primary is scary tight.

But the overall picture looks fantastic for Alaska Democrats, and with scandal depressing GOP fundraising in the state, the future is only slated to get better.

On the web:
Orange to Blue ActBlue page
Mark Begich for Senate
Ethan Berkowitz for Congress

This has been a very bad week for Ted. First there was his sorry fundraising and new evidence against him in his corruption case. Then late in the day yesterday came two more damaging stories.

First, prosecutors released new evidence that there was a quid-pro-quo in his relationship with VECO. While the case is build around the fact that he accepted gifts and failed to disclose them, the new information shows the favors went both ways.

But in new court filings last night, the feds laid out evidence from wiretaps and seized emails to show in detail some favors Stevens allegedly did for the company. Prosecutors made the disclosure in a motion seeking to introduce the information at Stevens' trial set for September.

When Stevens was indicted, the prosecutors were questioned why they weren't making bribery charges and they implied that the statute of limitations had passed, though they didn't say that explicitly. The release of this information, though, does fairly clearly show that this case is about the bribery.

But that wasn't the only bad news for Ted yesterday. In another set of court documents filed Thursday, prosecutors had an e-mail from Stevens to a "Person A," who turned out to be a witness that was to appear before the grand jury.

By mid-May 2007, Stevens learned that Person A had been subpoenaed to testify before a grand jury in D.C. On May 17, 2007, Stevens sent Person A two emails that discussed Person A's upcoming grand jury testimony. In the first email, Stevens told Person A that "I hope we can work something out to make sure you aren't led astray on this occasion."

In the second, Stevens was more explicit: "don't answer questions you don't KNOW the answers to."

Maybe he thought the Tubes wouldn't keep a record of the Internets he sent to try to influence a witness, something the judge in his case is likely to take a rather dim view of.

Stevens is facing lots of mandatory prison time, and the evidence is a SLAM DUNK!!

Prosecutors Reveal More in Stevens Case
http://www.adn.com/...

Federal prosecutors offered a glimpse of previously unseen evidence against U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens in new court filings

"... senator used inside help to profit from Florida condo."

"... a secret $5,000 investment ... $100,000 in quick profits."

"... Stevens sought jobs from Veco for a son and a grandchild and a new Jeep Cherokee for his daughter..."

What else is on the wiretapped phone conversations?  And in the e-mails?  
Where else within the Corrupt Bastards Club (CBC) will the investigation lead?
And, did the FBI find any CBC tee-shirts and caps at Ted's Girdwood chalet?

I have a sense that this story is only just beginning to unfold!

Give the long, detailed article a full read (more excerpts follow below):

Huh?

What, you may be asking yourself, do Grizzy Bears have to do with birds? Well, if you spend any time in southwest Alaska, you are bound to run into a Grizzly or two. Join me below for more about our adventures, including encounters with a bird or two.

There's bad news and worse news for Stevens today. First, candidates had to file fundraising reports for the August 26th primary. Orange to Blue challenger Mark Begich  outraised Ted Stevens $412,549.02 to $269,274.00.

That's the bad news. This is the worse news, worse if you're Stevens, that is. Via the Anchorage Daily News, federal prosecutors have released more information they intend to use as evidence in his upcoming trial.

New information filed late Thursday by federal prosecutors says Sen. Ted Stevens made more than $100,000 in profit off a Florida real estate deal after a friend secretly loaned him $31,000 interest-free to buy a condominium....

Stevens failed to report the personal loan in the condo deal when he filed his 2001 Senate financial disclosure forms, prosecutors said in their motion.

Court filings filed late Thursday also reveal other new evidence that prosecutors intend to use to prove Stevens didn't just make innocent paperwork mistakes when he failed to disclose the value of Veco's renovations to his Girdwood home.

They say he also failed to disclose that Bill Allen, the former Veco CEO, installed a backup generator -- at Stevens' home and at the senator's request -- that Stevens never paid for....

There are "multiple instances of Allen providing, at Stevens' request, things of value to benefit two of Stevens' children and one of Stevens' grandchildren," proseuctors say.

Prosecutors said other evidence they plan to introduce will include "communications between Stevens and a personal friend that demonstrates Stevens' consciousness of guilt."

Meanwhile, Stevens' lawyers are arguing that the case against him is unconstitutional and are demanding that the charges against him be dropped. We'll see how that goes for them.

I may get some hits for this diary, but it is heartfelt and sincere, and since it shares a heartfelt and sincere position with Jon Soltz of VoteVets.org, I feel good about it. I want to urge my fellow progressives to pull all stops out for Diane Benson, running for Congress in Alaska. Of all the candidates I have ever met, she is quite possibly the best. But precisely because she is from a working class, Native American background and has not been a part of the political game, she is the longshot, grassroots candidate. But from the point of view of the working class, our soldiers, and veterans, she is one of the best candidates to come around in a very, very long time. If Diane Benson is the next Representative from Alaska, America will have a great deal to be proud of.

I've decided to start running some analysis for the presidential race.  I'm going to cover races that Pollster.com rates as "tossup".  Tonight: Alaska, Colorado, Florida, Indiana.

UPDATE

I just realized that I forgot to include dots for McCain.  The lines are correct, and the blue dots are also correct

I'll add the red dots for McCain next time

It's ALASKA

Another republican for Obama; Republican Alaskan mayor endorses Obama.....article below:

Diane Benson (second from the right) plus her team and Vietnam Veteran Mo Bailey

Late in July, Writing Raven and I had a fundraiser at Phil Munger's (Progressive Alaska) beautiful home for our trip to Denver...and Democratic Candidate for the Alaska At-Large Congressional seat, Diane Benson was kind enough to show up and donate.  It was then that I asked her the question that had been bugging me for months.  "Did I meet you about 14-15 years ago?"

