Just over a week from the elections, Republicans got another ball peen hammer to the head as Sen. Ted Stevens of Alaska was convicted on seven charges of corruption stemming from gifts given to him by a home state oil company executive.
For Stevens, it is doubly damning, as he is up for re-election next week. After 40 years, Stevens is the longest serving Republican in Senate history, but now that could come with an asterisk next to his name.
And it also may come with a loss at the polls in just seven days.
Stevens was already in trouble back home this election year, as recent polls had shown his Democratic opponent Mark Begich in a virtual tie.
Many here in Washington, D.C. believe that this guilty verdict will insure the defeat of Stevens on November 4th.
"Certainly a conviction means that seat is in Democratic hands without a doubt," predicted political analyst John Fortier of the American Enterprise Institute.
Even the GOP Senator who heads the National Republican Senatorial Committee said as much last week.
Just one more seat for Democrats in their drive to reach 60 votes, and a filibuster proof super majority in the US Senate.
The 84 year old Stevens was accused of lying on his Senate financial disclosure forms when he failed to reveal gifts from Alaska oil contractor Bill Allen.
The feds alleged that Allen footed the bill for most of the renovations on Stevens' home and showered him with other gifts.
After the verdict, Stevens urged his Senate colleagues not to abandon him.
"I will fight this unjust verdict with every ounce of energy I have. I am innocent," said the hard nosed Senator, well known for his outbursts at reporters and staffers.
"I remain a candidate for the United States Senate."
Obviously, the Senator can still appeal the conviction. His sentencing was set for late January of next year.
The voters get the chance to pronounce his political sentence next week on November 4.
A buddy of mine who used to cover the Alaska delegation in Congress emailed me after news broke of the guilty verdict.
"Sad to see the old man go down like this because he has done a lot for Alaska and I know there is a human being under the crotchety crust," he said.
"Wouldn't the ultimate irony be if Stevens gets a pardon from Bush before W leaves the White House? Intriguing to think about that scenario," he added.
Stevens is only the fifth sitting Senator to be convicted of a crime. It's the first since Sen. Harrison Williams (D-NJ) was found guilty in the ABSCAM investigation back in 1981.
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