# Have Republicans put Alaska in play? **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [September 3, 2015, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-republicans-put-alaska-in-play/729778 "2015-09-03T03:42:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Alzarian](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ad7895/32.png) [@Alzarian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Alzarian)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2015, 3:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-republicans-put-alaska-in-play/729778/1 "2015-09-03T03:42:38Z")
Watching so many of the Republican candidates now pledging to rename Mt. Denali after William McKinley should they be elected has got me wondering - could this potentially put Alaska in play in the general election. I gather that the vast majority of Alaskans approved of President Obama returning Denali as the name of the mountain. Maybe Republicans figure Alaska is so red it doesn’t matter what happens there. Maybe they don’t care about those 3 electoral votes. I certainly get that Ohio is a bigger ‘prize’. However, I also think that threatening to ignore the wishes of Alaskans is foolhardy, and for a Republican President to impose such a name change would seem to be in contrast to the popular conservative idea that the federal government should butt out of state matters. What do you think? Could this event put Alaska in play, or is it too red a state to have a chance of turning blue? ---
**Author:** ![Measure\_for\_Measure](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/measure_for_measure/32/557_2.png) [@Measure\_for\_Measure](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Measure_for_Measure)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2015, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-republicans-put-alaska-in-play/729778/2 "2015-09-03T04:09:08Z")
I opine that few Alaskan Republicans care about the issue enough for it to flip their vote. Also, will right wing talk radio hacks cut Obama any slack in Alaska? I doubt it. Any commentary along those lines will be reluctant, qualified and rare. ---
**Author:** ![E-DUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/e-dub/32/403_2.png) [@E-DUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-DUB)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2015, 4:15am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-republicans-put-alaska-in-play/729778/3 "2015-09-03T04:15:25Z")
Is this like changing Cape Kennedy back to Canaveral? ---
**Author:** ![ITR\_champion](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c67d28/32.png) [@ITR\_champion](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ITR_champion)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2015, 4:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-republicans-put-alaska-in-play/729778/4 "2015-09-03T04:16:58Z")
I’ve been to Alaska and can testify that everyone there called the mountain “Denali” since long before Obama changed the name. No one much cares what the federal government officially names it. ---
**Author:** ![Lord\_Feldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lord_feldon/32/341_2.png) [@Lord\_Feldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lord_Feldon)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2015, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-republicans-put-alaska-in-play/729778/5 "2015-09-03T04:35:37Z")
_Maybe_ if it stays an issue, but if it’s just the outrage of the week I don’t think anybody will remember next week. > [@Alzarian](#): > > I certainly get that Ohio is a bigger ‘prize’. Every Ohioan I know expressed bafflement that we were supposed to care about the name of the mountain. I really thought I’d landed on one of those wannabe Onion sites the first time I saw that it was a terrible slight against Ohio and how dare Obama. ---
**Author:** ![Giles](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/giles/32/60_2.png) [@Giles](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Giles)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2015, 6:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-republicans-put-alaska-in-play/729778/6 "2015-09-03T06:59:04Z")
The only reason why some Ohioans might care is because President McKinley came from Ohio. However, that was a long time ago. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2015, 7:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-republicans-put-alaska-in-play/729778/7 "2015-09-03T07:22:19Z")
I seriously doubt that there are any more than a handful of Alaskans or Ohioans who care enough about this to let it decide their vote. ---
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2015, 8:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-republicans-put-alaska-in-play/729778/8 "2015-09-03T08:48:54Z")
> [@Alzarian](#): > > Watching so many of the Republican candidates now pledging to rename Mt. Denali after William McKinley… Is anyone actually pledging to rename it for McKinley, or are they just criticizing Obama for naming it Denali? There’s a difference. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2015, 10:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-republicans-put-alaska-in-play/729778/9 "2015-09-03T10:20:10Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > Is anyone actually pledging to rename it for McKinley, or are they just criticizing Obama for naming it Denali? There’s a difference. [Trump has.](http://thinkprogress.org/election/2015/09/01/3697495/obviously-donald-trump-will-reverse-mount-denali-renaming/) ---
