[Vision2020] McCain Calls on Stevens to Step Down

[Tom Hansen]

>From the Anchorage Daily News at:

http://www.adn.com/news/politics/fbi/stevens/story/570062.html
 
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McCain calls on Stevens to step down


By ERIKA BOLSTAD

(10/28/08 07:28:06) 
WASHINGTON -- Wasting no time in separating his presidential campaign from 
what he described as the "corruption and insider dealing that has become 
so pervasive in our nation's capital," Sen. John McCain called on fellow 
Republican Sen. Ted Stevens to step down from the U.S. Senate.

Stevens, 84, was convicted Monday by a jury in Washington, D.C., of 
accepting thousands of dollars in freebies, including renovations that 
doubled his home in size. Stevens has vowed to appeal the seven felony 
convictions and press on with his own re-election campaign in the week 
leading up to the Nov. 4 election. He is only the fifth sitting senator to 
be convicted of such a serious crime in the history of the Senate.

"It is clear that Senator Stevens has broken his trust with the people and 
that he should now step down," McCain said in a written statement. "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."

Unlike that of Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nevada, McCain's 
statement offers no niceties about their shared time in the Senate and 
expresses no sympathy for Stevens' family. Its intensity is somewhat 
surprising given that McCain is a fellow Republican, but not unexpected 
given the frosty relations the two men have long had. They have sparred 
over opening up the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, McCain's opposition 
to earmarks and their differing positions on global warming.

Reid, who personally recruited Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich to run against 
Stevens, called the verdict "a personal tragedy for our colleague Ted 
Stevens." He also urged Stevens to "respect the outcome of the judicial 
process and the dignity of the United States Senate," but didn't suggest 
he should step down. 

McCain's call for Stevens' resignation also goes well beyond that of his 
vice-presidential running mate, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin. Hours after the 
verdict, Palin released a statement calling Stevens' conviction "a sad 
day" for Alaska, but she stopped short of demanding he step down.

"The verdict shines a light on the corrupting influence of the big oil 
service company that was allowed to control too much of our state," Palin 
said. "That control was part of the culture of corruption I was elected to 
fight. And that fight must always move forward regardless of party or 
seniority or even past service."

In her statement, Palin asks Alaskans to "join me in respecting the 
workings of our judicial system. I'm confident Senator Stevens will do 
what is right for the people of Alaska."

She would not tell reporters whether she planned to vote for Stevens.

But if Stevens were to resign from his seat or be expelled by his fellow 
senators, Palin has a potential -- and complicated -- role in choosing a 
replacement. No one in Alaska can say for sure how it would work because 
Alaska's law on senatorial succession was changed twice in 2004 -- once by 
the Legislature, and once by ballot initiative.

Those laws were changed following then-Gov. Frank Murkowski's 2002 
appointment of his daughter, Republican Lisa Murkowski, to his vacated 
U.S. Senate seat.

Both of the 2004 laws call for a special election within 60 to 90 days of 
the vacancy. But they disagree on whether the governor appoints an interim 
senator in the meantime. The Alaska Supreme Court would ultimately have to 
decide which law the state follows. 

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Seeya round town, Moscow.

Tom Hansen
Moscow, Idaho
 
"We're a town of about 23,000 with 10,000 college students. The college 
students are not very active in local elections (thank goodness!)."

- Dale Courtney (March 28, 2007)


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