The 28th Amendment

It's hard to even write anything today because it will just pale in comparison to Jon Stewart channeling the rage of 10 million blog posts last night. But I have a responsibility to my legions of fans, so...

Let's talk the Senate appointment process!

Russ Feingold held a hearing this week on his proposed Constitutional amendment, to mandate special elections for all Senate vacancies, just as there are for House vacancies. With the spectacular flameout of the Blagojevich/Burris fiasco and other appointments handled poorly, there is no better time to get this done. And the number of appointments - 6 in the past two years - is robbing the people of their ability to choose their own representatives.

Mr. Feingold said he was motivated not only by the furor surrounding the disputed appointment of Roland W. Burris to the Senate by Gov. Rod R. Blagojevich of Illinois, since impeached, but also by the sheer number of appointees in the turnover after the election of President Obama.

“I really became troubled when I realized that such a significant percentage of the U.S. Senate was about to be appointed rather than elected by the people,” said Mr. Feingold, who will convene a joint House-Senate judiciary hearing on the proposal on Wednesday. “I think of it as a right-to-vote issue.”

At the hearing, Sen. Mark Begich testified to the personal experience in his family with this issue:

In October 1972, the Alaska Democrat’s father, Rep. Nick Begich, was declared missing along with House Majority Leader Hale Boggs, D-La., when their plane disappeared on its way to Juneau. It wasn’t until two months later that Nick Begich was declared deceased — and that was after he had been re-elected.

"Throughout this ordeal, Alaskans were officially without representation in the House of Representatives," Begich noted at a bicameral hearing of the House and Senate Judiciary committees. "But my recollection — and my review of news reports from that era — show no outcry for the appointment of a new congressman. Alaskans then, like Alaskans now, feel strongly that their elected representatives in the federal government should be exactly that — elected."

Special elections will remove the possibility for one corrupted politician to make a decision for millions of constituents and help restore democracy to the Senate. It's an obvious fix, so much so that even one of the appointed Senators, Delaware's Ted Kaufman, responded to the proposal by saying, "I think this is a good idea."

You can join Sen. Feingold as a citizen co-sponsor to what he is terming "the 28th Amendment".

Mark Begich (D-AK)

Mark Begich is pulling away in the latest counts in the Alaska Senate race. His vote lead over ConvicTed Stevens has grown to 2,374, and there are only 14,000 or so left to count. 538 has called it:

Stevens would have to win by a margin of over 25% of the outstanding ballots to tie Begich.

That would require something of a Gravelanche.

Currently, Begich leads by 0.77%, which is outside the free 0.5% recount zone. The recount fee is a paltry $15,000, not a sum Stevens has ever had trouble acquiring via one means or another. Given his likely expulsion by either the Republican caucus or the U.S. Senate as a whole (though we are in "reconciliation" mode, so who knows?), it seems unlikely anyone besides Stevens himself would have the desire to pursue such action. Still, the Anchorage Daily News calls such a recount "likely."

Congratulations, Senator Begich.

I think the Alaska Republicans would step in to stop a recount that would most likely be unsuccessful. No reason to stick with a felon any longer than you have to.

No wonder the Senate Republicans deferred the question of expelling Stevens from the caucus today. The writing was on the wall.

UPDATE: NBC and the AP have both called it for Begich. That's 57 Democrats in the Senate. (58 if you want to count Lieberman)

AK-Sen: Every Vote Counts

We've been following the Ted Stevens/Mark Begich race in Alaska, which initially seemed to be more than a little strange, what with its low turnout despite the first Alaskan on a major-party Presidential ticket in history. Well, they kept finding extra votes, not a few at a time but thousands and thousands of them, so that the turnout is relatively in line with expectations, though still low (of course, the Presidential race was essentially called at 4pm local time, so some drop-off can be expected). And they've started to count those votes. And based on the latest tally, Begich leads by three.

Not three points. Three votes.

I don't know if that includes Track, Bristol, Willow, Trig, Twig, Salad Spinner, Lipitor or Stag Tunnel Palin, who is the crucial swing vote.

There are still about 40,000 votes left to count, and they apparently favor Begich.

Anything that keeps Sarah Palin out of the US Senate and all over cable news where she apparently belongs is a good thing.

365, +21, +8?

Obama did indeed grab that extra electoral vote from Nebraska-02. So make it 365 EVs, with great moves into previously red territory in Indiana, North Carolina, and Nebraska.

