Congressman Don Young has a new radio ad out.
The lack of a serious challenger doesn’t seem to be a big problem for Young as the ad casts him as the primary antagonist to Pres. Obama.
The ad comes in the wake of several recent troubling announcements for Alaska’s economy. Royal Dutch Shell announced earlier this month they are no longer pursuing exploration in the Chukchi Sea and the US Department of Interior announced this week they are canceling further Arctic offshore lease sales. That bad news, coupled with Obama’s recent visit to Alaska centering on climate change and the Obama administration’s continued opposition to resource development in ANWR, has provided fodder for conservatives to amp up the argument that the Obama administration is to blame for Alaska’s economic woes.
The ad the clearly plays on that narrative with the narrator saying:
“Really Mr. President, stop ANWR forever? Not as long as Don Young is in Congress.”
and:
“[Young] has successfully fought federal overreach year after year.”
The ad also seeks to assure voters the 82 year old congressman is still up to the job, calling Young “fighting fit.”
Listen to the full ad here:
Matt Acuña Buxton is a long-time political reporter who has written for the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner and The Midnight Sun political blog. He also authors the daily politics newsletter, The Alaska Memo, and can frequently be found live-tweeting public meetings on Twitter.
