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I thought the reaction could go either way, but Twitter users from Palmer to Paris were as delighted as Peltola was.
“She's so real for this.”
“Elect more relatable people to office.”
“Officially have a favorite member of Congress. Love curb treasure.”
And on and on. The tweet has been viewed more than 300,000 times and almost 9,000 people liked it.
The neighborhood – Capitol Hill, about a mile and a half east of the Capitol – is fruitful for sidewalk shopping. It’s got high density, high turnover and a good number of small rentals set among nice houses. (I could devote a whole column to my sidewalk finds. But this is about Peltola so I’ll just say this: Cordless Dyson. Works great!)
Gloating aside, as someone who has jogged across the Hill lugging a cast iron skillet (Lodge! It just needed a scrub and re-seasoning!), I can say that collecting curb treasure can feel awkward. In some circles, scrounging for castoffs is considered unseemly.
But just look at that photo of Peltola and her treasure. Do you detect any discomfort? I see only the pure joy of the score. I think that's why the moment works in her favor.
Charm, likeability, realness – that kind of personal magic is worth a ton in politics. Without it, she would have been an “also ran” among that field of 48 candidates in last year’s special primary election.
Now we’ll see if she can pull off another feat that could go either way in the court of public opinion – assembling a base of the political middle. It’s still early days, but some progressives are grumbling about her support for ConocoPhillips’ Willow project. Some doubt her decision to hire Josh Revak, a Republican who served in the Alaska Senate, as her state director.
A lot of Americans are horrified by the opposing side in the culture wars and don’t feel this is the time for partisan kumbaya. One new Congress member from Alaska is not going to achieve a truce. But maybe her constituents will grant her an exemption.
It didn’t hit me until I came home from the dog walk that of course Peltola is a natural at curb shopping. She was raised in a subsistence culture. The land provides. Now the sidewalk provides. She’s also spoken of being humble as a Yup’ik value. Why would she pass up a perfectly good bench?
I did not intend for that tweet to come off as flattery. I just thought it was funny and worth a tweet. Rest assured I will also write about her missteps. (Aside: I’m kicking myself for not writing about the vote Peltola missed because she was in the bathroom. I was working on a different story. Luckily, ADN’s Riley Rogerson got the scoop.)
For another take on how a member of Congress furnishes her D.C. digs, check out freshman Rep. Jill Tokuda of Hawaii’s video of her trip to IKEA. If Peltola had made a video like this, I think it would have bombed. Alaska doesn’t have an IKEA. This would come off as retail flaunting. If Alaskans can’t buy an Örtfylld for $12.99, they don’t want to see their congresswoman do it either.
Or maybe I’m wrong about that. Maybe Peltola could pull that off, too.
That’s it for me today. I’ll be back in your inbox in two weeks. Feel free to email me your stories of great sidewalk finds. The retelling is part of the joy, isn’t it?
-Liz Ruskin
lruskin@alaskapublic.org
Follow me on twitter: @lruskin
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