Although it seems to be a song without end, it is election time again, and that means we can, once again, have hope for Alaska's future.

As a general rule, national politics are pretty much irrelevant to Alaskans, if only because the results of the quadrennial Presidential election are usually called before the polls in Alaska close.

This year, going into July, the race between Biden and Trump was nip and tuck. From my cynical bench, it appeared to be a question of whom you were going to vote against, i.e., which was the lesser of two evils.

Then Mr. Biden withdrew from the competition, choosing to be a lame duck for the last three months of his term and the race became a choice between the devil you know and the devil you don't know.

According to Senator Joe Manchin of West Virginia, who has looked into such things, about 23% of the actual voting electorate support the Democratic candidate, and about 25% of the voters support the Republican candidate, essentially leaving 52% of the voters available for persuasion.

In a word, assuming as we must that Vice President Harris will be the democratic nominee, the race is hers to lose.

What she says over the next three months will make all the difference. After that, what she does is beyond our control.

For instance, if she wanders into the wonderful world of environmental protection and global warming, swarms of voters will abandon her. If she tests the water with regard to immigration or foreign affairs, bingo! There goes another raft of potential supporters.

Almost without saying a word about it, Ms. Harris is on the slippery slope when it comes to birth control/abortion, so all she can do about that is keep her powder dry for 12 weeks.

On the other hand, if she plays her cards right, by keeping her mouth firmly shut, she could win the White House, possibly by a very large margin.

Why do Alaskan's care? We have been there before. We know all about absentee landlords and the administrative state.

We know that, at least before Mr. Biden bailed, the Presidential outcome was in the hands of 12 voters in Wisconsin.

Now that it is a horse race, we can recompute. If Ms. Harris becomes President, she will be at the mercy of a Republican Congress.

Almost certainly the Senate will turn Republican. There are simply too many Democratic seats up for grabs this year for it to happen otherwise.

Likewise, the odds simply favor a Republican majority in the House of Representatives.

This bodes well for Alaska. Our Senators are senior and outspoken, and while they may not be able to vitiate the administrative state single-handedly, they have the tools and are comfortable in using them to remind their colleagues that there is a "great, big, broad land 'way up yonder, ... the wilds where the caribou calls."

They can facilitate development of critical minerals and, through the power of the purse, compel regulatory reform.

Likewise, our sole Representative, while in the minority, will have the chance to weigh in on Alaskan matters, and hopefully be a voice of reason from across the aisle.

Already, for instance, Senator Murkowski has articulated her irk with Interior Secretary Haaland over the Ambler Road which apparently fell on deaf ears. Whether the good Senator takes the next step will remain to be seen. It is, however, unlikely that the Secretary will survive the change in administration.

That means, if there is a Republican Senate, the next Secretary will be subject to its advice and consent. Potentially, that means some of the incumbent's outrageous anti-Alaska impositions will be up for review, irrespective of the outcome of the Presidential contest.

While we cannot necessarily anticipate an Alaska-friendly Secretary, we can hope that at some point it will be made clear that Alaska is different, and that the Alaska specific laws - the Statehood Act, ANCSA and ANILCA - are entitled to deference in land use planning.

For instance, it would not be outrageous to promote a regulatory regime implementing ANILCA, even if it were as simple as to clarify that when ANILCA says "the Secretary shall ..." do something, that statute requires consistent action.

Likewise, it would not be inappropriate to reinstate the Alaska Land Use Council or to resurrect the concept of Transportation Systems Across Conservation System Units as prescribed in ANILCA Title XI.

In brief, the United States is at another crossroad with this Fall's election. How the future will unfold seems fairly foreseeable, and the outcome will undoubtedly be more of the same, with just a few tweaks by those who prevail.

At least for me, I take comfort in knowing that the 52% who are as yet uncommitted, will make the difference, and that the ship of state will continue on its way as it has for the last 250 years.