As Jon Stewart said on his show this week, "So he won the election by 6 percentage points, but 2-1 in the electoral college. Yes, the Electoral College makes perfect sense!" Which is true, and we need the National Popular Vote, but just like in the primary, Obama's campaign worked with the playing field that they had. They knew how to microtarget at the state and even district level to maximize the votes they needed. And it was incredibly successful.

Meanwhile, we have two more calls for Democrats in the House: Frank Kratovil in MD-01, and Tom Perriello in VA-05. Kratovil's going to be a Blue Dog, but it's notable that he won the seat occupied by Wayne Gilchrest, an antiwar Republican who was primaried out by the Club for Growth. Gilchrest then supported and campaigned for the Democrat and helped him win the seat. As for Perriello, this is a glorious upset. Virgil Goode was a grade-A wingnut, and Perriello is a smart progressive who helped found Avaaz.org, the global MoveOn. He was a Responsible Plan endorser, too. He ran a come-from-behind race that made up maybe 30 points in the final months.

And in the Senate, Al Franken keeps closing the gap on Norm Coleman - it's down to 221 votes. That's going to hit a recount. Plus, Nate Silver has done an analysis of the uncounted votes in the Alaska Senate race, and he thinks Mark Begich could still pull it out. Don't underestimate the Silver.

Like I said, it's hard to evaluate Election Day until all these races are called. It's rounding into a very good night.

Vote Begich!

The polls I've seen show that Mark Begich is poised to defeat Ted Stevens tomorrow, but if he doesn't it's important to recognize what scenario would result. Stevens would be expelled from the Senate. There's no doubt about it.

Roll Call reports today that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) has no intention of letting Stevens' career go forward, even if he manages to win on Election Day: "In a bluntly worded release from his office, Reid warned that Stevens would not only face an ethics investigation but also expulsion proceedings regardless of his efforts to appeal the convictions."

The release from Reid's office doesn't leave much in the way of ambiguity.

While I understand that Senator Stevens is fighting for his political career, you don't have to go any further than the comments of:

* Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell who said there would be zero tolerance for a convicted felon in the United States Senate

* NRSC Chairman Senator John Ensign who said Senator Stevens'career has ended in disgrace;

* Or Republican Presidential candidate Senator John McCain who said it is clear that Senator Stevens has broken his trust with the people and should now step down.

And so his victory and subsequent expulsion would give Sarah Palin the ability to select a member of the United States Senate. And even if she managed to not choose herself, do you trust her to do the right thing?

Vote Begich.

AK-Sen: I Do Not Think It Means What You Think It Means

To Ted Stevens, being convicted on seven counts of making false statements means that you haven't been convicted of anything.

"I've not been convicted yet," Stevens said Thursday in a meeting with the editorial board of the Fairbanks Daily News-Miner. "There's not a black mark by my name yet, until the appeal is over and I am finally convicted, if that happens. If that happens, of course I'll do what's right for Alaska and for the Senate. ... I don't anticipate it happening, and until it happens I do not have a black mark."

Stevens reiterated that position during a televised debate late Thursday night, declaring early in the give-and-take with Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich, "I have not been convicted of anything."

Here's the deal. You can appeal, but as of right now, you actually have been convicted. The part where the jury came into the courtroom and found you guilty? That was part of the whole conviction thing.

In other news, apparently Saddam caused 9/11. But it's a secret!

MODERATOR: Knowing what you know now, do you think that the country of Iraq and Saddam Hussein played a role in the 9/11 attack on the United States?

STEVENS: I know more than you think I know, and I believe they did.

BEGICH: I don’t believe they did.

At least he's not only deeply in denial about his own conviction.

Support Mark Begich.

...The Anchorage Daily News, which has been a great paper on the Palin/Troopergate affair, endorsed Begich today.

AK-Sen: Toobz Banking On The Backlash

Others can speak to their more personal experiences with Alaska, but I'll tell you, this is exactly what I expected to happen upon his (triumphant?) return.

But the crowd at his Anchorage rally seemed to harbor little doubt that Stevens, who showed flashes of both humility and defiance, would beat his challengers. They include Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich, a Democrat, who was holding a dueling rally at a union hall at the same time as Stevens' event.

There was undisguised hostility toward the federal government and the FBI at the Stevens event, with people wearing T-shirts that said "F*#@ the feds, vote for Ted."

"Anyone who thinks you can get a fair trial in the heart of liberalism, Washington, D.C., is smoking dope. He was railroaded," said Mark Kelliher, a retired engineer.

