AK-Sen: The Alaskan Wolverine

This is Ted Stevens' idea of reaching out to the voters - challenging them to a fight:

As more and more people called in to the show asking questions about his upcoming trial and indictment, Stevens' patience seemed to wane. At about forty minutes into the show, host Steve Heimel stepped in to break up a shouting match between Stevens and a caller.

"Excuse me, Steve," the caller said, "but the senator is a big boy and can take care of himself. He's been in the game a long time."

"You're damned right I can take care of myself," Stevens responded. "Any time you want to come, friend."

Vote Stevens - Or So Help Me, I'll...

This compilation of some of the calls is hilarious.



And after a haranguing like this, he actually had the cluelessness to tell a primary opponent in a debate that the people of Alaska don't care about his corruption charges.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the ledger, this is a good interview with Mark Begich. This is particularly good about Russia and Georgia:

"But Russia saw they could go into Georgia and we would have no real response except saying 'please get out.' ... I think we have to re-engage with Russia, and not just have George Bush watching the volleyball tournament in the Olympics while Georgia's getting invaded. That perception is very important, and I think he needs to take it a little more seriously," he added.

Given that Russia has started running bomber patrols off of Alaska in the aftermath of the Georgia crisis, Begich has cause for some local concern over Bush's stewardship of global affairs. While rattling off an itemization of the state's military capabilities, including C-17 cargo planes and F-22 stealth fighters, Begich noted that the "strong military" state is one of America's most strategic ports. Still, he doesn't see force as the only component necessary to improve America's leverage in global affairs.

"One thing the [Sen. Barack] Obama campaign will reestablish is our rapport with countries all over this globe, so that we have the capacity to negotiate with Russia when they are pushing the envelope like they did in Georgia," Begich said, adding: "He'll provide the oomph we need to do that."

Because neither Presidential candidate will be up in Alaska this year, and the state is close at that level, Begich is as much a surrogate as anybody, and he's doing a great job helping both Obama and himself.