After some primary elections, the best we can say is that we feel better if we vote than if we don't vote. But Tuesday's primary election indicates several lessons about Alaska's voters that candidates would do well to remember. Read more...

Lorraine T. Farstad, 78, died Aug. 20, 2008, in Ketchikan.

S. Georgiana Murphy, 80, died Aug. 19, 2008, in Ketchikan.

Tom Douglas Wetzel, 65, died July 20, 2008, in Burien, Wash.

Do as I say; not as I do.

Republican presidential candidate Sen. John McCain, in a speech earlier this week, criticized his opponent, Democrat Barack Obama, for waiting until now - after six years in the U.S. Senate and two years into a national campaign - to visit the Middle East where American troops have been fighting for seven years.

McCain has made trips to Iraq and Afghanistan in his role as a U.S. senator. He has visited officials and the troops; he has prayed for two sons who serve in the armed forces, and he's supported the nation's effort to defeat the Taliban and other terrorists.

He told the crowd gathered to listen to his campaign speech that Obama formed an opinion against the U.S. effort in Iraq and Afghanistan before he went to see what it was all about.

Then McCain says - seriously and with a straight face - he makes it a practice to visit places before forming an opinion.

Gotcha.

Does anyone remember Sen. McCain visiting Ketchikan before he rejected the idea of a bridge from Revilla to Gravina islands? He has been hammering that idea in almost every campaign speech he makes.

There's also ANWR, and the opening of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil development. McCain opposes that, but has anyone seen candidate McCain step foot in Alaska or the refuge?

Before anyone gets the idea that only Republicans tend to exaggerate during a campaign, listen also to what Obama has to say.

Obama voted against sending the armed forces into the Middle East, and early in his campaign said he opposed the war. But the ground underneath him is shifting sand.

Obama now wants to investigate the situation, and as the possibility that he will become president and will in fact have to make a decision in regard to the war on terror, he's decided to more closely examine the "whys" and "why nots." It's becoming real, not just talk on a campaign trail.

He has stated he will fight the war on terror "with vigor," and he's indicated to his supporters, much to their chagrin, that he might have to soften his hard line against maintaining troops in Iraq and Afghanistan - especially after visiting in the Middle East.

Both candidates should visit Alaska next, and talk with us about our projects before taking hard stands against them. They just might learn that the projects will benefit the nation and its people.