Ted Stevens
Posted at 1:27am on Jan. 5, 2008 John Fund on Bush's Legacy
By Bluey
It's not too late for President Bush to leave office with a strong legacy on fiscal responsibility, but his decision next week on an anti-earmark executive order will go a long way in determining how he's remembered, Wall Street Journal columnist John Fund told conservatives tonight at Awakening in Sea Island, Ga.
Fund had harsh words for earmark-addicted Republicans in Congress, notably Sen. Ted Stevens of Alaska. Fund predicted Stevens wouldn't be re-elected this year, likely because he'll be indicted for corruption. Here's how he summed up the GOP's earmark problem:
Conservatives went to Washington to clean up the swamp and a few of them found that it makes a nice hot tub.
Fund also confirmed, as I reported earlier, that Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell is the biggest obstacle standing in the way of Bush's idea to cancel lawmakers' earmarks.
Posted at 12:17pm on Dec. 27, 2007 AK- Senate --- Stevens has a Primary Challenger
By gpasman
CQ Politics has a story announcing that Ted Stevens has a primary challenger. The link to the story is
http://www.cqpolitics.com/wmspage.cfm?parm1=5&docID=news-000002649504
The highlights-
David Cuddy is a wealthy real estate developer who ran against Stevens in the primary in 1996, and spent $1,000,000 in that race, and lost (obviously, if he is challenging this year). In 1996, Republicans were less likely to throw out their own, after winning control of the Senate just 2 years prior to that race.
However, now, the only way this seat is a possible win for Republicans, is if Stevens does not run. This primary candidate has spent a million in the past, and most likely will do so again. In this year, with so many Republican seats to defend, a self financing candidate is very important.
If Stevens does survive a primary, then one of the candidates the Democrats many nominate is Ray Metcalf, who founded the Alaska Republican Moderate Party. So, there is a significant chance that liberal and moderate Republicans may go to the Democrat side if Stevens is in the race, as they may feel that they would be electing a moderate Republican, instead of the usual liberal that Democrats nominate, and also making sure Stevens, with all of his ethical problems, is defeated. We do not want that, so a strong challenger to take out Stevens would be a significant help.
Now, I do not know any of the positions of Cuddy. I know there are some Redstate bloggers who are much more familiar with Alaska politics. Any information would be very helpful.
