We are all familiar with the longest serving republican Senator Ted Stevens – whether it be his frequent outbursts on the Senate floor or his comment about the internet being a series of tubes or his "Bridge to Nowhere" or his promises to resign from the Senate if he doesn’t get his way on whatever it is he is whining about on any given day.
Or, of course, the little fact that his home was raided as part of a Federal criminal investigation.
And for the first time in a long, long time, Senator Toobz has his hands more than full on the re-election front, with a recent poll putting him 5 points behind Mark Begich. Needless to say, this is one of the most telling opportunities for a Democratic pickup, as there hasn’t been a Democratic Senator from Alaska since Mike Gravel in 1981.
Stevens, who has been a Senator since 1968, has his own share of problems. But even with that, it would have been a stretch just a few months ago to think that Stevens would have a tough challenge.
All that being said, this isn’t yet another diary about why Ted Stevens is horrible for America – it is about the chance to listen to Mark Begich – the Democratic challenger and our first Democratic Senator from Alaska in close to 30 years - talk to me and thereisnospoon LIVE on BlogTalkRadio today at 5PM Eastern.
For those of you who aren’t familiar with Mark Begich, he has been hitting Stevens hard lately on a number of things – for starters coming out in strong support of Senator Webb’s GI Bill and challenging Stevens to support it (and the troops) as well.
Additionally, in a direct hit at the ethical issues that face Stevens, Begich has released a comprehensive ethics plan and a detailed ethics pledge, some of the highlights of which are:
Although Congress passed a major ethics reform bill last year, there are still many loopholes that allow special interests to unfairly influence Congress behind closed doors and allow Senators to evade accountability. Mark Begich pledges to take a new set of ethics to Washington, one that gives Alaskans a senator as independent as Alaska. It will increase public scrutiny of Congress to make sure our senators are working for Alaska families, not special or personal interests.
Mark Begich’s Alaska ethics pledge is based on three key principles:
- Ban secret meetings and make financial records easily accessible;
- Stop special treatment and protections for senators and their families; and
- Bring real accountability to congressional ethics by ending Senators’ self-policing.
Mark Begich believes all senators should abide by these principles, but he won’t wait for Congress to pass a new law. He will live by them from day one in the Senate.
Of course, this is not the only area where Begich and Stevens are diametrically opposed – whether it be healthcare or Iraq or our veterans or net neutrality, Begich is consistently on the side of We the People, where as Stevens has been out of touch and on the side of special interests for years – to the point where even the Feds have their sights set on him.
As with all non-Presidential races, money is very important and this is a perfect example of the difference between a rubber stamp corrupt anti-American public Senator and one who will fight for what we as progressives believe in. While Obama’s campaign can raise millions of dollars overnight, many downticket but highly important Congressional candidates could use all of the help and donations that they can get. Mark’s is a race that is definitely winnable, and any help that you can give him would be greatly appreciated. That being said, here is the link to donate to Mark’s campaign. Any amount will help make a difference and hopefully help retire Senator Stevens this November.
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Also, if you are interested in hearing other interviews with fine progressive Congressional Candidates, you can check out our other interviews at our BlogTalkRadio site, or click on any of the specific interviews below: