# Is Ted Stevens toast? **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [October 21, 2008, 3:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-ted-stevens-toast/468851 "2008-10-21T03:17:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 9
**Author:** ![Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/e8c25b/32.png) [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2008, 5:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-ted-stevens-toast/468851/161 "2008-11-05T05:24:31Z")
Yes, he’s toast. ---
**Author:** ![BrainGlutton](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/82dd89/32.png) [@BrainGlutton](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BrainGlutton)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2008, 5:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-ted-stevens-toast/468851/162 "2008-11-05T05:31:17Z")
> [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](#): > > Yes, he’s toast. I won’t believe it until I see the butterknife scrape his upper surface into the sink. Any results yet? ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2008, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-ted-stevens-toast/468851/163 "2008-11-05T14:30:48Z")
For the first time in my 61 years, I’m embarrassed to be an Alaskan. It looks like Stevens is going to successfully defend his seat in the Senate. He’s ahead by about 4,000 votes, and there are about 10,000 absentee votes to be counted later this week. That means his opponent would have to pick up about 8,000 of those, which is just not going to happen. Way to go, Alaska. You’ve shown the nation what a bunch of fucking tools we are by returning a convicted felon to WDC. And to top it off, we’ve also managed to send Don Young back to the House. Young has already spent over a million $$ of campaign funds on his defense lawyers to fight pending charges that he has refused to disclose. The pollsters were completely wrong. The idiots who voted for McCain just kept going down ballot, blindly marking anything with an R next to it. Well fuck you, Alaska. If there was any lingering doubt in my mind about leaving here for good next spring, this has certainly cleared it up. Stevens will be ejected from the Senate, and Young will likely meet the same fate in the House. Then you can go through your timeless charade of temporarily appointing some new crooked assholes to their seats before holding a joke of an election to make it permanent. Fuck you. Fuck you all. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2008, 4:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-ted-stevens-toast/468851/164 "2008-11-05T16:08:43Z")
My mistake. There are about 14,000 early votes to be counted and 40,000 absentee. They’re saying that it could be two weeks before we have a clear winner. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2008, 4:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-ted-stevens-toast/468851/165 "2008-11-05T16:12:31Z")
67 Senators would have to vote to expel Stevens for him to be kicked out. I assume the ~58 Democrats/indies would vote for that, but would there be enough Republican support? Might be an interesting question - unless he goes to prison and the whole thing is mooted, because I’m sure he’ll resign if he goes to jail. ---
**Author:** ![Kid\_A\_1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ed8c4c/32.png) [@Kid\_A\_1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kid_A_1)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2008, 4:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-ted-stevens-toast/468851/166 "2008-11-05T16:17:02Z")
Can you say Senator Sarah Palin? If Stevens is forced to resign and there’s a special election, I have no doubts that she’ll beat Begich. Ugh…I was hoping that she’d be a footnote to history. ---
**Author:** ![zut](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zut/32/2875_2.png) [@zut](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zut)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2008, 4:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-ted-stevens-toast/468851/167 "2008-11-05T16:26:44Z")
Procedural question: If Stevens wins, the Senate expels him, and a special election is called, is there anything at all that prevents him from from running again to re-fill his own seat? And if he does, and wins, would the Senate have to re-vote on his expulsion? [Edit: because that would be really entertaining, so long as it isn’t happening in _my_ state.] ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2008, 4:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-ted-stevens-toast/468851/168 "2008-11-05T16:27:39Z")
> [@Kid\_A](#): > > Can you say Senator Sarah Palin? If Stevens is forced to resign and there’s a special election, I have no doubts that she’ll beat Begich. > > Ugh…I was hoping that she’d be a footnote to history. Begich is far to smart a politician to get into a battle with Palin. His opportunity was now, and he won’t get another, most likely. But I think you’re right: she’ll appoint some lackey who couldn’t get elected dogcatcher, then run herself in the special election. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2008, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-ted-stevens-toast/468851/169 "2008-11-05T16:32:08Z")
Sentencing is set for Jan. 26, by the way. So the Senate could move to kick him out pretty fast if it chose. There has to be a special election if the seat is vacated, and unlike most of the people here I don’t see Palin quitting as governor to run for the Senate. You sometimes get Senators running for governor - Jon Corzine for one, Frank Murkowski in Alaska for another - but doing it the other way around seems rare. I’m not really sure what Palin would get out of it. She’d be in DC, but with little seniority in a minority party, and I don’t think two years as governor plus three years a senator gives her much better position as a candidate in 2012, compared with staying governor for a term and running for re-election so she can say she saw her goals through to completion and has a more significant amount of executive experience. ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2008, 4:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-ted-stevens-toast/468851/170 "2008-11-05T16:32:55Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > 67 Senators would have to vote to expel Stevens for him to be kicked out. I assume the ~58 Democrats/indies would vote for that, but would there be enough Republican support? Might be an interesting question - unless he goes to prison and the whole thing is mooted, because I’m sure he’ll resign if he goes to jail. James Trafficant planned on serving _from prison_ had he won re-election. Stevens strikes me as a crustier bastid than Trafficant, so I expect him to be drug from the Senate kicking and screaming. ---
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2008, 6:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-ted-stevens-toast/468851/171 "2008-11-05T18:04:59Z")
> [@Marley23](#): > > Sentencing is set for Jan. 26, by the way. So the Senate could move to kick him out pretty fast if it chose. > > There has to be a special election if the seat is vacated, and unlike most of the people here I don’t see Palin quitting as governor to run for the Senate. You sometimes get Senators running for governor - Jon Corzine for one, Frank Murkowski in Alaska for another - but doing it the other way around seems rare. I’m not really sure what Palin would get out of it. She’d be in DC, but with little seniority in a minority party, and I don’t think two years as governor plus three years a senator gives her much better position as a candidate in 2012, compared with staying governor for a term and running for re-election so she can say she saw her goals through to completion and has a more significant amount of executive experience. I don’t know how often \ ***sitting** senators run for governor (or vice versa) but it’s pretty common for a _ **former** _ governor to run (witness Virginia’s election with 2 former govs running for senate). I’d be very surprised if Palin were to put herself in that special election though. I think the people of Alaska would quite rightly see that as abandoning her duties. On the legality: Can a convicted criminal even serve in such an office? Why could Stevens even contemplate serving if he were convicted? (thinking of Traficant’s desire to serve from prison). ---
**Author:** ![askeptic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/eb9ed0/32.png) [@askeptic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/askeptic)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2008, 6:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-ted-stevens-toast/468851/172 "2008-11-05T18:14:52Z")
> [@Mama\_Zappa](#): > > On the legality: Can a convicted criminal even serve in such an office? Why could Stevens even contemplate serving if he were convicted? (thinking of Traficant’s desire to serve from prison). > [@](#): > > US Constitution Art.I Section 3 : > > No Person shall be a Senator who shall not have attained to the Age of thirty Years, and been nine Years a Citizen of the United States, and who shall not, when elected, be an Inhabitant of that State for which he shall be chosen. Doesn’t say anything about never having been convicted of a felony. The Senate can however vote to expell him. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2008, 7:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-ted-stevens-toast/468851/173 "2008-11-05T19:38:50Z")
> [@Mama\_Zappa](#): > > I’d be very surprised if Palin were to put herself in that special election though. I think the people of Alaska would quite rightly see that as abandoning her duties. She is nothing if not politically ambitious. Her lack of experience was a killer for both the left and the intellectual right, who all condemned it. How can she gain that experience, or at least be in a position where someone with normal intellectual curiosity could learn how government operates? Why, by serving a term in the U.S. Senate and making sure you get on relevant committees. While she’ll still be an empty suit, she’ll have the veneer of “experience” from having served a term in WDC. As for abandoning her duties, we’ve certainly seen that Alaskans in general are complete political morons, and would welcome anything that would propel their darling Sarah into the spotlight again. Alaskans have the worst case of “look at me” that you’ll ever see, all the while decrying interference or even attention by anyone outside the state. I’m just so fucking disgusted with this place. ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2008, 7:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-ted-stevens-toast/468851/174 "2008-11-05T19:58:00Z")
[I hope you’re not planning on moving to New Orleans.](http://www.nola.com/news/index.ssf/2008/11/rep_jefferson_cruises_to_reele.html) > [@](#): > > With his trial on federal corruption charges looming and questions swirling about his effectiveness in Congress, U.S. Rep. William Jefferson cruised to an easy victory Tuesday in the Democratic Party runoff for the 2nd Congressional District. ---
**Author:** ![gonzomax](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e8c25b/32.png) [@gonzomax](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzomax)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2008, 8:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-ted-stevens-toast/468851/175 "2008-11-05T20:05:04Z")
Did he win the election or is there a recount coming? ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2008, 8:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-ted-stevens-toast/468851/176 "2008-11-05T20:11:48Z")
> [@gonzomax](#): > > Did he win the election or is there a recount coming? Nobody seems to know. It LOOKS like he’s far enough ahead to have gotten it, but I haven’t seen an official call yet. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2008, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-ted-stevens-toast/468851/177 "2008-11-05T21:25:52Z")
> [@gonzomax](#): > > Did he win the election or is there a recount coming? If you’re talking about Ted Stevens, see my post higher up on this page. ---
**Author:** ![Death\_of\_Rats](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a6a055/32.png) [@Death\_of\_Rats](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Death_of_Rats)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2008, 9:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-ted-stevens-toast/468851/178 "2008-11-05T21:39:49Z")
I have not yet found an online cite, but from what I heard in the post-election coverage it seems that Mitch McConnell has already stated that if Stevens wins he will not be seated. We’ll see. ---
**Author:** ![Punoqllads](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/d2c977/32.png) [@Punoqllads](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Punoqllads)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2008, 9:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-ted-stevens-toast/468851/179 "2008-11-05T21:43:36Z")
Do you mean [Harry Reid](http://www.rollcall.com/news/29690-1.html)? Reid is the majority leader. ---
**Author:** ![jayjay](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jayjay/32/6765_2.png) [@jayjay](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jayjay)\ **Post date:** [November 5, 2008, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-ted-stevens-toast/468851/180 "2008-11-05T21:46:13Z")
> [@Punoqllads](#): > > Do you mean [Harry Reid](http://www.rollcall.com/news/29690-1.html)? Reid is the majority leader. Yes, but given that an expulsion vote requires 2/3 majority, it’s McConnell (who is the minority leader) who’s going to be instrumental in actually voting Stevens out. If McConnell decides he’s not going to wrangle enough Republican senators to give that 2/3, Stevens sits. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-ted-stevens-toast/468851.md?page=8) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/is-ted-stevens-toast/468851.md?page=10)