The Alaska legislature and Governor Sarah Palin each are refusing to give in over the method to be used in filling a vacant State Senate seat. Earlier this year, a Democratic State Senator from Juneau resigned to join the Obama administration. Alaska law says that when there is a legislative vacancy, the Governor must appoint a member of the party that had held the seat, and furthermore that appointee must be acceptable to other legislators of that same party in that same chamber. Governor Palin appointed Democrat Tim Grussendorf to the vacant seat, but the Senate Democrats then rejected that choice. Palin says the State Constitution conflicts with state law, and that the State Constitution mandates that the appointee only be acceptable to a majority of all the State Senators. However, Republicans in the Senate are not supporting Palin in this matter, since the precedent she hopes to establish might someday injure the Republicans. See this article for more detail.
The Alaska constitution says that procedure for filling legislative vacancies shall be specified by statute, but if there is no statute, the governor may make the appointment. The constitution also says that each house shall be the judge of the qualifications of its members. This isn’t quite the same as being “acceptable” to a majority of State Senators, unless you have a particularly liberal view of legislative authority.
State law provides that in case of a legislative vacancy, that the government appointment someone of the same party as the previous holder of the seat, and be confirmed by a majority of the senators of that party (can a state by statute add qualifications to become a state senator?)
The Senate Democrats met in secret, and claim to not have confirmed Grussendorf. There could be issues of open meeting requirements and record votes here.
Grussendorf is the chief of staff of a Democrat senator, and the son of a former Democrat speaker of the House. He was a Democrat candidate for the Alaska House in 2002. He changed his registration to “undeclared” so he could vote in the closed Republican gubernatorial primary in 2006, when Sarah Palin defeated Frank Murkowski. His registration apparently was changed to Republican at that time. He recently re-registered as a Democrat.
Traditionally, local party members forward the names of 3 persons to the governor. This time, Juneau Democrats (where the seat is located), forwarded the name of one person only, a current House member.
A similar situation occurred in 1987, except the parties were reversed. At that time, the Democrat governor got a legal opinion that Sarah Palin is now citing. In 1987, the would-be gubernatorial senate appointee withdrew, so the issue was never resolved.
BTW, Alaska would hold a special election for US representative, US senator, or governor between 60 and 90 days after a vacancy occurred.
“Democrat” is a noun. “Democratic” is the adjective that describes someone who is a Democrat. There is no such thing as “the Democrat Party,” a “Democrat senator,” a “Democrat governor,” or a “Democrat candidate.” This is middle school-level grammar. It’s not difficult.
So why is it that people only within the last few years have decided that it is? And it’s not just snarky conservative Republicans. I’ve seen bumperstickers on cars that say “Vote Democrat.” Huh? I thought they were supposed to be the smart ones. In a political career spanning over thirty-five years now I’ve never seen any bumpersticker advocating that sentiment that said anything other than “Vote Democratic” until recently. WTF? Is this Tom DeLay’s greatest legacy?
Vote Republic! 😉
Vote for Liberty!
Legislator candidates and members should be able to have a rank order list of replacements during a term of office.
I.E. NO more EVIL MORON extremely dangerous stuff about filling vacancies in legislative bodies.
In the English language, nouns may be used as adjectives. (eg “Alaska legislature”, “Alaska governor”). You’re not going to claim that “level”, as in “middle-school level” is not a noun, are you?
The governor of Alaska is the Alaska governor. A senator who is a Democrat, is a Democrat senator. A senator who is a Democratic Party member, is a Democratic-Party-member senator”.
You’re missing the point. What on earth does “level,” which is both a noun and an adjective for completely different reasons with completely unrelated meanings, have to do with this? You might as well use the equally irrelevant “light” as an example.
Nouns may not be used as adjectives indiscriminately, Mr. Riley, in English or any other language with which I’m familiar (which would be several), at least not if you want to be respectful to the communication process in general and the language in which you’re speaking in particular. The tortured construction of your last example in the second paragraph proves my point. What is the reason for saying “Democrat senator,” which is incorrect, instead of “Democratic senator,” which is correct and was for well over a hundred years the only way anyone ever referred to a senator (or whomever) who was a Democrat?
I’m hardly the first person to bring this up, but Republicans never come up with a rational explanation for it. Why did this odd habit of deciding to use “Democrat” as if it were an adjective (which it most certainly is not – consult any dictionary in this regard) only appear relatively recently? Have Republicans (specifically Sarah Palin/Tom DeLay fans) now taken their obsession with freedom at all costs to the linguistic arena? I can’t say I’m surprised, in an era when people have transformed “text” into a verb.
Sarah Palin, like Democratic hopeful [1984] Walter Mondale’s official [female] running mate: the more ya look, the less ya like……………
Don Lake, California
No one has claimed that “Democrat” is an adjective.
It is correct to use a proper noun as an adjective. You did not blink at Richard Winger’s use of “Alaska legislature” in the original article. You don’t think that “Alaska” is an adjective, do you? You do know that Alaska is a State, no?
http://www.senatorhowiemorales.com/
Do you suppose Senator Morales is a fan of Sarah Palin or Tom DeLay? Maybe he is a victim of the Internet era.