McCain Calls For Sen. Stevens To Step Down

GOP Presidential Nominee Says Fellow Senator Has "Broken His Trust" With The People After Conviction

(CBS/AP)  Republican presidential candidate John McCain is calling for Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens to step down.

Stevens was convicted Monday on seven felony counts in connection with a corruption case.

In a statement issued Tuesday morning by his campaign, McCain says Stevens has broken his trust with the people and that the long-serving Republican should step down.

McCain said the verdict in Stevens' trial is a sign of the corruption and insider-dealing that he says has become so pervasive in Washington.

"It is clear that Senator Stevens has broken his trust with the people and that he should now step down," the statement read. "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."

McCain and Stevens are not close. They've frequently exchanged barbs on the Senate floor, particularly over the pet projects that lawmakers insert into spending bills. Stevens is an unabashed champion of such earmarks - bringing home $3.5 billion worth to Alaska in the last five years alone.

McCain is the Senate's biggest critic of earmarks.

McCain's rival, Democrat Barack Obama, held out Stevens' conviction as an example of what's wrong with Washington, and called for his resignation.

"Yesterday's ruling wasn't just a verdict on Senator Stevens but on the broken politics that has infected Washington for decades," said Obama. "It's time to put an end to the corruption and influence-peddling, restore openness and accountability, and finally put government back in the hands of the people it serves. Senator Stevens should step down."

Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin, Alaska's governor, also called for Stevens to resign.

"After being found guilty on seven felony counts, I had hoped Senator Stevens would take the opportunity to do the statesman-like thing and erase the cloud that is covering his Senate seat," Palin said in a statement. "He has not done so. Alaskans are grateful for his decades of public service but the time has come for him to step aside. Even if elected on Tuesday, Senator Stevens should step aside to allow a special election to give Alaskans a real choice of who will serve them in Congress."

After the verdict was announced yesterday, Palin said it was "a sad day for Alaska and a sad day for Senator Stevens and his family."

"The verdict shines a light though on the corrupting influence of the big oil service company up there in Alaska that was allowed to control too much of our state," she added from a podium on the tarmac in Richmond. (Read more in From The Road)

The Bush White House issued a statement Tuesday saying: "Sen. Stevens has said that he's going to fight his conviction and that he is going to appeal, and that is his right to do. Since it's going to be a matter of ongoing litigation, we'll decline to comment for now."

Stevens could be sentenced to as many as 35 years in prison, although he is likely to receive far less, if any, prison time.

Stevens, who first entered the Senate in 1968, is up for re-election and now faces Alaska's voters next week as a convicted felon. Democrats hope to seize the once reliably Republican seat as part of their bid for a filibuster-proof 60-vote majority in the Senate.

While Stevens faces long odds where polls showed a close race even before the verdict, few in Alaska were willing to count him out.

"It's very possible that (Stevens) is going to win the election," said Carl Shepro, a professor of political science at the University of Alaska in Anchorage.

While Begich has run a strong campaign, "Stevens has been blanketing the airwaves too," Shepro said. "Even though he's not here, he's had a lot of air time."

Many Alaskans believe that Stevens - a 40-year senator and a legend in Alaska politics - is being unjustly attacked and that the charges against him don't amount to real corruption, Shepro said.

"A lot of people feel the senator is completely innocent and that there are people who have been doing favors for him without him being aware of it," Shepro said. "The senator is very popular in Alaska."

But Anchorage-based pollster Ivan Moore said Stevens is almost certain to lose.

"I think it's pretty much inconceivable that Ted will be able to pull it out from this point," said Moore, who has been polling on the Alaska Senate race for more than a year. Moore's latest poll, completed last week as trial testimony was wrapping up, showed the Senate race essentially tied.

Many voters said they were waiting for a verdict to make up their minds, and most of them are likely to be convinced that as a convicted felon Stevens must be ousted from the Senate, Moore said. A Washington jury found Stevens guilty of seven felony corruption charges of accepting home renovations and other gifts from an oil executive and then lying about it.