Talk radio host Rick Rydell told the crowd he knows Stevens, a D.C. jury doesn't.

"I don't particularly like it when outsiders tell me what to do," Rydell said, before Stevens took the stage. "You can kiss my Alaska moose-hunting behind."

This is just backlash politics played perfectly. The fact that Stevens has spent the bulk of the past FORTY years in Washington as a US Senator is apparently besides the point.

Obviously being convicted of a felony is a strike against your record, but it would probably be more damaging to an unknown back-bencher instead of the guy who the Anchorage airport is named after. Stevens still has a really good chance to win, even though his Republican colleagues are publicly telling him to resign. And we know that there's a credible scenario of electoral victory followed by resignation that could lead us to Senator Sarah Palin.

So help out Mark Begich if you can. He's at the Blue America page.

Series Of Tubes Fallout

Obviously when you have a convicted felon in the United States Senate, there is a tendency for those colleagues in his party to run screaming in the other direction. RedState did so today by endorsing Ted Stevens' opponent, Mark Begich, in the Senate race in Alaska.

Stevens cannot be taken off the ballot - that deadline has passed. There's no doubt that he'll keep running; at the trial today he was seen to mutter "it's not over" as he walked out of the courtroom. He thinks he's larger than life and the world owes him. This is his race to lose. And I think he will, but there's a chance that enough Alaskans say "why that big-city jury up there in DC did our Uncle Ted wrong, let's show 'em!" At which point he would almost certainly be expelled from the Senate once sentenced, or forced to resign himself, and probably the latter.

Which could lead us, as I said, to Senator Sarah Palin, who did the full dodge today about the issue:

"This is a sad day for Alaska and a sad day for Senator Stevens and his family," she said on the tarmac at Richmond International Airport. "The verdict shines a light on the corrupting influence of the big oil service company up there in Alaska that was allowed to control too much of our state. And that control was part of the culture of corruption that I was elected to fight, and that fight must always move forward regardless of party affiliation or seniority or even past service.

"As Governor of the State of Alaska, I will carefully now monitor the situation and I'll take any appropriate action as needed. In the meantime, I ask the people of Alaska to 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 people of Alaska," she also said.

Palin did not respond when asked if she will vote for Sen. Stevens and promptly boarded the campaign plane.

Obviously, this has swamped the news cycle and again frustrated any attempt for McCain to recalibrate the race.

Another amusement - Stevens, as a convicted felon, cannot vote for himself.

UPDATE: Looks like Stevens is being cut loose:

National Republican Senatorial Campaign Committee Chairman John Ensign (Nev.) offered a strong condemnation of Stevens and seemed to hint that this conviction would lead to his defeat.

"This is a sad day for the United States Senate," said Ensign. "Ted Stevens served his constituents for over 40 years and I am disappointed to see his career end in disgrace."

Bye Ted.

Go To Jail

Go directly to jail.

Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens has been convicted of lying about free home renovations and other gifts he received from a wealthy oil contractor.

The Senate's longest-serving Republican, Stevens was found guilty on all seven counts of making false statements on Senate financial documents.

The verdict throws the upcoming election into disarray. Stevens is fighting off a challenge from Democrat Mark Begich and must now either drop out or continue campaigning as a convicted felon.

"Campaigning as a convicted felon." Or, if you like, as a Republican.

This seat needs to go firmly in the hands of the Democrats now. It's either Senator Begich or Senator Palin. She would absolutely replace Stevens with herself.

... You can support Mark Begich at Blue America.

Series Of Tubes In A Series Of Trouble

I don't think you can sound more guilty than this if you tried.

Sen. Ted Stevens told wealthy businessman Bill Allen they needed to stick together and "really lay low" to beat an FBI investigation into their cozy relationship, according to audiotapes played Monday at the senator's corruption trial.

"Screw them, if they prove we did something wrong," the senator says in one of a series of secretly recorded telephone calls in the fall of 2006. "In my heart, I don't think we did. ... I say, screw it."

Stevens, unaware Allen already was cooperating with investigators, advises him, "We ought to really lay low right now." He also tells him to cut down on drinking, watch his health and await the outcome of the probe into more than $250,000 in renovations on the senator's cabin and other gifts provided by Allen's oil pipeline company, VECO Corp.

"Let's stick this thing out together, OK?" Stevens says.

Accused of lying on Senate finance disclosure forms to conceal the gifts, Stevens repeatedly — and sometimes profanely — asserts his innocence on tape. But he also tells his old friend he's worried about the appearance of wrongdoing and even warns that they might be under surveillance.

