If I can recall correctly, isn't Ancorage a little erratic in it's voting patterns? I seem to recall that Begich lost it when he unseated Stevens in the 2008 senate race. That same year, Obama got more than 40% of the vote there, while losing the state 59%-38%.
It probably has something to do with the Palin effect.
Remember, Alaska was one of the several red states that Obama was doing really well in prior to the Palin pick at least, along with MT, ND, and SD.
I think that some of Palin's intraparty actions may have had slightly negative impact on the Anchorage results relative to the rest of the state, where Palin had strong pull, especailly in places like Mat-su. If Begich lost the city, then such would indicate an affinity for the old school, establishment Republicans like Stevens, Murkowski etc, which Palin was at war with.
