It is unusual to see Republican political operatives praising Democratic Senator Mark Begich of Alaska’s campaign. But they seem to admire his mad skillz:
But few Republicans, even some [Dan] Sullivan allies, expressed confidence that the GOP nominee will hold up well in a one-on-one comparison with the one-term senator. In unusually candid interviews, many of the state’s GOP operatives said that Begich—a former mayor of the state’s largest city, Anchorage, and the son of a congressman—has proven the better candidate thus far. Many analysts have praised not just Begich’s outreach to local Alaska voting blocs but his early TV ads, one of which recalled the death of his father, who was killed in a plane crash while in office.
Many Democrats consider Begich, along with Sen. Mark Pryor in Arkansas, to be running the best campaign of any Democratic incumbent up for reelection.
“Begich is someone who has run for office a dozen times and learned how to run and how to run effectively, and that’s his asset,” said Mark Hellenthal, a Republican strategist based in Anchorage. “He lives and breathes politics. He’s got a team that’s tried and true, they’ve gone through many elections with him. He would be a good campaign manager if he wasn’t the candidate.”
Hellenthal added, “None of those statements are true of Sullivan.”
Ouch.