The Territory of Alaska this year was probably the only place on earth where a platform orator could get a laugh with the well-worn opening: "Ladies and Gentlemen.'' On Alaska's election day last week, this local joke proved to be on the Republican Party, which was turned out of power by a Democratic landslide.
Secretary of the Interior Douglas McKay was responsible for the joke. On an Alaskan inspection trip last summer, he found voters bitter about the Republican decision to press for Hawaiian but not for Alaskan statehood. Instead of mum bling weasel words, McKay publicly told statehood advocates...
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