There is a funny exchange of emails between Carol Beecher, director of Alaska’s Division of Elections, and Republican candidate for the Senate, Dan J. Sullivan — who is challenging incumbent Senator Dan S. Sullivan! This challenge makes much of a middle initial.
You can find the exchange on Dermot Cole’s web page. You can read the actual documents yourself there. Here’s the gist:
- The May 29 sworn declaration by Dan J. Sullivan
- Beecher’s June 1 email asking about his ballot-name preference
- Dan J.’s June 3 letter proposing middle initials to distinguish the two Sullivans
- The June 8, 11:27 a.m. email from Dan J. consisting of just “Dan S. Sullivan” — an apparently “clarifying” email!
- His eight-hours-later correction (“Apologies. Please list as Dan J. Sullivan”)
Ms. Beecher interprets this as bad faith on Dan J.’s part. Reporter Dermot Cole judges all this to prove that Dan J. “did not ask to use Dan S. Sullivan’s middle initial.”
Which is correct?
The best face one can put on the exchange appears to be that Dan J. made a mistake when he “accidentally” used his opponent’s initial in an email response. He said as much in the next email. “Apologies.”
But this has consequences for one interpretation of the whole squabble. Two comments on Paul Jacob’s Thursday Common Sense essay heap scorn upon critics of Dan J. and the Democratic challenger for implying that the critics must believe that Alaskan voters are stupid. But since Dan J. himself made the mistake, that must make him stupid, and the marginal voters’ deficiencies understandable.
If the candidate cannot keep his own middle initial clearly in his mind, why would we expect voters to do so?
But then, that was the whole point of the stunt, no?