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Red State endorses Stevens' opponent
Politico Live's Blogs —
... Lamenting the possibility that a loss in Alaska by Sen. Ted Stevens could pave the way to a 60-seat Democratic majority in the Senate, the conservative blog RedState nevertheless endorsed his opponent Monday afternoon. ...
Seven Counts of Guilty for Stevens; Palin Still Doesn't Take a Position
Political Punch —
... I do ask that the people of Alaska join me in respecting the workings of our judicial system, and I'm confident that Senator Stevens, from this point on, will do the right thing for the state of Alaska." So…we still don't have an answer. And as far as I can tell, Stevens is still running for re-election. It may be that Palin is trying to be compassionate. But is that the right political move for a self-styled maverick who takes on the old boys network? Meanwhile, the editors of the conservative website RedState.com have endorsed not only Stevens' Democratic rival, but that of ...
Big tent party update.
INSTAPUTZ —
Very exciting headline at RedState! But, on the click through: Note - A previous version of this post was entitled "RedState Endorses Mark Begich, Democrat For Senate, and Ethan Berkowitz, Democrat for House At Large in Alaska." We have changed the title and amended the post to retract the formal endorsement out of respect for RedState Contributors who did not feel they could be associated in good conscience with an endorsement of two pro-abortion Democrats (though we note that Ted Stevens is also not pro-life).Oh ...
Bill Dyer: Palin's public call on Stevens to "do the right thing" may mean "publicly commit to resign if the trial judge upholds the jury's verdict"
Hugh Hewitt's TownHall Blog —
... secure in the knowledge that one of either two things will happen: (a) The jury's verdict will be overturned, your presumption of innocence will be restored, and you'll have another day in court. Or else: (b) As Governor of Alaska, either I or perhaps Sean Parnell (as my successor) will appoint a qualified, honest Republican who will carry forward the Republican Party's best policies and ideals in the U.S. Senate seat you have occupied for so long." With due respect to my friends at RedState.com , the response of principled conservatives to corruption in our own party ought to ...
Senate Projections, Baked Alaska Edition
FiveThirtyEight: Politics Done Right —
... Our regression model uses approval ratings for incumbent senators as one of its inputs, and thinks a decline of this magnitude would cost a senator about 6 points in the polls ... actually, 5.8 points. So what we're going to do is apply a 5.8 point penalty to Stevens' numbers in Alaska. Since the race was a toss-up before, this puts him about 6 points behind overall, making Mark Begich an 87 percent favorite to take his seat. That seems conservative to me, frankly, given that even the guys at RedState are abandoning Stevens, but it's what we'll run with until there's some ...
Ted Stevens Convicted on Corruption Charges
Outside The Beltway | OTB —
... will be watching to see what he does before Election Day. A spokeswoman for Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, the Republican vice presidential nominee, said the governor would likely release a statement through the governor’s office, but a Palin aide in the governor’s office in Juneau said she was unsure if that release was forthcoming. Thus far, it appears Palin has done nothing, which is simply astounding. One expects “mavericks” who “fight corruption” to take a stand on such things. The Directors at RedState initially endorsed Democrat Mark Begich for Stevens’ seat and Democrat ...
The Party's Over (Him)
Opinionator —
... was bad enough for Alaska Senator Ted Stevens, but losing the G.O.P. partisans at RedState has to really sting:“Good conscience compels us to advise Alaskans not to vote for Ted Stevens for Senate or Don Young for the at-large House seat in Alaska,” write the collective site’s directors. “We leave it to the individual voter whether to abstain or take the step of voting affirmatively for Mark Begich, the Democrat mayor of Anchorage, and candidate for the U.S. Senate, or for Ethan Berkowitz for the at-large House seat in Alaska. We have no illusions that Begich will be a good ...
MORNING READ
News —
... by making reference to an effigy hanging of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin (R) in a statement condemning the plot. And Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich (D) has landed an endorsement from a prominent conservative blog following Sen. Ted Stevens's (R-Alaska) guilty verdict yesterday. RedState's directors write that party loyalty has its limits and good conscience prevents them from supporting Stevens after he was found guilty of corruption. FROM THE BLOGS: ...
Ted Stevens is in Trouble
PoliBlog: A Rough Draft of my Thoughts —
Even RedState has declared: Don’t Vote For Ted Stevens For Senate or Don Young for House At Large in Alaska.
POLITICS: Party Loyalty and Its Limits
Baseball Crank —
We have something of a matched set of editorials from the Directors up at RedState, on the one hand condemning the disastrously bad judgment of Republicans and conservatives who have failed to oppose Obama, and on the other hand urging Alaska voters to vote out Ted Stevens and Don Young.
Leon Wolf also looks at the common thread between the two stories: Colin Powell's appearance as a character witness for Ted Stevens and endorser of Obama. Powell has fought for a lot of good things in the past two decades, but he's pretty well turned his back on all of ...
How will the Democrats win a supermajority in the Senate?
culturekitchen - fresh dissent served daily —
... , Begich is looking like a winner. Even the editors of the right-wing blog Red State are telling their Alaska readers not to vote for Stevens : ...
Nate Silver Says: Hulk Smashed Toobz Worth -6 Points
Firedoglake —
... Our regression model uses approval ratings for incumbent senators as one of its inputs, and thinks a decline of this magnitude would cost a senator about 6 points in the polls ... actually, 5.8 points. So what we're going to do is apply a 5.8 point penalty to Stevens' numbers in Alaska. Since the race was a toss-up before, this puts him about 6 points behind overall, making Mark Begich an 87 percent favorite to take his seat. That seems conservative to me, frankly, given that even the guys at RedState are abandoning Stevens, but it's what we'll run with until there's some ...
Convicted Felon Ted Stevens (R-AK) Runs the Gauntlet
The Jawa Report —
... something I'm all on board for. If, on the other hand, Stevens' Democrat opponent is elected, that's just one more seat for the Democrat Party, putting them one step closer to a filibuster-proof majority . That's not small potatoes, folks. Thus, despite my disdain for the corrupt (and embarassing) Ted Stevens and the embarassing (and corrupt) Don Young, and despite my deep respect for the very smart guys at RedState, I have to disagree with their call for Alaska's conservatives to stand down and let the Democrats take over by default. No, the Republicans don't deserve to ...
