Shielded by state employees, Dunleavy tries to make political cowardice into a virtue

Rest assured that Gov. Mike Dunleavy supports the November ballot measure to hold a constitutional convention.

And there is no doubt that Dunleavy supports Donald Trump’s lies that he was robbed of the presidency in 2020.

But Dunleavy refuses to take a clear position on these and other matters, opting instead to keep on ducking.

Dunleavy is pursuing his penchant to avoid and evade. That worked in 2018, when Dunleavy’s nonsensical claims about cutting 2,000 funded but unfilled jobs and his imaginary budget numbers faced no examination from Alaska news organizations.

This time, Dunleavy and his state employee/campaign handlers are trying to con Alaskans into thinking that his refusal to state an opinion on key topics is a red badge of courage, not of cowardice.

Take two of the easiest campaign issues that Dunleavy is ducking.

Dunleavy has refused to answer written questions from news organizations that, among other things, asked him to declare his position on the constitutional convention question and the lies that Trump is telling about the election,

Andrew Jensen, the $90,000 state employee in the governor’s office who is also the frontman for the Dunleavy campaign, makes the laughable claim that Dunleavy’s campaign doesn’t have the time to answer written questions or to have more than one interview with a news organization.

The truth is that “Standing Tall” doesn’t want to say where he stands on anything except the PFD, federal overreach and freedom.

Ever since he launched the Donna Arduin debacle and the recall campaign succeeded in forcing him to reverse most of the elements of his so-called “Honest Budget,” Dunleavy has tried to avoid being pinned down.

Here are two questions that Dunleavy hasn’t answered in English:

“Do you believe Joe Biden legitimately won the 2020 presidential election?

“Do you support a constitutional convention?

It’s important that Alaskans know where candidates stand. Dunleavy’s main chalengers—Bill Walker and Les Gara—have answered those questions. Yes to the first. No to the second.

In an interview with the Alaska Beacon, here is how Dunleavy replied when asked if he supports a constitutional convention.

“Do I think the people of Alaska should contemplate whether we want to change the constitution or not? Yes, it’s up to the people of Alaska,” said Dunleavy, who went on for more than three minutes without answering the question.

All of this to avoid saying, “I support holding a constitutional convention.”

Dunleavy’s right-wing supporters assume a constitutional convention is the best way to ban abortion, guarantee big dividends and get people who agree with them to become judges.

His spokesman says he will support what the people decide, which is as bold as saying he will support sunrise tomorrow. Whoever is elected governor will support what the people decide.

Regarding Trump’s lies about the 2020 election, the Alaska Beacon did not ask Dunleavy if he agrees with Trump, but the Anchorage Daily News had that on its list of questions that Dunleavy didn’t answer.

When the Beacon asked lieutenant governor candidates if they agreed with Trump’s lies, Jensen, the state employee who represents the Dunleavy campaign, claimed the subject is inappropriate for Nancy Dahlstrom, the proposed Dunleavy replacement for Kevin Meyer.

“To date, Dahlstrom has refused to answer questions about whether she believes Trump’s claims, and a campaign spokesman declined to arrange an interview to clarify her position,” the Alaska Beacon said.

“As you know,” Jensen told reporter James Brooks, “she was commissioner of Corrections during 2020 and won’t be commenting on questions related to Alaska’s or the national election.”

As Jensen knows and Brooks should know, Dahlstrom serving as a commissioner in 2020 has nothing to do with whether she accepts the lies of Donald Trump. On Twitter, Jensen tried to change the subject, saying, “The incoming head of elections isn’t going to comment on prior elections.”

Jensen, who used to be the editor of the Alaska Journal of Commerce before Dunleavy gave him the state/campaign job last fall, has staked out an absurd position for himself and Dunleavy.

What is really going on here is that if Dahlstrom speaks about Trump’s lies, Dunleavy will have to as well.

The other two major candidates for lieutenant governor, Heidi Drygas and Jessica Cook, say they do not believe Trump’s lies.

Scott Kendall, former chief of staff for Bill Walker, rightly challenged the refusal by Dunleavy’s campaign to have Dahlstrom speak on election issues. Jensen and his boss, $139,000 PR employee Dave Stieren, responded by trying to ridicule Kendall.

Stieren calls him “soy boy.” Your state dollars at work.

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