"I think they're probably listening to this conversation right now," Stevens says in the recording.

"We might have to pay a fine and spend a little time in jail," he continues. "I hope it doesn't come to that."

Is it worse that Stevens, a lawmaker, considers justice to be determined entirely in his head, or that he suspects that he's under surveillance yet CONTINUES to incriminate himself?

Either way, this looks horrendous for Stevens. Go Mark Begich. You can actually listen to the tapes, which is good for at least an hour of amusement, at this link (scroll to the bottom).

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.

It's Not Like I Was Indicted By A Grand Jury Or Anything!

Series of Tubes Stevens is priceless.

On Saturday, Stevens visited the small town of Ketchikan, for their annual blueberry festival and gave an interesting quote to the Ketchikan Daily News (sub. req.):

"This is an indictment for failure to disclose gifts that are controversial in terms of whether they were or were not gifts. It's not bribery; it's not some corruption; it's not some extreme felony."

Yeah, here's the thing. It is a felony. I don't think that the judicial system has yet gone the way of skateboard videos and rated felonies on the "extreme" scale, so for the moment, a felony is a felony.

I'm hoping Stevens' lawyers work this statement into their opening remarks before the judge: "You honor, my client broke the law, but he didn't BADLY break the law."

When Mark Begich beats him in November, will Stevens go back to the Senate on account of it not being an "extreme" defeat?

Hulk Continue Running!

Ted Stevens' indictment has already caused the bottom to drop out on his campaign for re-election.

The first poll of Alaska voters since longtime Senator Ted Stevens was indicted Tuesday for trying to cover up more than $250,000 in illegal gifts finds the incumbent Republican dropping dramatically in the polls.

But 50% still regard Stevens favorably and don’t want him to resign. Two-thirds (66%) view him as at least as ethical as most politicians.

A Rasmussen Reports telephone survey, taken Wednesday night, shows Stevens trailing Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich by thirteen points, 50% to 37%. Just two weeks earlier, Begich had taken his first significant lead after the race had been a toss-up for months.

(I don't disagree with those polled about whether he's as ethical as most politicians. Exhibit A: Trent Lott, who allegedly encouraged witnesses to give false information in a recent lawsuit. When you've been in Washington as long as Lott or Stevens, the dirt sticks to you for a reason.)

Despite this, Stevens is gung-ho on running, and he wants the trial out of the way quickly.

U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan just set a tentative trial date of Sept. 24.

"I can appreciate why the senator would like to have this matter commence and concluded before the election," the judge said.

He set a hearing on Stevens' change-of-venue motion for Aug. 19.

Get this, the wrongdoing (false statements on disclosure forms) took place in Washington, but Stevens wants the venue changed to Alaska, where his name is all over everything, including the airport.

What interesting is that more allegations are coming out of the woodwork now, including a campaign treasurer who is also a lobbyist, and who has LOBBIED STEVENS recently on behalf of fishing interests.

Meanwhile the rest of the Senate Republican Caucus is veering far away from their elder statesman, with the exception of Liddy Dole, who apparently wants there to be a giant papier-maché "Kiss" sculpture following her around on the campaign trail.



This is starting to look like a major pickup, one of five that look very good right now in the Senate (Colorado, New Hampshire, Virginia and New Mexico being the others), along with the other competitive opportunities (Minnesota, Mississippi, Maine, and Oregon). Democrats have to make sure the culture of corruption meme infects all of these races.

It's Not An Indictment, It's A Series Of Tubes

Hulk angry!

Sen. Ted Stevens, the longest-serving Republican in the U.S. Senate and one of the chamber's most powerful members, was indicted Tuesday in Washington, a result of a years-long investigation into corruption in Alaska politics.

The 7-count indictment comes nearly one year after federal agents raided Stevens' home in Girdwood, a resort town about 40 miles south of Anchorage. The Justice Department has scheduled a press conference for 1:30 p.m. to announce the indictment.

A broad federal investigation of public corruption has been under way in Alaska for more than four years, although it didn't become widely known until Aug. 31, 2006. That's when teams of federal agents executed search warrants at the offices of six state legislators, as well as others, in Anchorage, Juneau and elsewhere around the state.

The government has since brought indictments against five state legislators. Three have been convicted by juries and two are awaiting trial. Four others — two former top officials with Veco Corp., the former chief of staff of Gov. Frank Murkowski and a private-prison lobbyist - have entered guilty pleas and are cooperating with the government.

