Democrat To Challenge Scandal-Plagued Alaska GOP Senator

ANCHORAGE, Alaska — Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich said Wednesday he will form an exploratory committee to look into whether he should run for the Senate seat held by Ted Stevens.

Begich said at a news conference that he will make a final decision well before the June 1 deadline.

He said forming the committee will allow him to raise funds and talk to Alaskans, to see if they think it's time for a change of leadership.

Begich has been courted by the top Democratic leaders to challenge Stevens, who is being investigated by federal authorities in connection with a home remodeling project. Stevens is the nation's longest serving Republican senator.

Begich has taken several trips to Washington D.C. to meet with top-ranking senators.

Stevens, 84, was appointed to the Senate in 1968, won a special election two years later and has been re-elected six times. He filed for re-election last week. He is extremely popular in Alaska, where the state's largest airport is named in his honor.

But his legacy was tarnished last year when the FBI and the IRS raided his home in Girdwood, a ski resort community on Anchorage's southern edge.

Bill Allen, the former CEO of the oil field services company VECO Corp., testified in a corruption trial of a former state lawmaker that he oversaw the renovation project and sent his employees to work on it.

Stevens has declined to discuss the investigation, but has said he paid every bill presented him for the remodeling project that more than doubled the size of his home.

Comments

[mostlybluedot]

We just gotta support this Mayor. Stevens is a disgrace.

[lovethesinner]

Not even "the HULK" can save you now, Ted.

"Baked Alaska" Jon Stewart, "The Daily Show", Comedy Central:

http://www.thedailyshow.com/video/index.jhtml?videoId=114548&title=headlines-braked-alaska

[letsgetsmart]

Hot news flash! The tubes are saying a dem is leading. About time this corrupt little beaver gets back to gnawing wood. Being nasty is not a requirement for a senate seat Alaska.

[bookish]

Shouldn't there be minimum sentencing standards based on the number of label pins worn? I'd give him 10 years just for bad taste.

[NoahVail]

But won't Alaska lose his senility?

Oh, I mean SENIORity.

As in SENIOR CITIZEN...­.

Uh, maybe the new guy has a point.

[Shanti]

Thats the problem, Stevens has been in bed with big oil so long it does not matter how senile or old he gets. When big oil says jump, Senator Stevens always says,how high! He gets major $ from their corrupt lobby's.

[desertdweller]

Q. What is Ted's favorite rock band?

A. "The Tubes," of course.

[mamacat]

In a recent Senate vote to remove the tax breaks that the Republican congress gave to the big oil companies, the Senate failed in the cloture vote by only one Senator.
If there were even one more Democratic Senator in Congress, the days of tax Republican tax giveaways to Exxon would be over.
I hope and pray that enough Democratic Senators get elected in November that we can continue putting this country back on track for prosperity, security, and health for everyone, not just the multi-millionaires.

[microsrfr]

You are right on the mark, mamacat; and Obama is the only Presidential candidate who has any chance of getting close to 60 votes behind him in the Senate. In addition, the more than one million contributors will be calling, mailing and visiting those swing Republicans when the next critical vote comes.

Big Oil and Big Pharma and Health Insurance have blocked us from addressing energy and healthcare for 40 years. Time is growing short. Oil shortages will cause major increases in crude and lines at the pump within a few years. President Bush recently stated that it would be unreasonable to ask the Saudis to increase their output when they probably can't. Moody's has called into question the AAA rating of US Treasuries due to our massive unfunded healthcare commitments (50 trillion and growing by 5 trillion a year).

We must take control now or be reduced to a third world country with no middle class.

[jimsoped]

You have to ask why is this crackpot still taking up space in the Senate? Apparently corruption and senility are not a problem in the Senate.
Perhaps we need to ask the people of Alaska..

imo..
http://opinionsandreasons.blogspot.com/

[antiparanoid]

He should be in prison having his entire series of tubes explored.

[racom]

come on, nobody understands the internet like Ted. He also seems to be an authority on corruption. AK should be so proud!

[lovethesinner]

I don't care how "red" Alaska is, we can take this state. Wait till Alaska sees the picture of Stevens and his cronys partying it up with Trent Lott and Larry Craig! The "bridge to nowhere" is leading to some major corruption involving old oil money.

(PBS "Now" did a feature on Stevens and his gang, a while back)

This is why we need Obama as the nominee. Read this artlicle about "Obamacans" and you can see that there's a real chance that Democrats could sweep in '08 just like the GOP did in '80 for Reagan:

http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/nation/la-na-gopobama25feb25,0,1768618.story

GObama!

[MsLiz]

Stevens is 84 years old. Isn't there even a Republican running against him? The GOP must want to give his seat away. Maybe AG Mucus is stalling on an indictment of Stevens.

[on2them]

This guy past his shelf life years ago. I hope they get this criminal out...he's the longest standing and the most corrupt.

[Kenai]

I'm looking forward to see how this pans out. Alaska has long been a Red State -- though Super Tuesday indicated that might not be the case anymore -- and I'm curious to see how Begich fairs against not only a Republican, but when it comes to the Senate, THE Republican.

Alaskans seem to believe that since Ted Stevens is the longest serving Republican Senator in the nation, that he has a greater ability to get funding for Alaskans and provide a louder voice for the State. This may be so, but I'm willing to take the risks to find out.

[mediamarv]

Have you ever seen a more iconic image of pure hatred and evil???
That guy has some serious problems.

[BachelorJohnnyCool]

Not only that, but he bears a startling resemblance to a nasty little chichuahua that belonged to an old neighbor of mine.

[Denemator]

Hmmm trouble is the goppers have no problem re-electing a criminal.

[gcallaghan]

That's redundant, you know.

[incontempt]

Stevens is among the Scumiest sleezeball example of the republican party and his personal bridge to nowhere and his oily mansion proves it!!