U.S. Democratic Senate candidate Mark Begich pulls ahead. (AP Photo/Al Grillo)
Stevens, Begich: Who wins in Alaska?
There has been a "remarkable turn of events" in Alaska, said Chris Cillizza in The Washington Post online. Democrat Mark Begich has surged into the lead against Republican senator and convicted felon Ted Stevens. Wednesday morning, Begich was down by 3,200 votes, but after more than half of the 90,000 uncounted ballots were tallied, Begich had pulled ahead.
By Wednesday evening, Begich was ahead 132,196 votes to 131,382, a spread of 814 votes, said Sean Quinn in the election-projection site FiveThirtyEight, and more votes will be counted on Thursday and Friday. Since "the remaining votes come from Begich-friendly districts," the Democrat is "now an overwhelming favorite to win the Alaska Senate seat."
There are still tens of thousands of ballots to be counted, said Reid Wilson in RealClearPolitics, so "neither Stevens nor Begich should pack their bags for Washington" just yet. But the tightening of this race—one of three Senate races remaining undecided—certainly heightens the tension in Washington, because Democrats will get their philibuster-proof majority of 60 in the Senate if they win all three.
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Recent comments | 5 total
Why would anyone vote for a convicted felon? This country continues to amaze me!
Hello Dre For the same reason they vote for unconvicted criminals (ie GOP politicians) ie that they are rusted on conservatives who can't think like normal reasonable people.
If we are dumb enough to elect Obama Alaskans are dumb enough to elect Mark Begich.
There is no difference in ethics between a convicted Stevens and an 'innocent' Christopher Dodd and his sweetheart Countrywide Financial mortgage. The difference is that a Democrat Congress won't open the floodgates on a fellow Democrat. Palin may have helped lose this seat for her party by speaking out against Stevens. Now the state and the country may have to suffer from her maverick ego.
Leave it to a disgruntled conservative, Republican, or McCain supporter to come up with a flippant line about "if the people are dumb enough to elect Obama" as president as Jackson Mounts wrote. I have to go back to that issue of LIFE magazine when they quoted racist Southerners who railed against President Lyndon B. Johnson after he signed the Civil Rights Act of 1965 to get an apt comparison. Get into the 21st Century, Jackson!
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