No word just yet on what the indictment is actually about. It could be lying to federal investigators and obstruction of justice, or they could have zeroed in on his steering contracts to Veco Oil in exchange for Veco remodeling his home in Girdwood. Plenty on that element of the case here. There are also questions about his ties to the fishing industry.

Of course there are political questions here. It's not impossible that Stevens continues on to contest to keep his job - actually I'd put the odds at around 50/50. He has challengers in an August 26 primary, however, including a couple self-funding millionaires. One of them, businessman Vic Vickers, put in a $400,000 ad buy just yesterday, with all the ads to specifically focus on Stevens' corruption.

Businessman Vic Vickers has placed TV and radio ad buys totaling $410,000, in which Vickers will spend the next month until the primary hammering Stevens over the corruption scandals that have endangered the senior Senator's political career. "I bought everything that was available," Vickers told Roll Call.

Don't feel bad if you haven't heard of Vickers, as he hasn't been a big name in politics until tonight. I called up his campaign earlier this evening, and was told that his campaign Web site just went live today.

I think it's worth asking whether or not this guy was tipped off by the Feds. We know that the Bush Justice Department is an arm of the RNC. If they don't think Stevens can win, the combination of an indictment and two months of attack ads would be a way to tighten the pressure on him to get out of the race. As for a replacement, a couple weeks ago you would be safe thinking that once-popular Gov. Sarah Palin could step in and easily lap the field, but she's had her own corruption problem recently.

Former Department of Public Safety Commissioner Walt Monegan on Friday said that since Gov. Sarah Palin took office, members of her administration and family pressured him to fire a Palmer Alaska State Trooper to whom her sister was involved in a bitter child custody battle.

Monegan said phone calls and questions from the Palin administration and the governor's husband, Todd Palin, about trooper Mike Wooten started shortly after Monegan was hired and continued up to one or two months ago.

The governor herself also had a brief conversation with him about Wooten in February, Monegan said.

Monegan's replacement, Chuck Kopp, had to step down after questions relating to a 2005 sexual harrassment complaint.

I don't think there's a "squeaky clean" Republican left in Alaska. Democrat Mark Begich has a very clear path to the Senate now. And I hope he gets to go through Series of Tubes Stevens to do it.

UPDATE: The indictment is here. Looks to me at first read that it's about Stevens failing to disclose gifts from Bill Allen (CEO of Veco) and his company, including improvements to his home in Girdwood, and performing actions on behalf of Veco as part of his duties as a US Senator. Pretty damning stuff. You know what Veco did to the house, right?

From in or about June 2000 to in or about April 2001, multiple VECO employees and contractors participated in renovating the Girdwood Residence. That renovation work included jacking up and resting the house on stilts, building a new first floor with two bedrooms and a bathroom, renovating the existing residence, and adding a garage with workshop and a second-story wraparound deck. Among other tasks, VECO employees and contractors also installed electrical, plumbing, framing, heating, and flooring materials in the Girdwood Residence.

Allen also apparently gave Stevens a brand-new Land Rover in 1999 in exchange for some jalopy, basically an in-kind donation.

Meet Mark Begich, Alaska's Next Senator

This is really good to see.

Alaska’s U.S. Senate race between Republican incumbent Ted Stevens and Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich has been a toss-up for several months now, but the Democratic challenger is now ahead 50% to 41%. When “leaners” are included, Begich leads 52% to 44%.

Begich began running his first television ads of the campaign on July 8 and the survey was conducted nine days later.

I've blogged about those ads previously, but this week I got to know Mark Begich as a person. He held an informal event with a bunch of us bloggers on Thursday at Netroots Nation, and because of the whirlwind of events I haven't gotten around to it until today. Begich, the mayor of Anchorage, which has 43% of the population of the state (and 70% of the media market), got into the campaign late for very calculated reasons. First of all, media is cheap, and an ad buy like he's started can have an immediate impact. Begich outraised Series of Toobz Ted Stevens in the second quarter, so he will have the needed resources. He had the same strategy in 2003, when he beat the sitting incumbent mayor of Anchorage in a close vote, and then went on to manage the city out of fiscal crisis and got them on better footing. The key, to him, is to be direct - to shoot straight with people and tell them what you believe. He calls in to any conservative talk show and even engages with random commenters on the Anchorage Daily News blog - so much so that his campaign staff has had to rein him in a bit!

