The 2009 Presidential Race: It's Carp Vs. Trout

If you even dabbed a toe in political news this week, you know that the votes are lining up on each side of the U.S. presidential contest. While soon-to-be-VP-candidate Sarah Palin was ignoring the rule against governors taking a public stance on ballot issues and invoking “personal privilege” to encourage Alaskans to vote against salmon protections, fly fishers like Tim Romano and Will Rice were braving the close scrutiny of SWAT teams to go after some very big carp swimming just a stone’s throw from Denver’s Pepsi Center and the Democratic National Convention.
But you probably missed this “biting” commentary by the host of the popular show “DoughBall:”
“It’s looking more and more like this could turn out to be a Carp vs. Salmonid debate that is decided in the end by crucial swing votes. Increasingly targeted by fly fishers and long known to pass global warming off as a ruse, carp are likely to vote red this fall. The sometimes aloof salmon and trout — who have suffered eight years of doubt and a prolonged housing slump — will likely vote blue. Meanwhile the Dixicrats of the fish world, largemouth bass, who normally favor shades of red, have been known to bite a blue lure on especially cloudy days. The only true independents, smallmouth bass, are predicted to cast a sympathy vote with trout on water quality and housing issues.”
If you haven’t followed the defeat of Alaska’s Clean Water Initiative, which would have required mining operations to toe the line on water quality, be sure to read the in-depth discussion by Taro Satake on his Tspey blog.