Since I didn't see a diary anywhere I thought I'd let everyone know about a new Alaskan poll that has Obama up by 5%: 45%-40%.  I'm at work so I can't really comment on it except for how it looks really good for Obama way up North.  Here's the link of the poll: http://www.haysresearch.com/...

Got to go!!!

In an absolute stunner of a poll, a polling organization called Hays (I have no idea who these guys are, but perhaps some Alaskan Kossacks can educate) has released a poll showing Obama up +5 in Alaska.  That's right.....deep Red Alaska.

Now since this is an unknown organization, I couldn't blame anyone for discounting the result.  However, I became more curious about Obama's prospects in the state after Governor Palin seemed to go out of her way to praise Obama's energy plan, and provided no more than lip service to McCain.  It puzzled me because Palin has been talked about as a VP candidate and some very conservative organizations have been pushing her hard to Camp McCain.

http://www.pollster.com/...

You know things are bad, when your very oldest political allies want you out of Washington:

``He has served Alaska for 40 years, but his time is over,'' said former Governor Walter Hickel, who launched Stevens's Senate career by appointing him to a vacancy in 1968.

Even the guy who appointed him in the first place wants Ted Stevens gone.

On the web:
Mark Begich for Senate
Orange to Blue ActBlue Page

Not sure if this was timed to go with the Republicans for Obama rollout but it certainly carries alot of weight as most people agree that it's the Mayors who have the political muscle...

Republican Mayor Jim Whitaker has said he is endorsing Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama.

“My goal is to let Republicans have a clear understanding that their right to vote should not be restricted by any party affiliation,” the borough mayor said. He said the economic and political challenges facing the state and country are broader than political parties alone can address and suggested Republicans should consider crossing party lines by focusing on the strongest candidate this year.

Whitaker, a former state lawmaker, said a comparison of Obama and Republican Sen. John McCain leads him to believe Obama has the stronger “intellectual capacity” and a greater ability to manifest it.

Whitaker, who as a politician has often focused on energy issues, said he sensed an open-minded approach in Obama’s campaign toward traditional, alternative and renewable energy issues that can benefit resource-rich Alaska.

With the primary just around the corner, Don Young is hurting. His coffers are running dry, and his old friends in Alaska don't seem to be too willing to help out.

Many Alaska Republican contributors are keeping their checkbooks closed until after the primary, said Marc Hellenthal, a pollster and consultant who's worked for Young in the past. He's not working for anyone in the race now.

"When you've got people that are 30-year-plus (incumbents) it's smarter to sit on the fence than pick a horse that doesn't win," Hellenthal said. "The big problem with Don is that he used the money he was given for legal fees. That's not why people contributed to him. So that created incredible uproar amongst the money group."

Since early 2007, Young has reported spending more than $1.2 million of his campaign funds on legal expenses related to a federal investigation or investigations. Young has consistently refused to give specifics."

In all fairness to Young, it appears that not much Alaska money is going to any of the Republicans. What a miserable choice facing Alaska's Republicans. Is there a lesser of two evils in this race? The corrupt incumbent or the Club for Growth lackey Sean Parnell. The third contestant, Kodiak Rep. Gabrielle LeDoux, has had to sink $250K of her own money into the race and is likely to be nothing more than a spoiler whose presence on the ballot will probably allow Young to eke out a win.

Where's all that Alaska money going? Apparently, to Dem Ethan Berkowitz.

Second Quarter fundraising results show Alaskans contributed more to Berkowitz than all three Republican candidates combined. Disclosed totals filed yesterday with the Federal Election Commission show Alaskans supported Ethan to the tune of nearly $115,000 dollars during the quarter. Meanwhile, Sean Parnell raised roughly half that amount from Alaskan donors ($67,704), with Don Young ($18,350) and Gabrielle LeDoux ($25,900) rounding out the GOP take.

Last week I had a huge influx of readers interested in my piece on Eric Cantor. Seems I'm not the only one thinking McCain might just pick Cantor. I think it's a longshot, but possible.

Things are getting very hectic personally. This may be the last newsletter for a few weeks or more. We will be on vacation in California for a couple of weeks and I will have Grand Jury duty after that. Plus work is exploding for me and Joy's dissertation is overdue. Even politically, I will need to put some extra effort into my friend, Devin Cohen's primary election September 9th. But this newsletter I cover some pretty critical stuff.

Most sentient beings get the willies when we hear about how fast the Arctic icecap is disappearing.  But in Alaska?  Roll out those offshore leases! Anchorage Daily News, 5/7/07:

Right now, however, the forecast is for western Alaska and North Slope communities to enjoy a relatively early summer, with ice-free shipping lanes opening up a couple weeks earlier than last year, National Weather Service ice forecaster Kathleen Cole said Friday.
...
[T]hat's good news for northern Alaskans. A longer ice-free season means barges can reach Kotzebue and Barrow earlier and later in the summer, thus eliminating the high cost of receiving food and supplies by air that much longer. And summer seismic crews employed by oil companies won't be hampered as much by ice.  Said Cole: "I think everybody is going to be happy about that."

Since then, some academicians have been busy mapping out the apportionment of the Arctic Ocean floor:

(Legend below the fold.)