Alaska is really a different kind of state, one that relies on help from the federal government because of its proximity and relies on the oil and gas industry for its wealth. Ted Stevens has cynically used this to steer contracts to his political friends and allies, but as Begich said "his clout is no longer working for Alaskan families," and there's a disconnect between the state's needs and the rhetoric in Washington. The one question I got to ask him was about oil exploration, because it's interesting that his first ad, in Alaska, was about his commitment to wind energy. "I couldn't have run that ad a couple years ago," he said, "but things are changing. Alaska is starting to view itself as an energy state, not an oil and gas state. He gave the example of salmon fishers off the coast (about 50% of our salmon come from this area) not being able to ice down their catches because it's now too expensive to pay for the energy to generate the ice. So their solution was an ice barge for all the ships and boats, powered by tidal energy. Alaskans are feeling these problems every day, and it's a common thread that unites them. And it can be the spur to real innovations and diversification of our energy future. That comes with a comprehensive energy policy, and while it's clear that Begich would vote for drilling in ANWR - although he said that a lot of the oil could be sucked up by nearby existing fields if they bent their pipes a little bit - he would use it as part of a comprehensive energy policy, which we currently don't have.

There are other issues in the campaign as well, including the SCOTUS (the reduction of the fine necessary for Exxon to pay in the Valdez aftermath weighs big with voters) and veteran's issues (11% of the state are vets, and yet there's NO VA HOSPITAL up there). The good numbers notwithstanding, this race isn't over - Begich described a 3-4 point "rubber band effect" where voters often come back to the GOP in the last week, and the local press is notoriously soft on the legendary Stevens. But there's a real opportunity here to send a pragmatic progressive to Washington who has the competence, the ability and the principles to lead Alaska in the Senate. I was pretty impressed.

Bill Scher at Liberal Oasis and CAF also interviewed Begich and has the video to prove it. That's below. See in particular his thoughts on protecting our fundamental constitutional rights from the politics of fear, and his beliefs about the netroots.

A Brief Election Roundup

Here's a few things I saw in some of the downballot races that interest me in this election:

• CA-04: Charlie Brown, a patriot in the strictest sense of the term, has been running his campaign for Congress based on some simple directives - to help those in need, to work in their own community, and to lead before ever getting to Washington. This week, in the wake of the California wildfires, he has provided supplies and relief to evacuees in Butte County, one of the hardest-hit areas.

• VA-05: This kind of volunteerism and early leadership is something we're also seeing in the campaign of Tom Perriello, who's facing Rep. Virgil Goode in the general election. This is about service, but it's also about raising the bar for activism as an outgrowth of a political campaign.

Early on, Perriello set aside 10 percent of the time and resources of his campaign staff to work on local projects. Larry Campbell, assistant pastor at Bible Way Cathedral in Danville, Va., says he was surprised that Perriello's campaign wanted more than a photo op when they visited his food bank.

"I've had many political candidates come through, but I've never had any work along with us in the area of social-action changes," he says, citing ongoing help from Perriello volunteers. "Most candidates who are running for national office have more programs just getting people out voting for them, but to give back to the community is a heavy statement for social change."

• TX-Sen: The DSCC is hammering John Cornyn for only changing his vote to halt Medicare cuts after the bill was assured of passage. He already lost the Texas branch of the AMA's support over this vote. His opponent, Rick Noriega, is going to need a lot of cash to catch up to Cornyn, but he has raised $1M online, making him the "largest (non-presidential) online fundraiser with ActBlue since its inception." Unfortunately, Texas is such a big state that you probably need LOTS more than Noriega has been able to raise to run a solid challenge.

• CO-Sen: Bob Schaffer, the Republican vying for this open seat, can't stop stepping in scandal. The latest is that he helped negotiate a lucrative oil deal in Iraqi Kurdistan, against the wishes of the State Department, and it's causing major problems for Iraqi efforts to negotiate a hydrocarbon law. Tied to Big Oil and putting personal benefit over country; quite a feat! Mark Udall is the Democrat here.

• MN-Sen: I thought Al Franken's latest ad was pretty good, and represented some outside-the-box thinking:

"In Washington, they debate whether former members of Congress should wait one year or two years before they become registered lobbyists. How about never? I'm Al Franken, in Washington I'll fight for a new law to prevent members of Congress from ever becoming lobbyists."

It's a sharp message, picking up on anti-Washington sentiment. What's more, it's not off the typical shelf of "Democratic issues" we hear over and over again.

