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NIKISKI, Alaska What seems to get Dan Sullivan most excited is putting on a neon hard hat and safety goggles, zipping up a reflective vest and talking about Alaskas vast energy potential.

Its just cranking, Sullivan, the states Republican nominee for the U.S. Senate, said as he led a reporter on a tour of a fabrication facility and giant platform dock jutting into Cook Inlet.

Cook Inlet, off Alaskas scenic Kenai Peninsula, boasts one of the countrys richest deposits of oil and natural gas, yet development here all but dried up a few years ago. As Sullivan tells the story, it took Republican state government leaders namely a natural resources commissioner by the name of Dan Sullivan to get Cook Inlet booming again by luring companies with land deals.

We went on a very aggressive tear, and this basin has come alive, Sullivan said. The liquefied natural gas facility? Monster. The fertilizer plant? Big. Has Sen. Mark Begich, the Democrat whom Sullivan is trying to unseat in one of the countrys most competitive midterm races, played a role in reviving Nikiski? No, Sullivan said. No, he has not.

Sullivan continued like this for 90 minutes. (Im just trying to school him, he told his hosts, referring to a Washington Post reporter.)

Sullivan, who began his political career working on President George W. Bushs National Security Council staff and at the State Department as an assistant secretary, wants a new title in the federal government. But hes preaching a gospel of diminished federal power, arguing that regulations stymie growth.

At campaign stops, Sullivan repeats this catchy phrase: More freedom, less government. He argues that President Obamas administration has been a case study in federal overreach and that Begich has enabled the feds rather than fighting them.

Begichs campaign countered that Sullivans anti-federal rhetoric rings hollow, in part because Sullivan shared responsibility for controversial government surveillance programs launched under the Patriot Act. Begich has been a vocal critic of these programs, which he says violate peoples privacy rights.

For Sullivan who could help the GOP take control of the Senate by winning in November the challenge is linking Begich to Obama, who is deeply unpopular in Alaska. Through six years in office, Begich has branded himself as an independent voice; as he told The Post earlier this year, Ill be a thorn in Obamas [posterior].

On energy issues, Begich has a record of backing industry development despite environmental objections. He signed letters with Republican lawmakers urging the Energy Department to expedite permit applications for LNG exports. Begich pressed regulators to allow ConocoPhillips to build a bridge in a sensitive area so the company could drill in the National Petroleum Reserve. He also helped Shell Oil obtain federal permits to drill in the Arctic Ocean.

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GOP Senate hopeful in Alaska preaches more freedom, less government