WASHINGTON -- Sen. Mark Begich (D-Alaska) is apparently tickled that one of his would-be opponents took to the top of a landmark building that Begich got built in order to mock Begich's ability to deliver results.
Former Alaska Attorney General Dan Sullivan (R), in an advertising spot this month, panned Begich from atop the Dena'ina Civic and Convention Center in Anchorage, saying Alaskans wanted someone who delivered real results. Unfortunately for Sullivan, the center was dubbed Begich's "crowning achievement" by local press during his days as mayor, when he secured its construction.
So Begich, in a new ad out Wednesday, is returning the favor by going back to the same roof with its lovely views of Alaskan mountains to offer Sullivan some advice on other sites he might consider for future ads.
And yes, Begich claims roles in securing those, too.
"I approved this message because here are some more nice places Dan could use in his next ad," Begich says, pointing to "Merrill Field, where I expanded the safety zone, at Eielson [Air Force Base], where we kept the F-16s, the new hospitals at Nome, at Barrow, the coal-fired power plant we saved ..."
Before getting named attorney general by then-Gov. Sarah Palin (R), Sullivan spent much of his high-powered career in the Marines and in Washington, D.C., where he had a $1.3 million home in Maryland that he listed as a "principal residence" until he sold it in 2010. (Begich also has an ad about that.)
There's nothing wrong with living in Maryland while serving in the White House, but perhaps Sullivan never absorbed a key rule of Alaska politics, so ably mastered by the likes for Don Young and Ted Stevens: It's good to bring home the bacon, and important to brag about it.
Sullivan may agree with the liberals who disparage such proud pork-barreling, but not Begich.
Watch Begich's ad, above.
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