October 28, 2008
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Panic Attack?
McCain and Palin are dancing as fast as they can to disassociate themselves from convicted corrupt Senator Ted Stevens. They have publicly asked him to resign. I guess they are hoping to find an alternate Republican senatorial candidate with a chance at getting elected. Senate rules don’t prohibit convicted felons from serving, but the verdict against Stevens, guilty on all counts, reduces his chances of winning against Democratic candidate Mark Begich, even in Alaska, especially now that Steven’s own chances of election have been diminished by Palin’s embarrassing display of sarcasm and evasion.During Stevens’s trial, there has been a lot of speculation in the media here about what might happen if he won that case, or if he lost it. One of the possibilities that came up — I think it was in the event that the election came before a guilty verdict, he was re-elected and then either resigned or had to do jail time — was that Palin would appoint herself to serve out Stevens’s term in the Senate. That’s only a wee baby step more self-serving than Frank Murkowski’s appointment of his daughter Lisa to serve out his Senate term when he got himself elected governor just before Palin’s term.
I was already set to vote for Begich. I have some disinterested curiosity about how the GOP, in Alaska and nationally, will choose to spin this little triumph of justice in their concern for not having the presidential election swirl down the tubes with Stevens. Uncle Ted is still insisting that he is innocent. He might have gotten away with that yesterday, but today the jury has said otherwise.
Comments (10)
I love to watch politics, a never ending array of Twilight Zone adventures.
I always kind of felt that seven terms in the senate was kind of a crime all on its own! I hope you are staying warm up there, friend.
Old Hat
@My_HAT_is_older_than_you - I’m not freezing, but not warm, either. I sit close to the wood stove and keep my hands under the blankets on my lap unless I need to reach out for my coffee cup. Fortunately the video game controller works just as well under cover.
Yes, Stevens was in there too long. Most of the people I know haven’t doubted that he was corrupt. I have heard people say, “Sure, he’s in the pocket of big oil and big business, but he doesn’t keep it all for himself. He brings a lot of federal money into the state, so he’s okay.” That’s how he got the nickname, “Uncle Ted.” Not everyone, BTW, thinks that corruption is “okay” as long as they get their share of it.
Interesting turn of events.
I enjoy the timing. If Palin wasn’t running Stevens never would have been charged. Politics you have to love it.
elliott
@arminus9 - Palin wasn’t running last summer when the FBI raided all those men’s houses collecting evidence, or when the grand jury convened to start issuing indictments. You are mistaken. Stevens was one of a bunch of people who accepted bribes from VECO, and indictments are still coming down. Check your facts.
@SuSu - True, but there would have been less press coverage which was what I meant. From the standpoint of national news Stevens wouldn’t have been much more than a blip on the radar.
I kind of think he would have been more than a blip simply because he is a really senior senator. He’s been in the Senate a really long time, hasn’t he? I do think people are paying more attention because of Palin.
I think I read that if Stevens wins but is forced to resign or winds up doing jail time (which most experts are supposedly saying is going to unavoidable) then a special election will be held. But could he really win even if he doesn’t resign?
That photo of him you’ve put up, well, it looks awfully familiar…
@soobee72 - ”More than a blip” certainly. If SNL hadn’t had such an ideal subject for satire in Palin, they might have been picking on Uncle Ted a little bit.
He could win even now. All the money and jobs he brought to the state over the years have won him not only re-election time after time, but a lot of “friends.” He is owed favors from Juneau to Prudhoe, and knows where all the bodies are buried. The Alaskan electorate has supported so many absurd causes that I would not bet on their doing anything sensible now.
I don’t think Stevens can be forced to resign. Nothing in Senate rules prevents a convicted felon from serving. He might be persuaded, but at end of day yesterday, he was saying he wouldn’t.
The special election is a last ditch effort by the Palin administration to salvage something from this affair. They want to hold one even if Ted doesn’t drop out. They will spend millions on it, and might even succeed in getting a Republican into that Senate seat.
I hope those “experts” are right about Stevens having to do jail time. Until I see it, I think he might find a way out of it. That man has repeatedly scooted out of paying for his crimes. He will appeal the verdict in court and deny it in public.
@arminus9 - I hope you can forgive me for reading what you wrote, not what you meant. There is a big difference between not even being charged for a crime and getting less media coverage of the trial.
See my response to soobee72 above, about that “blip” statement.
@Apocatastasis - ”…familiar” ? If you place it, let me know. He just looks like evil old Uncle Ted to me. I scanned that from an anti-Stevens campaign mailer. I have an even more scary-looking picture of Congressman Don Young, from another campaign mailer, that I’m considering posting.