The verdict "is going to hurt him to the point where he can't win," Moore said of Stevens.

Moore predicted a relatively close race, even with the conviction.

Sen. John Ensign, R-Nev., chairman of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, virtually conceded the race in the wake of the guilty verdict.

"Ted Stevens served his constituents for over 40 years, and I am disappointed to see his career end in disgrace," Ensign said. "Sen. Stevens had his day in court, and the jury found he violated the public's trust - as a result he is properly being held accountable. This is a reminder that no one is above the law."

The veteran senator was in no mood for accommodation Monday night.

In a statement issued by his Senate office, Stevens said he was disappointed but not surprised at the verdict, "given the repeated instances of prosecutorial misconduct in this case."

Stevens proclaimed his innocence and said, "I will fight this unjust verdict with every ounce of energy I have."

He asked Alaskans and his Senate colleagues to stand with him as he pursues his legal rights and his re-election campaign.

Begich, the mayor of Alaska's largest city, Anchorage, did not address the verdict directly.

"This has been a very difficult year for Alaskans, and a long year," Begich said in a statement. "I believe Alaskans will move forward because we have many critical issues and challenges ahead of us to deal with."

Patti Higgins, chairwoman of the Alaska Democratic Party, said Stevens should resign from the Senate. "Alaskans deserve better from their public officials. It's time for us to elect an ethical and honest senator who will move this state forward," she said.

McHugh Pierre, a spokesman for the Alaska Republican Party, said the party continued to support Stevens, calling him a conservative who best represents the interests and beliefs of Alaskans.

Rep. Don Young, a veteran Alaska Republican who faces a tough re-election fight amid questions about his own ethics, said he still thinks Stevens can win.

"He's the best thing for the Senate. Alaskans know this: This is a trumped-up charge," Young said.

In addition, if he's re-elected, Stevens could face an expulsion vote in the Senate, although senators can recommend a lesser sanction. But if he loses, he could escape Senate punishment since an ethics investigation to consider expulsion would not be finished before he left office.

[garys21121]

Hey, A Picture Is Worth A Thousand Words
www.garyinthemorning.com

[candy-apple]

Why is it even legal for Stevens to run for Senate?

He should be preparing to spend time in jail.






--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Posted by CaribouBarbi at 10:29 AM : Oct 28, 2008

The same reason that it''s legal for W. Jefferson (D-LA) to run for office even though he''s been indicted on Federal charges. BECAUSE THEY CAN and they don''t care about their constituents. It''s all about what they want and nothing else matters.

[abbe91]

Is McCain going to ask for Palin to step down as well?

She has definitely broken her trust with the people.

Posted by mcfinished at 10:24 PM : Oct 28, 2008

I wonder why the GOP doesn''t play again this ad

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9nTX-oJUCaU

[achangenow]

Get a life, Neederbaur! Just because Stevens has an R after his name doesn''t mean he''s above the law!! You''re pathetic to attempt to find anything positive about this crook. Instead you start attacking Obama as if this will make the Stevens verdict go away. A typical Republican, distract and smear. One big problem with your reasoning. We''ve had 8 years of it so it isn''t going to work this time!!

[raheem44]

It was revealed today that McCain is the leader of a fanatical Muslim group known as the Sword of Islam. This group, which originated in the Jewish section of Saudi Arabia, has just formed a new terrorist group with McCain as its leader. The nefarious members of this new group, known as Baby Jihadists, have devised a diabolic plan to kill innocent Americans. First they place orphan babies in adoption agencies in an attempt to have them adopted. Once they are adopted and brought to America they set up vast undercover networks dedicated to the overthrow of America as we know it.

These babies are not ordinary babies. McCain teaches these babies to poop their drawers as he does himself. Once their drawers are full of poop, you cannot tell if it is poop or a bomb. That%u2019s the problem, because these are baby suicide bombers. DO NOT, I REPEAT, DO NOT attempt to change these diapers. Once you pull a pin, it%u2019s all over: SPLAT and you''re dead. And should you be hit by flying *****, blame their leader, John McCain.

