A Mark Begich immigration vote which Begich’s Republican opponent Dan Sullivan characterized as “bizarre” in an exclusive interview with Breitbart News may result in more than a few heads being scratched in Washington and Begich’s strange explanation for it doesn’t help matters, or him, at all.
At issue is what most view as Begich’s “signal of support for pending executive action from President Barack Obama on immigration.” A signal every other vulnerable Senate Democrat opted to not send. Furthermore, Begich’s rationale suggests how and why he votes has more to do with him and his ego than anything one might remotely equate to principle.
Alaska Sen. Mark Begich, a vulnerable Senate Democrat who ultimately sided with his party on the vote, said he was “thinking about” voting with Republicans – but decided not to after not a single GOP senator approached him to seek his vote.
Certainly, some Alaskans may be less than pleased at the suggestion … from Begich himself, no less … that unless Mark Begich’s ego is stroked by Republicans the best interests of his Alaskan constituents can wait. For his part, Sullivan characterized Begich’s decision-making as “bizarre.”
Enter Harry Reid, who Sullivan claims Begich supports by voting with Obama 97% of the time. “This may make it 98%,” said Sullivan, while also pointing out that a Harry Reid-related Super PAC has dropped millions in Alaska to prop up Begich. That Begich supplied a critical 50th vote for Harry Reid when Reid most needed it may cause some to wonder who Begich actually works for in Washington.
Whatever his rationale, Begich certainly left himself open to a broadside from Team Sullivan. This below is excerpted from a new Sullivan campaign email.
“Senator Begich has once again shown his blind alliance to Harry Reid and Barack Obama. In the recent UFL debate, Senator Begich told Alaskans that he was against executive amnesty, but today he voted to block an amendment that would protect the United States from President Obama’s blatant disrespect for our constitution,” said Sullivan for U.S. Senate spokesperson Mike Anderson. “Dan Sullivan opposes President Obama’s plan for executive amnesty and believes that first and foremost, we must secure the border. While we are nation of immigrants, we are also a nation of laws, and it is the role of Congress to provide strict oversight and hold the President accountable for his actions — which Mark Begich has shown time and time again he is unwilling to do.”
In July, Begich voted to block the same amendment from being attached to an appropriations bill.
Asked about his own key drivers in his bid to oust Begich, Sullivan kept returning to the “rule of law” and how in his words, “federal over-reach” and ignoring the rule of law has America “fundamentally going in the wrong direction.”
“We can change this. I’m very optimistic we can change this,” added Sullivan, while also pointing out his view that taking control of the Senate is key to stopping what he deems an out of control administration. Sullivan pointed to illegal immigration and ObamaCare as two key areas in which he feels the Obama administration has repeatedly ignored the rule of law with the help of Majority Leader Harry Reid.
Reid, in Sullivan’s view, fails to hold Obama to account to America’s fundamentally democratic governing process by allowing him to skirt Congress – and ultimately the rule of law – without challenge from the Senate.
Sullivan also links the on going crisis at the southern border to politics. “Congress needs to do a better job of securing the border,” said Sullivan. “This is a “self-made crisis” resulting from ignoring the rule of law, he added.
As for Mark Begich, whatever his actual reasoning, he had a chance to weigh in on that cause today and opted to side with Barack Obama, Harry reid and the rest of the open borders crowd. Some Alaskans may find his actions curious, if not downright “bizarre” as did Sullivan. But then, while he may be a great many things when viewed through a partisan lens, Harry Reid isn’t stupid and clearly he isn’t pouring millions of dollars into Alaska for nothing.
Ultimately, if Alaskans come to view Begich’s latest puzzling vote as simply an installment on the payback sure to come should he hold onto office in November with the help of deep-pocketed Majority Leader Harry Reid – he may have set his cause back today. What he did do was advance Obama’s ability to provide executive amnesty for illegal aliens right after November’s mid-terms but just in time for the 2016 presidential election.
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