• AK-Sen: In other ad news, Mark Begich's latest uses the culture of corruption which has consumed Alaska politics and contrasts it with his personal integrity.

Begich says how he's made all his finances public, so the people can know what he's up to. "But it's not that way in Washington, DC," Begich says. "It's time to end the secret deals for special interests, and the special favors for elected officials."

There's nowhere that will work better than Alaska.

• GA-12: The primary between John Barrow and Regina Thomas is this Tuesday. Blue America has been running ads in the district, and Barrow is peeved.

Howie Klein of Los Angeles, a retired music industry executive and one of Blue America's founders, said the PAC got behind Thomas because of Barrow's votes supporting the war in Iraq, President Bush's signature tax cuts and a recent bill to protect telecommunications companies that help the government eavesdrop on American phone and computer lines.

"He's in a Democratic district and he's still voting worse than anyone else," Klein said. "If we can somehow harm to his chances of being elected, there is a state senator who seems very progressive and intelligent who could do the job." [...]

Barrow responded with a statement saying his support for an increase in the minimum wage and opposition to cutting veterans benefits and privatizing Social Security, among other issues, have put him at odds with Bush plenty.

"Apparently the only way to persuade some people that I'm not a rubber stamp for George Bush is to become a rubber stamp for Nancy Pelosi," the Democratic House speaker, Barrow said. "And I refuse to be a rubber stamp for anyone."

Attacking liberals and dismissing Democrats seems to be an awkward strategy for a primary, but he is the incumbent and Thomas hasn't raised much of her own money. Frankly if we can make this competitive it'll be a win.

Go West

The announcement today that Barack Obama will deliver his convention acceptance speech to a cheering crowd of 75,000 in Denver's Invesco Field is a telegraph that the Democratic nominee will concentrate a great deal of resources toward winning the West. There are increasing signs that the Rocky Mountain states are more winnable for a Democrat this year than in the recent past.

Superior voter mobilization is playing a role. Nevada's latest registration numbers show a five percent increase among Democrats over Republicans, a difference of 55,000 voters out of 1,000,000. In 2004, Republicans led in voter registration by one percent, and George Bush won the state by a touch more than that.

So are issues particular to the West. One of them is land use. When the Bush Administration is making closed-door deals to hand over hundreds of thousands of acres of forest to developers in the middle of Montana, residents are going to be angry, and take out those frustrations on the Republican Party. This subdivisioning of America simply won't stand among those Westerners who value open spaces and support land conservation.

Another major issue in the West concerns its natural libertarian streak. The quintessential Western Democratic candidate is a civil libertarian and a conservationist, who wants the rights of his citizens protected. Anchorage, AK mayor Mark Begich, running for the US Senate against Ted "Series of Tubes" Stevens, is an example of this kind of Democrat, and his plan to protect citizens' rights looks like a political winner:

The Begich plan includes:

Standing Up Against Government Interference - including warrantless wiretapping, the assault on habeas corpus, the pursuit of Real ID cards, and retroactive immunity for telecommunications companies that illegally helped the federal government spy on Americans.

No Surveillance on Law-Abiding Americans – Begich opposes efforts since 9/11 to take advantage of public fears, bypassing the courts and Congress to eavesdrop on Americans.

Repeal the Patriot Act – Begich believes national security resources should be built on human intelligence and Special Forces that will identify and respond to real threats of terrorism, not monitoring what books Americans read.

Restore Habeas Corpus – Begich called the Military Commissions Act, passed in 2006, the lowest point in our country’s response to the threat of terrorism. The Act suspends habeas corpus for millions of Americans, and that right needs to be restored.

There are as many electoral votes in Colorado, New Mexico and Nevada as there are in Ohio. New Mexico is actually the ultimate swing state, having chosen the winner in 22 out of its 24 Presidential elections (and really 23, since it narrowly went for Gore). The opportunities in the West, including in places like Montana and Alaska, are very great, and Sen. Obama is showing a desire to press those advantages.

Go North, Young Man

There's no reason for Obama not to visit Anchorage during the summer. Considering that John McCain doesn't work weekends he wouldn't even lose any time on the campaign trail relative to his opponent. And 41% of the population of Alaska lives in or around Anchorage. It's also about an hour from there to Fairbanks, another decent-sized population center. And the help this would give our down-ballot federal candidates like Mark Begich and Ethan Berkowitz would be unmatched.

