A day after Sen. Ted Stevens of Alaska was convicted on seven corruption charges in a Washington, D.C. federal court, it almost seemed poetic that fellow GOP Sen. John McCain would call for Stevens to resign from the Senate.
While the two men share their party affiliation, about the only other thing is that they share a contempt for each other, born out of budget battles in the Congress.
For years, McCain was a thorn in the side of Stevens and the Senate Appropriations Committee, as McCain waged war over budget earmarks.
That was true on the so-called "Bridge to Nowhere" and a number of other pork barrel programs stuffed into bills by Stevens and others.
McCain loved to come down to the Senate floor just before a final vote on a spending bill and rant about the extras in the legislation.
And he always seemed very eager to throw in multiple examples of projects going back to Alaska, courtesy of Sen. Ted Stevens.
Like Sen. Robert Byrd, who so effectively sent home millions to his home state of West Virginia, Stevens did the same for Alaska, and did it proudly.
And you could always tell that McCain got under Stevens' skin and got on his nerves.
Senatorial courtesy keeps most of the members of that body from slamming their colleagues when they are down.
But not McCain. Here is his statement:
"Yesterday, Senator Ted Stevens was found guilty of corruption. It is a sign of the health of our democracy that the people continue to hold their representatives to account for improper or illegal conduct, but this verdict is also a sign of the corruption and insider-dealing that has become so pervasive in our nation's capital.
"It is clear that Senator Stevens has broken his trust with the people and that he should now step down. I hope that my colleagues in the Senate will be spurred by these events to redouble their efforts to end this kind of corruption once and for all."
There is sweet irony in all of this when you think about it. McCain has been warning his colleagues for years that they were getting hooked on earmarks and compromising their seats in the Congress - not only in elections - but also in the courtroom.
In the process, McCain earned nothing but bitterness from many of his GOP colleagues. They hated his showboating on earmarks. They fumed in the cloakroom about his determination to publicly smack around members of his own party.
And to complete the circle, if McCain loses next week, those same GOP lawmakers will enjoy slamming McCain's campaign as an incompetent wreck.
They never liked him anyway, and to have him as their standardbearer gave them a case of 2008 heartburn like you can't imagine.
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