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Ted Stevens Wins Primary

By TChris, Section Elections 2008
Posted on Wed Aug 27, 2008 at 08:57:47 AM EST
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Alaskan Republicans demonstrated their reverence for the presumption of innocence by voting overwhelmingly for the indicted Ted Stevens in the Republican primary. Or maybe it's this:

Mr. Stevens, who has been in office for 40 years ... is revered for bringing home billions of dollars in federal spending ....

Stevens' trial is scheduled for late September. If he's convicted, Alaskan Republicans will have the opportunity to vote for a candidate who will serve his senatorial term in a prison cell.

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    Ted Stevens Wins Primary | 12 comments (12 topical)

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    Although Stevens Was Never Really (none / 0) (#1)
    by The Maven on Wed Aug 27, 2008 at 09:08:51 AM EST
    seriously challenged in the GOP primary, his House counterpart, Don Young, is just barely hanging on by a thread over the sitting Lt. Gov.:  145 votes out of 93,000, with only 9 of 438 precincts yet to report.  Rep. Young, too, has been under investigation as part of the same federal probe that brought about the indictment of Sen. Stevens.  Veco is alleged to have bribed Stevens, and may well have done the same for Young.  Maybe they can end up sharing a cell together in the federal penitentiary.

    Makes sense..... (none / 0) (#2)
    by kdog on Wed Aug 27, 2008 at 09:24:53 AM EST
    as much as we all b*tch and moan about frivolous pork spending, we don't seem to mind when our reps bring home the bacon to our state/district for something frivolous...and vote accordingly, corrupt as all hell or not.

    Exactly. (none / 0) (#12)
    by sarcastic unnamed one on Wed Aug 27, 2008 at 01:27:09 PM EST
    That's why Ted Kennedy walks on water in MA.

    Parent
    Question (none / 0) (#3)
    by mmc9431 on Wed Aug 27, 2008 at 09:25:13 AM EST
    If he's convicted (and wins reelection) will the Republican governor be able to appoint someone to complete his term?

    Now the question is whether Don Young (none / 0) (#4)
    by andgarden on Wed Aug 27, 2008 at 09:33:00 AM EST
    will win his House primary by a few hundred votes, as he now appears to be doing.

    Dems stand to pick up two Federal offices in AK this year if he does.

    He'll never serve a day (none / 0) (#5)
    by cmugirl on Wed Aug 27, 2008 at 09:35:30 AM EST
    By the time there actually is a trial, his term will be up or he will retire.

    Winning the Alaska Senate seat (none / 0) (#6)
    by DemForever on Wed Aug 27, 2008 at 09:37:31 AM EST
    is going to be so fun

    Hilarious (none / 0) (#7)
    by Steve M on Wed Aug 27, 2008 at 09:42:43 AM EST
    "Demonstrated their reverence for the presumption of innocence."  TChris, you sure have a way with words.

    I have had a soft spot in my heart for Alaska ever since the wonderful month I spent there working for Big Oil.  I would love to turn it blue.

    Voters and political parties (none / 0) (#8)
    by Prabhata on Wed Aug 27, 2008 at 09:58:18 AM EST
    are the constant that are predictable. The political parties give the voters the same red meat and the same voters bite.

    hehehehehe... (none / 0) (#9)
    by weltec2 on Wed Aug 27, 2008 at 10:28:59 AM EST
    "If he's convicted, Alaskan Republicans will have the opportunity to vote for a candidate who will serve his senatorial term in a prison cell."

    We can only hope... but then again inside that prison cell we had better hope he has no access to the internet because as we all know, "The internet is not something that you just dump stuff on. It's not a big truck. It's a series of tubes." and if Stevens decided to crawl out of prison via one of those tubes... well, he could easily escape and we would never find him then.


    NPR says he is loved up there, not for largesse, (none / 0) (#10)
    by jerry on Wed Aug 27, 2008 at 11:37:35 AM EST
    An NPR report a week or two back claimed he really is loved up there.  Not for largesse, but because of the nature of the community and how he really and truly does know and respect everyone.

    They interviewed one Democratic woman who said he came to her home and meeting her newborn, he said he knew what her name meant, and knew the woman she had been named after.  And apparently, the claim was, that personal touch and his knowledge of the local culture means tons.

    Not to defend corruption, but I've never met any of my senators, or been given the opportunity to have a real conversation with them.

    And since I've had an email address since 1978, and I was there when the net didn't run on TCP but on NCP, and well, frankly, the Internet IS a series of tubes.  On the physical level we call those tubes wires or fibers.  At more abstract levels, we refer to connections as circuits and even pipes.  I disagree with Stevens regarding net neutrality, but his metaphor was relatively accurate.

    pros and cons (none / 0) (#11)
    by CoralGables on Wed Aug 27, 2008 at 12:01:02 PM EST
    Believe it or not, Stevens winning his primary may be the worst thing for the Dems in Alaska. While it's true Stevens will likely get squashed in the GE, it's also true that there is a deadline whereby he can withdraw from the race and the party can name their candidate of choice to replace him on the ballot.

    Not sure if Stevens is smart enough to withdraw now, or if the state party has enough funds to push a new candidate onto the scene. Stevens has until September 18 to withdraw and have the state party name a replacement. If Stevens doesn't get a boost in the polls before 9/18, expect to see former Alaska Republican Lt. Gov. Loren Leman or Gov. Sarah Palin dropped onto the ballot as a replacement.

    If Stevens' ego is large enough to think he can still win the GE after his primary victory, then the Dems will definitely have a senate seat in the win column. If he is smart enough to get out, we'll still have a fight on our hands to gain that seat.

    Ted Stevens Wins Primary | 12 comments (12 topical)

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