Huffington Magazine Issue 85 | Page 68

ALASKA IS FLAGGING might well provide Alaska’s jilted electorate the measure of stability it has sorely lacked. With his upbeat but somewhat bland personality, and his standard-issue Trent Lott haircut brushed sideways into a neatly contained mass, Begich appears fresh off the senatorial assembly line. And whereas the often surly Young and Stevens cut their teeth in remote and rough frontiers, like Fairbanks and Fort Yukon, Begich was raised in Anchorage’s relative comfort and urbanity. “He’s just a regular guy,” said Sen. Jon Tester (D-Mont.), one of Begich’s closest friends in the Senate. “He’s easy to talk to.” That amiability aided Begich in his earliest professional pursuits. By the time he graduated high school, he was already a thriving businessman. At 18, he had obtained a business license to sell jewelry and was helping his mother manage a number of real estate properties. So abundant were his opportunities in Anchorage that he opted to skip college. Today Begich is the only member of the Senate — and his family — without a college degree. “It was a pretty optimistic time in Alaska,” said Bill Popp. “The HUFFINGTON 01.26.14 pipeline had just wrapped up and the money was starting to flow. There were a lot of opportunities, especially for kids.” Begich’s most impressive adolescent undertaking was an 18-and-under club called The Motherlode. Many other teenagers, finding themselves young, free and owning a profitable nightclub Today Begich is the only member of the Senate — and his family — without a college degree. in the disco era, might have descended into a hedonistic spiral, like some kind of subarctic Steve Rubell. But Begich was methodical, going to great lengths to keep alcohol and drugs off the premises and, characteristically, spending far more time with the club’s books than on its dance floor. “He ran The Motherlode with very high standards,” said Popp, who also DJed at the club. “They had high-quality bouncers at the front door. It was the talk of the town.” Politics was the last thing on Begich’s mind, thanks in no small part to his late father, Nick Begich, who had served as Alaska’s at-large representative to Con-