“The best argument against democracy is a five-minute conversation with the average voter.”
-unknown, often misattributed to Winston Churchill

If you watched the Anchorage Caucus town hall on Sunday, you’d be forgiven for thinking Anchorage voters are a single-issue lot. The two-hour session was practically dominated by strident public testimony in support of the Base Student Allocation (BSA) – or rather, increasing it by the proposed $257 million. The redshirts (many people were wearing red shirts to signify their support for increased education funding) turned out in force, waving banners of questionable origin and funding, demanding in no uncertain terms that the Legislature “do something” to support Alaska’s students, who, if you bought into the rhetoric, are all a hairs breadth away from breaking down classroom doors and running amok in the streets like a sub-zero version of “A Clockwork Orange.” Funding must be had, came the pleas, or our students are doomed…

If you weren’t at the Anchorage Caucus meeting (and I wouldn’t blame you, it takes a certain type to spend a sunny, clear Sunday on politics) it was an opportunity for residents of the greater Anchorage area to turn up, give two minutes of public testimony, and let their representatives and senators know how they felt.

The Rasmuson Hall auditorium was packed, with people pressed up against the back walls to witness the spectacle. Representatives filed in and out – since there wasn’t enough room for everyone on the small stage – which led to some confusion at the halfway point. As the moderator informed everyone that testimony would be paused to let the legislators in the hall enter and listen, one incensed woman asked if the names on the list to testify could at least be read. “I worked hard to get on that list,” she argued, and the room seemed to agree.

Upon being informed testimony would resume after the legislator swap, a collective sigh of relief went through the room. Public grandstanding could continue. Written testimony, by the way, was offered, but for those who either have a need to be heard in a public forum or don’t trust their legislators to actually read their submitted comments, two minutes and a microphone are positively mandatory.

The BSA was far and away the issue of the day – by the time I stopped keeping track, at least twenty people had made it the focal point of their public testimony, while several others had at least made note of it. A distant second topic, but one that received a fair amount of applause from audience members, was the censure and removal of Representative David Eastman (R – Wasilla), referred to by a few as a Nazi, and by several more as unfit for office.

It’s worth noting (if for no other reason than as a thought experiment) that none of Eastman’s voters were in attendance, given that it was the Anchorage Caucus. You’ve got to wonder what the response might be in the Valley, where his constituents actually live. You might further wonder what his constituents’ reactions might be, were a conglomerate of self-assured Anchorage voters to show up and decry the person they voted for as unfit for office. Anyhow – food for thought.

The BSA advocates argued the same points that have been made in Senate Education Committee meetings since the start of the session: flat funding is unsustainable and schools need a $257 million increase. The rhetoric in support of dipping into the PFD cookie jar to fund schools was in full display, with one woman claiming that “we’re all big boys and girls,” and that we can afford to slash the PFD. If you’re unsure about the BSA issue, having your share of Alaska’s resource wealth tossed to the wayside and being referred to in such a demeaning, infantile manner might push you one way or the other – at least, I’d hope. Offer your PFD up in service of one of the lowest ranked school systems in the country, if you’re so hell bent on it – but don’t claim to speak for everyone else in the state.

For the most part, the ideology in the room fell fairly consistently towards the left – but once or twice, we were shocked. Towards the end of public testimony, an older woman offered her thoughts on the way Alaska ought to trend with regards to abortion. The hall was pin-drop silent as she spoke for two minutes, asking the Legislature to support more pro-life policies. She also claimed that the outcry against Eastman might be directly linked to his support of a more pro-life agenda–recent House Judiciary Committee gaffe notwithstanding. There wasn’t a single clap heard as she sat down, where minutes before there were hoots and hollers in support of public education. If you can get ‘em out of the womb, by God, we’ll advocate for their public schools, but that’s a big “IF.”

There’s another issue I couldn’t really determine, and that was – how did these people get organized enough to advocate for the BSA, and how did this caucus meeting become such a single-issue event? Usually, there’s groups turning out in support of the PFD, or gun control, or other issues voters tend to gravitate towards, but the discourse was dominated by the BSA. Was it one of the teachers’ unions, getting suitable talking points together and rounding people up to testify? Did this happen more organically?

Given the diverse array of testifiers, I tend to doubt it, and I lean more towards an organized event. Which, you know, could be decried as a bad thing, but I don’t think that’s necessarily true. People come together over a common issue, and whether you disagree with it or not, it’s a way of doing business.

Having recently returned from Juneau, I know the capital’s geographic isolation from the majority of voters has been decried by many, but I don’t doubt that some legislators are secretly grateful that in-person town halls like this are few and far between. To interact with constituents en masse when they’re trying to hold you accountable – well, it’s a nightmare scenario for anyone.

Things wrapped up at 4 pm. The sun was already starting to dip below the horizon, and I was supposed to meet friends for dinner and treats. We’re big treatboys in these parts. The town hall illustrated how much this session will be (and already has been) defined by the discourse over increasing education funding. House and Senate floor sessions will, no doubt, be lively, and Governor Mike Dunleavy’s (R – Alaska) proposed full statutory PFD is sure to butt up against the constraints of the student allotment. There are strange things done beneath the midnight sun.