Sarah Palin’s surprise resignation last week offered a little something for everyone: from supporters eager to once again tar the Alaska governor’s critics as sexist classists to detractors happy to once again parse her syntax and admire her coiffure. Now, the JTA reports, there’s even a Jewish angle. Ethan Berkowitz, a Democrat with a long history in state politics, is “seriously considering a run” for the top slot next year.
Does he have a shot? In considering his prospects, it’s perhaps instructive to look to other Jews who’ve tried their luck in The Land of the Midnight Sun. Take, for instance, Joel Fleischman, the city-slick New York doctor played by Rob Morrow on the ’90s drama Northern Exposure who perennially found himself at odds with the mystically-minded denizens of the fictional Alaska town of Cicely.