**Author:** ![Peremensoe](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ce7236/32.png) [@Peremensoe](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Peremensoe)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2015, 10:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-republicans-put-alaska-in-play/729778/10 "2015-09-03T10:39:51Z")
> [@Robot\_Arm](#): > > Is anyone actually pledging to rename it for McKinley, or are they just criticizing Obama for naming it Denali? There’s a difference. So far, Trump and Kasich have pledged to undo “Denali,” yes. ---
**Author:** ![Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/b4bc9f/32.png) [@Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ulf_the_Unwashed)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2015, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-republicans-put-alaska-in-play/729778/11 "2015-09-03T16:46:08Z")
They could rename Campbell Hill (the highest point in Ohio; I have summited) “Mount McKinley.” It would have the advantage that no one has ever died in the attempt to reach the top. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2015, 4:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-republicans-put-alaska-in-play/729778/12 "2015-09-03T16:48:03Z")
> [@Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](#): > > They could rename Campbell Hill (the highest point in Ohio; I have summited) “Mount McKinley.” It would have the advantage that no one has ever died in the attempt to reach the top. Someone will shoot down that idea. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2015, 5:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-republicans-put-alaska-in-play/729778/13 "2015-09-03T17:07:53Z")
> [@Alzarian](#): > > Could this event put Alaska in play…? No. ---
**Author:** ![BobLibDem](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/boblibdem/32/3149_2.png) [@BobLibDem](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BobLibDem)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2015, 5:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-republicans-put-alaska-in-play/729778/14 "2015-09-03T17:09:33Z")
No Democrat will win Alaska’s electoral votes in my lifetime. It is just about as safe as Wyoming or Montana. It will never be in play and if either camp spends a dollar on the race there, it’s a waste of money. ---
**Author:** ![lieu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/c2a13f/32.png) [@lieu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lieu)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2015, 5:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-republicans-put-alaska-in-play/729778/15 "2015-09-03T17:22:09Z")
> [@Giles](#): > > The only reason why some Ohioans might care is because President McKinley came from Ohio. However, that was a long time ago. And the kicker is McKinley wasn’t even president yet, just a nominee when an Alaska gold prospector from Seattle first unofficially named it after him since he backed the gold standard as opposed to Democratic candidate William Jennings Bryan’s silver standard. McKinley was assassinated 5 years later and 16 years after that a sentimental Congress and President Wilson made it official. ---
**Author:** ![Velocity](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/velocity/32/18006_2.png) [@Velocity](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Velocity)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2015, 6:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-republicans-put-alaska-in-play/729778/16 "2015-09-03T18:01:53Z")
I’m baffled as to why Republicans should even care enough to want to rename it McKinley. ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2015, 6:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-republicans-put-alaska-in-play/729778/17 "2015-09-03T18:07:26Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > I’m baffled as to why Republicans should even care enough to want to rename it McKinley. Because Obama. ---
**Author:** ![Smapti](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smapti/32/17938_2.png) [@Smapti](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Smapti)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2015, 6:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-republicans-put-alaska-in-play/729778/18 "2015-09-03T18:09:20Z")
> [@Velocity](#): > > I’m baffled as to why Republicans should even care enough to want to rename it McKinley. Because Obama did it and therefore it must be opposed at all costs. ---
**Author:** ![Skammer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skammer/32/143_2.png) [@Skammer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skammer)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2015, 6:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-republicans-put-alaska-in-play/729778/19 "2015-09-03T18:37:48Z")
> [@Ulf\_the\_Unwashed](#): > > They could rename Campbell Hill (the highest point in Ohio; I have summited) “Mount McKinley.” It would have the advantage that no one has ever died in the attempt to reach the top. You sir, have insulted the memory of that great Ohioan Charles D. Campbell. How _dare_ you suggest such a thing! There is no one named Denali so clearly keeping the McKinley name wouldn’t bother anyone. ---
**Author:** ![RTFirefly](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/c77e96/32.png) [@RTFirefly](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/RTFirefly)\ **Post date:** [September 3, 2015, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-republicans-put-alaska-in-play/729778/20 "2015-09-03T18:46:44Z")
What’s needed is clearly a 3-way swap. Denali officially gets named Denali, Campbell Hill in Ohio gets renamed Mt. McKinley, and Alaska finds some podunk (by Alaskan standards, but huge by Ohio standards) hill that nobody’d even bothered to give a name to because it was surrounded by big-ass mountains, and renames it Campbell Hill. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/have-republicans-put-alaska-in-play/729778.md?page=2)