It was a debate against the governor, without the governor.

The five declared gubernatorial candidates gathered in Schaible Auditorium on April 17 for a forum intended to discern differences among them. But the candidates mostly found consensus, instead targeting criticism at the elephant not in the room, Gov. Frank Murkowski.

The evening session, sponsored by the UAF Resource Management Society, drew a crowd of more than 200 people.

The group provided the questions in advance to Republicans Sarah Palin and John Binkley, Democrats Ethan Berkowitz and Eric Croft, and Independent Andrew Halcro. The five shared their views on several topics, including the natural gas pipeline, agriculture and leadership.

A question on whether they would have a top-down or bottom-up style of management as governor kicked off a round of criticism against Murkowski, specifically with regard to his dealings in the gasline negotiations.

Palin, the former mayor of Wasilla, criticized Murkowski's strategy of teaming a proposed pipeline deal with a revision to state oil taxes, saying it would bind legislators for years despite price volatility and should have been crafted in the public light.

"It's crazy," Palin said. "How crazy is this?"

Palin also chastised the administration for firing Natural Resource Commissioner Tom Irwin in October 2005 for criticizing the gasline.

Binkley, a Republican from Fairbanks, said the Murkowski administration fails to listen and respect the experts it employs.

"Leadership is not telling people where to go," Binkley said. "Leadership is listening to people."

Croft, a Democratic representative for Anchorage, said the gasline should have been negotiated in public rather than behind closed-doors in order to allow more input.

"It was as though this negotiation treated the comment period as an afterthought," Croft said.

Halcro, a former Republican representative for Anchorage now running for governor as an Independent, said the Murkowski administration should not have immediately ruled out considering alternative gasline plans.

The Murkowski administration favors a North Slope gasline deal with major oil companies rather than the All-Alaska Gasline that Palin had helped support, or even a third proposal.

"You need to see all three proposals on the table," said Halcro.

Throughout the forum, Berkowitz, another Democratic representative for Anchorage, stressed the need for ethical, transparent government.

"One of the things I've learned during my time in government services is institutions are only as good as the integrity of the people serving in them," Berkowitz said.

On most issues, the candidates found consensus. Croft summed up their views during the question on organizational styles.

"You can tell we're on a political panel, in that we've been given two sets of questions on an either/or, and all said both," he said.

"Top-down, bottom-up?" Palin said later. "Eric, I'll pick a side, and we're on a college campus, so bottoms up."

Croft picked the same strategy. The rest said they preferred a mix of top-down and bottom-up administration.

A question on whether to develop or protect the environment, though, brought a round of answers from members of both parties.

"They are not mutually exclusive," Binkley said. "We can develop our resources. We're mandated under our constitution to develop our resources for the maximum benefit of Alaskans. And we can protect those things that we hold dear as Alaskans."

"I think it's important to recognize that a healthy environment, beautiful places to look at and see, is a natural resource," Croft said.

Halcro said Alaska doesn't need to trade off between development and protection. However, policymakers should look more to science to ensure good decisions are made, he said.

"We also need to respect that in the next 50 years, Alaska will be in business," he said.

Berkowitz said Alaska could have both through good management and trusting the resources. He pointed to the secrecy surrounding the pipeline deal as an example of bad management.

"Alaskans have a right to know what's going on with those resources," he said.

Jason Mercer, the student coordinator of the Resource Management Society, said he was impressed by the candidate responses but would have liked to have heard more differences.

"We were hoping to explore more of their philosophies and positions, but that, unfortunately, didn't happen," he said. "So that's why I'm glad that the audience took real initiative."

A member of Berkowitz's campaign originally came to the group with the idea of sponsoring a forum, Mercer said. The student group, which normally isn't involved in politics, spent the next month preparing, he said.

Originally, according to an April 11 article in the News-Miner, Binkley was the only candidate not planning to attend. However, by the next day he confirmed, Mercer said.

Most of forums and debates so far for the 2006 race have been in South Central Alaska, Mercer said. The forum was intended to bring the candidates to the Interior and hear their thoughts on resource issues, he said.

"Government provides an important role in managing natural resources, especially in Alaska," Mercer said.