Boots on the ground at Public Official Speed Dating
from the Alaska Dispatch: Sen. Lesil McGuire and Rep. Harry Crawford have been dating.
Before I get a phone call from McGuire’s attorney (who probably bills double on the weekends), maybe I should back up a little.
Earlier this year, I joined a group of other civic-minded Alaskans of my generation — reporters and policy folks and graphic designers and attorneys and legislative types and other all-purpose professionals, a mix of Republicans and Democrats and (in typically Alaskan style) unaffiliated voters who identify simply as “Alaskan” — to talk about the future of the state. Eventually we got ourselves a name — Elevate Alaska — and a mission — encouraging young Alaskans to engage in politics and bringing the civic dialogue out of the land of talking points and sound bytes — and a logo and a Web site, and last week we had sweatshirts made, which makes it all legit. Nothing’s more official than sweatshirts.
…
Public Official Speed Dating (as it was rechristened) in Anchorage Thursday night drew a group of politicians that included not only Crawford (who recently threw his hat into the ring as a potential Democratic challenger to U.S. Rep. Don Young) and McGuire, but gubernatorial candidates Bill Walker, Sen. Hollis French and Bob Poe; Reps. Les Gara, John Harris, Chris Tuck and Sharon Cissna; and even Anchorage Assembly member and onetime Mayoral Speed Dating participant Matt Claman, among others. Attendees (mostly young professionals) moved from table to table in groups of three or four, spending four minutes with each candidate.
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