With the 2008 elections approaching, US Congressional incumbents and their challengers put Nome as an early checkpoint on their campaign trail map, beginning their pre-campaign visits to the bush. Ethan Berkowitz, Anchorage Democratic challenger, spent two days in Nome last week, and sat in on the joint Kawerak Inc. and Norton Sound Health Corporation board meeting at the Mini Convention Center on April 9.

Ethan visited Nome and attended the joint Kawerak/Norton Sound board meeting to hear about community action on the challenges faced by rural communities, talked with the local newspaper and radio station, visited several kennels and enjoyed dog mushing so much that he missed his plane home.

Every day, Alaskans are confronted with crippling prices at the gas pump and when we pay our electric and heating bills. It’s not just fuel and electricity, either: in the last year, higher transportation costs have led to skyrocketing prices at the grocery store. High energy prices are at the root of our stalled economy, and we cannot build America until we solve this problem.

You know, America’s greatest generation had its rendezvous with destiny and Alaska’s greatest generation had a rendezvous with destiny and the challenge for this generation is to keep that promise. And that’s what campaigns are all about, is maintaining the principles of those who came before us with the programs that are going to serve as legacies for our children. And the issues that the people have raised today are going to be issues that we’ve talked about in Juneau, the issues that we have talked about across the state, they are issues that people talk about at their dinner tables all the time.