Very low-energy group leaves Anchorage unsaved
With the subtlety of a bulldozer, Save Anchorage and its affiliated propaganda machine took Anchorage politics by storm. Backed by influential Alaska GOP operatives, the group whipped up a frenzy of distrust towards anything and anyone that didn't subscribe to their extreme views. And Facebook, ever the bastion of responsible information sharing, gleefully provided Bronson's secretive online mobile command center with a platform to spew its insidiously phrased propaganda intended to sow distrust and panic toward the media and elected officials — and to erode faith in our free, fair, and secure elections.
And for about two years, they put on quite a show. Mayor Bronson's right-wing radicals held Anchorage hostage to some of the most incendiary Assembly meetings we've ever witnessed. Their rhetoric was toxic, part of an orchestrated disinformation campaign sounding the alarm that civil war was imminent — claiming that having to wear a cloth over their gaping maws and turned-up noses would violate their 'Fr3eDuMbS.'
One woman torched a mask in the Assembly chambers, and others advocated for disproven and questionable treatments for the virus and accused doctors and hospital staff of lying about hospitalization capacity. That all pales in comparison, of course, to the individual who said there'd be a shootout on her front lawn should law enforcement attempt to force her to get vaccinated.
Bronson fully embraced the Save Anchorage turd, standing firm in his silence while some supporters resorted to threats of violence against elected officials and even after the group was linked to the U.S. Capitol riot. The mayor and members of his administration refused to distance themselves from the group of die-hard loyalists who flaunted antisemitic imagery during Assembly meetings, advocated for the imprisonment of the unhoused, shamelessly labeled elected officials as pedophiles and abusers, and even celebrated Bronson's order to discontinue the fluoridation of the city's water supply.
Once recognized as an unpredictable political force, the group has become a mere shadow of its former self. A thousand members have abandoned the sinking ship, leaving behind a few hundred active users to circle jerk over their fringe beliefs, utterly unaware that they've fallen into obscurity — relegated to the periphery of the political landscape by voters who have tired of their rhetoric and incessant blathering.
Conservative pundits have been up in arms about critical race theory, equity, the "homeless industrial complex," and the Anchorage School District's "grooming factory." They argue that these manufactured problems should have been enough to rally their voters and boost their candidates' chances. Interestingly, these are the same issues the pro-Bronson group has been tirelessly campaigning against for the past two and a half years with little to no impact on election outcomes.
In the years since the emergence of the Save Anchorage movement, voters appear to have come to the realization that Bronson conservatives seem to be against everything but for nothing in particular. Even after left-leaning Assembly candidates swept the election cycle, they continue to attack educational institutions and drag queens, doubling down on issues that have been met with little more than a collective yawn from conservative voters. And that's because voters are looking for tangible solutions to the pressing issues we face, not pointless culture wars centered on book censorship and discriminating against LGBTQIA+ youth.
Bronson's tenure has been nothing less than catastrophic. His covid denialism, defense of antisemitic symbols, and corruption have unmasked him as a shameless extremist completely out of touch with the needs and values of our city.
It's hard for me to forget that Bronson moved and then abandoned the most vulnerable members of our community, leaving men, women, and children to fend for themselves against bears at Centennial Campground — but the good news is that voters won't soon forget either.
Next year we have an opportunity to truly save Anchorage by saying goodbye to Bronson once and for all.