On a personal level I'm perturbed with Obama, but on a political level he's not only doing what needs to be done to win, but to build a lasting Democratic majority. I'm confident he'll go to Alaska.

OR-Sen, AK-Sen: Glimmers of Hope

I mentioned Oregon Senate candidate Jeff Merkley in the last post, and I have a very good feeling about him. Not just from the standpoint of him being possibly one of the few reliable progressives we can elect to the Senate (Tom Allen and Tom Udall and maybe Mark Begich being the others, IMO) - but Gordon Smith, the fake moderate Republican who every election year tries to wipe away the memory of his past far-right votes, is clearly frightened enough about his chances that he's running ads tying himself to Barack Obama.



It's pretty clear how popular Obama is in Oregon once you see that ad - no wonder they're not really competing up there for now. Obama, for his part, responded in this fashion.

"Barack Obama has a long record of bipartisan accomplishment and we appreciate that it is respected by his Democratic and Republican colleagues in the Senate. But in this race, Oregonians should know that Barack Obama supports Jeff Merkley for Senate. Merkley will help Obama bring about the fundamental change we need in Washington," said Obama campaign spokesman Bill Burton.

I am not particularly happy with Obama for his FISA el foldo, but he is paying attention to electing Democrats across the country, which gives us an opportunity to try and change the balance between reactionaries, conservatives and actual progressives in the Congress.

As for the aforementioned Mark Begich, I thought this was a strong statement in the wake of the Supreme Court stepping in (activist judges!) to limit the damage awards to Exxon in the Valdez spill:

“The thousands of Alaskans whose lives were devastated by this disaster are hurt, once again, by this ruling," Begich said. "What we’re seeing today is another example of how Washington is out of touch with real people. The justices have sided with corporate America rather than with Alaska families who have suffered for nearly 20 years.”

Begich added that while the livelihoods of thousands of Alaska fishermen and others were destroyed by the spill, Sen. Ted Stevens has continued to work to serve the interests of big business, rather than put pressure on Exxon to settle the lawsuit or drop its appeals.

“Sen. Stevens continues to show he works hard for special interests, but where has he been when it comes to doing what’s right for Alaskans?” Begich said.

This is yet another shitty day for the country, but there are a few candidates with integrity and a commitment to serve the people. You just have to search for them.

The Drive For 60 In The Senate

It's close enough to the general election that polls can be somewhat descriptive, and if you look at these US Senate seats, there's lots of good news for Democrats.

In Colorado, Rep. Mark Udall has moved to a 6-point lead against the ethically challenged former Rep. Bob Schaffer, last seen touring the Marianas Islands obvlious to the rampant abuse and sexual slavery going on at its factories. The Democratic Congress just tightened controls on the CNMI.

In Alaska, Mark Begich is out in front of Series of Tubes Ted Stevens by five points, with the 50-year Senator well under 50%. The recent ethical scandals that have shown Stevens to be running a favor factory in the Great White North are taking a toll on his re-election chances.

In North Carolina, Liddy Dole is in great danger from a challenge by state Sen. Kay Hagan. The fact that Dole was so crappy at her job at the NRSC that the Republicans lost the Senate in 2006 means that she's not likely to have a lot of friends coming out to raise money for her, either.

In Texas, netroots hero Rick Noriega is very close to beating John "Box Turtle" Cornyn.

And this one blows my mind. In Mississippi - yes, that's right, Mississippi - former Gov. Ronnie Musgrove leads Sen. Roger Wicker by 8 points, 48-40. Wicker gave up his House seat in MS-01 to replace Trent Lott in the Senate. That House seat was taken by Democrat Travis Childers, and now Wicker might lose as well.

Add this to the big leads for Mark Warner in Virginia, Tom Udall in New Mexico and Jeanne Shaheen in New Hampshire, and the challenges by Jeff Merkley in Oregon (where he won his Senate primary yesterday and Gordon Smith is running scared and pretending to be a bipartisan moderate), Al Franken in Minnesota and Tom Allen in Maine, and longshot races like Scott Kleeb in Nebraska and Jim Slattery in Kansas and Larry LaRocco in Idaho, and you're certainly in the ballpark where 60 Senate seats can be a possibility, especially considering that Republicans are, you know, poison.

Now, I'll have something about the fact that we need better Democrats in addition to more. But for the record, I think Noriega and Begich and Tom Udall and Allen would be great, Franken and Merkley and Mark Udall would be pretty good, and Warner and Shaheen and Hagan are moderates who can get somebody else to give them money.