[nearl4511]

I really feel sorry for Stevens. He is no different than most end up in Politics. Fact is that there is so much money passing by that it takes a lot of grist to avoid getting wrapped up in it.

It''s his fault of course, but 40 years serving Alaska to this end. He should have retired gracefully, earlier.

[bonoschild]

"WHY DO NUTS WHO POST LIKE THIS" not know how to spell???

[jgg0001]

Aaahhhhhhhhh....another day of Reich Wingnut Criminal Party Implosion and only a few more days left till their complete, utter, embarrassing, and laugh-your-azz-off Destruction. Good times.....

Posted by singinrich

before you pop the champagne and order the lobster and caviar, you might wanna check out Kwame Kilpatrick, Dianne Wilkerson, and Elizabeth edwards who just pissed all over obama''s healthcare plan, of which she is his advisor.

[jgg0001]

John McCain on Taxing Rich People
Truth Finally Revealed --- John McCain was for spreading the Wealth until recently. He changed his position conveniently as political ploy and to get your votes. I know poor "Joe the Plumber" will be heart broken when he finds out the truth the John McCain is the real socialist. (Watch it for yourself)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X2JPbQO

HEkY

Posted by eric_balcom

that site doesn''t connect

[eric_balcom]

John McCain on Taxing Rich People
Truth Finally Revealed --- John McCain was for spreading the Wealth until recently. He changed his position conveniently as political ploy and to get your votes. I know poor "Joe the Plumber" will be heart broken when he finds out the truth the John McCain is the real socialist. (Watch it for yourself)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X2JPbQO
HEkY

[jgg0001]

it''ll be interesting to see what happens to Dianne Wilkerson now that she was caught stuffing bribe money down her bra in a massachusetts restaurant.

[gotravel1]

Don''t start throwing slime because there''s plenty to go around BOTH PARTIES;democratic senator in FL,democrate Kwame Kirpatrick,Mayor Daley,so exchanging blame doesn''t go anywhere.The fact is John McCain has never pushed for earmarks his entire career,and he and sarah Palin have a much more credible record to run on for reform than Obama,who is tightly connected to Chicago politics and Biden,a ridiculous bafoon.

[mcfinished]

Is McCain going to ask for Palin to step down as well?

She has definitely broken her trust with the people.

[okaussie]

From John McBush:

Dangit Ted you SOB!! How could you go and get yerself convicted and bring us down. Hell now I gotta find sum money to spend on advertising for my own a$$ in Alaska. "Note to self... Never associate with the state of Alaska"

[stevex47]

paylin must love this timing. It takes attention off her elitist waste of my tax dollars on her mega-hollywood spending spree.

[stloubill]

Its not 99% corrupt. Its just that cuz they got elected on morality you hold them to a higher standard.
Posted by william877

Nonsense, we hold them to the same standard as anyone! They are corrupt. Period.

[targaray-2009]

The McCain Camp -versus- The Palin Camp

Move over, Carly Fiorina and make room underneath the Double-Talk Express bus, Nicolle Wallace coming to join you ...

[tincup356]

kinda makes you wonder about early voting now, very clever ploy so you cant change your mind as the big one is a coming yet.

[tincup356]

voters beware, voting for the incumbents who voted for the sellout, Mark my word these people have only begun.Remember how they had to pass the bailout in such a hurry?well almost a month has gone by, they passed it, and don''t know what to do with it.It seems like a stall plan to get passed the election and then WHAM, you will hear,we didn''t get enough, we need to bail out everyone who has paid lobby dollars.Since this will be past the election, what will this tell you about these people...they have no shame and no plan.Next week after the election you mindless part line voters will be wondering ...I thought they said......and you will be officially had.

[patrik1974]

Is McCain going to give up the endorsement from Stevens as well? My guess would be . . .