Bad timing? Parnell fundraiser pitch arrives on day of Stevens' funeral

The day after Sen. Ted Stevens was killed in a plane crash near Dillingham last week, Gov. Sean Parnell announced he was suspending his campaign activity "so all Alaskans have the opportunity to honor the memory of U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens."

Parnell said he was cancelling events and even trying to pull his TV ads "during this difficult time for Alaskans."

So it raised more than a few political eyebrows when, on Wednesday, the day of Stevens' funeral no less, a number of people received solicitations to a Parnell  fundraiser slated for Monday in Anchorage at the home of former Anchorage Mayor George Wuerch and his wife Brenda. RSVP to the Parnell for Governor campaign, please.

Also making the rounds in recent days is an invite to join the governor at a primary night celebration at the Anchorage Hilton Hotel's McKinley suite.  "And wear RED!" the mailer says.

Politicos report his campaign booth at the Tanana Valley Fair, shut down after the crash, also re-opened on Friday.

"Suspending" his campaign apparently means the campaign goes on -- just without Parnell in attendance. Which is, of course, something his two main opponents have been accusing him of all along, basically saying he's, well, chicken to debate them or answer uncomfortable questions from audience members at public forums.

In fact, that played out Sunday, at the annual "Candidate Sunday" gathering at the Rev. Jerry Prevo's Anchorage Baptist Temple. The political perp walk, as wags like to call it, includes just about every candidate for statewide and local legislative offices and candidates -- even Democrats -- generally see it as a command performance.

Not Parnell, though. He was represented by a vase of flowers on a small round table that also held a  framed letter addressed to "Dear Anchorage Baptist Temple Congregation."

"With the tragic loss of Senator Ted Stevens and the suffering being endured by all the survivors, I have temporarily suspended public appearances related to the gubernatorial campaign," the letter said, adding later that he didn't want the "politics of the primary season to divide us."

He also said he'd suspended advertising and cancelled "several near-term fundraisers."

Michelle Toohey, Parnell's campaign manager, reiterated in an e-mail Thursday that Parnell suspended public appearances, advertising and those "near-term" fundraisers. The governor himself kept to that promise and didn't appear at the fair or the church, she said.

And the fundraiser the day before the primary? "We continue working diligently to secure the funds necessary to wage this statewide campaign," Toohey said.

No word from Toohey on what would seem like bad timing on those fundraiser solicitations.