This will not go down as a great day for Sen. Ted Stevens, the U.S. Senate, or the Republican Party today, as Stevens will be arraigned on seven felony counts of falsifying financial disclosure reports to conceal peronsal gifts in excess of $250,000.
Stevens will go to the federal courthouse that is just down Jenkins Hill - Capitol Hill as it's now known - and enter his plea of Not Guilty.
The day after his indictment, Stevens was chased around the Capitol by a veritable horde of reporters. It was not a pretty sight, but that's what they pay us to do.
At least five GOP Senators - some of them running for re-election - quickly moved to give up campaign contributions they had received from Stevens.
A number of other Senators refused to comment on his legal troubles, wading through reporters with 'no comment' quotes.
Adding to his woes, Senate Republicans moved quickly to replace Stevens on two committees, as required by Senate GOP rules.
We did notice one big difference in how this was handled. Unlike Sen. Larry Craig and his bathroom arrest, there were no calls for Stevens to resign his seat in the Senate.
In other words, they didn't throw him under the bus. But they clearly were spooked by the prospect of a major indictment just months before an election that is already leaning towards the Democrats on many levels.
Over in the House, GOP Leader John Boehner couldn't bring himself to say that Stevens should resign, but he left that impression with reporters.
On the House side, Republicans have taken a zero-tolerance approach on this kind of stuff. If you get indicted, you need to leave now - or at least say you aren't running for re-election.
The House GOP got burned by a few lawmakers who said they were innocent, and then ended up in the federal pen.
One issue to ponder here is that Stevens has a primary on August 28. Even if he wins that, he could still take himself out of the race, and allow the GOP to put a new candidate on the ballot.
But I can't see Ted Stevens going quietly. The Senator who doesn't think twice about screaming at colleagues, staffers or reporters doesn't seem likely to fade away.
He served one term too many.
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