Thanx for nothin', Ted.

The GOP should have tried harder to make him resign so a different GOP candidate could have run-one without all the legal problems.

I can't say losing this specific senator breaks my heart, but it was a seat the GOP shouldn't have lost and Stevens should have resigned his seat and the GOP is at fault for not working harder to encourage just that.

How the hell did he win the primary and come within 3700 votes in the general election? The guy's 85 and PROVEN corrupt. Something has to be done to reduce the power of incumbency.

There's some serious mourning going on at The Pallin home today. I don't feel her pain though.

RE: "The GOP has really made a mess of things in the last few elections."

The leadership of the GOP - especially President G.W.Bush - has really made a mess of things.

I don't know if this is allowed by law, but I thought that political parties had the right to make their rules governing who that put on a ballot. In the future, I'd be interested if the GOP had a governing body that actually approved people's membership in the party. Citizens would be allowed to vote in GOP primaries at will, but candidates could not be called "Republicans" unless they signed a contract with the party to agree to certain standards of conduct. Party affiliation is approved and maintained by some process of majority vote by members. Once a member violated the terms of the contract, they could then be removed from the party. Therefore, they lose the ability to compete for the nomination in the GOP primary.

Now, the voters of Alaska should have known better than to re-nominate this guy. The GOP should have gone all out to find and finance a better candidate. But I'd like to see tougher rules so that the leadership of a political party can take action to derail a candidate to enforce ethical standards and to prevent damage to the party.

Another Senate seat is being stolen in MN. The GOP needs to get it's act together real fast to prevent losing the runoff election in GA, or they can just sit back and tell the American people, "Don't blame us. There is nothing we can do to stop any of this." [Although maybe that's the plan, now.]

Hey JFO, why would Palin be mourning? She asked him to step down.

Apparently, the crimes of the corrupt Sen. Stevens were not serious enough to warrant his expulsion from the Senate, or even any kind of a censure or official rebuke.

That's depressing.

So this clown is out, but Bob Byrd is still there? Keep shoveling, we're not done yet.

Gee, I'm shocked, SHOCKED I tell you, that the donkeys have decided to play nice with Liberman with them so close to 60.

oh well, happy birthday senator stevens!

=]

During the Republican Primary, the GOP Base could have rejected Ted Stevens but chose not to. Why? Because The Base was most grateful for all the pork Stevens had provided to Alaska over the years and sought to ensure that more pork would be on the way. Never mind that Stevens is a crook, The Base actually admires Stevens for receiving a $250,000 home improvement -- this bribery epitomizing Greed, Greed being foremost among The Conservative Values.

But as usual, the reactionaries of the Base are shortsighted, failing to realize that what excites them with glee turns Independents off.
You see, conservatives, while you may absolutely love your infamous "Culture of Corruption," the rest of the country is, shall we say, just a bit disturbed by it.
And so while it will come as a surprise to you, Mr. Tubes is going down. Going down big-time.

You conservatives love to mention how the polls show that the current U.S. Congress is unpopular. Well, guess what, conservatives? The American Electorate this month decided to do something about that problem, BY SENDING FEWER REPUBLICANS TO CONGRESS AND MORE DEMOCRATS. Lovely solution, right, conservatives???

That close? People in Alaska must be AWESOME!

Good riddance.