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GOP Foe Of Indicted Stevens Hitting Airwaves With Ad Attacking Corruption
Wow, talk about a case of perfect timing. In the wake of U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens' indictment, a development that almost ensures a huge Dem pickup in the Senate, Stevens' primary opponent Vic Vickers is set to go up on the air tomorrow with a new spot attacking him for corruption -- and it was produced days ago!
Though the race is totally in flux and Stevens could still win the primary, Vickers very well could be the one that Dem candidate Mark Begich faces in this high-stakes race. As we reported last night, the self-financing Vickers has come out of nowhere and bought over $400,000 worth of ad time on both TV and the radio from out of his own pocket.
Something tells us Vickers will be editing his new ad to mention the indictment.
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More wishful thinking Eric? This if anything hurts the Dem's chances.
July 29, 2008 3:14 PM | Reply | Permalink
I agree. Not running against the giant bag of dicks Stevens can only be a negative for the Dems. At best it's a wash.
July 29, 2008 3:22 PM | Reply | Permalink
True....DEMS want to run against Stevens. But this Vickers guy is unknown and Begich is well known and liked. So I would think Begich would be favored.
July 29, 2008 4:25 PM | Reply | Permalink
Democrats are catching what ailed the Republicans the past 8 years. Assumptions of victory.
There is nothing here in Alaska indicating its congressional delegation will go Democrat.
Polling is notoriously off base here, constituencies vary too widely from region to region here.
Alaskans are voting in 'New Republicans', i.e. the not-so-social-warrior types that actually practice open government.
July 29, 2008 5:09 PM | Reply | Permalink
No, you don't understand Alaska.
Vickers anti-oil stand won't work because without oil sales Alaskans would not get their permanent fund dividend and MIGHT HAVE TO PAY TAXES!
Most of the Alaska politicians can't support a high standard of ethics. The community is too small and everyone deals with the same people. Oil and fish traditinally run the state, only recently tourism has become important.
There are many more shoes to drop if the investigation continues. The Feds havent published the fish connections yet.
As a result wtih Ted out, Alaskans will vote for the secure person they know and trust - even if it is a Democrat.
July 29, 2008 4:33 PM | Reply | Permalink
This Alaskan doesn't trust Begich. He's only running to a be downticket of Obama, (an opportunist, not a reformer).
Alaska is very much moving towards Obama, that doesn't mean we want everything to go Democrat.
Personally, I've seen a shift towards balance - not a knee jerk reaction punishing all Republicans.
July 29, 2008 5:13 PM | Reply | Permalink
which Republicans in Alaska aren't touched by scandal? Don Young? Ted Stevens? Ben Stevens? the entire Velco implicated legislature? the Murkowski's? the Governor (who was once viewed as a paragon of virtue but now is down in the slime with a nasty scandal tinged with personal vindiciveness)?
I'm not sure who is left among the Republicans who are "New Republicans" - is Governor Pallin, who once worked for Pat Buchanan's presidential campaign, an good example of your not so social warrior type of Republican? What candidates are you counting on to carry the state for the Republicans?
Who exactly do you think is going to be on the Republican ticket in Alaska in November? It will be Ted Stevens as Senate nominee, and probably Don Young for US House... two scandal-ridden incumbents leading the GOP ticket certainly provides a HUGE opening for Democratic Congressional victories.
What Republicans are you predicting will be sweeping Alaska's Congressional elections this fall?
July 29, 2008 11:01 PM | Reply | Permalink
I think LeDoux and Parnell will be the ticket.
July 30, 2008 12:37 AM | Reply | Permalink
Are you serious? Not very likely -- LeDoux and Parnell are running AGAINST each other in the primary... so the odds of them both winding up on the ticket in November are pretty remote.
it would take a lot of Republican party fancy footwork to somehow make place Parnell and LeDoux both on the ticket ... it would mean Stevens winning the primary, then dropping out, then the state party filling the vacancy with one of them; at the same time Young would need to loose his primary (or drop out).
And just to make it more complicated, assuming (for argument's sake) that Parnell beats Young in the primary -- do you think that the state GOP committee is going to name a losing LeDoux for Senate if Stevens drops out? (or reverse those names - LeDoux as nominee and Parnell as loser). Are they going to put a primary House loser on the ticket to replace a 30+ year Senator? Or would they name the House primary winner for the Senate, then create a house vacancy and name the loser to that?
All these machinations are pretty unlikely -- Ted Stevens is a selfish SOB who won't step aside for the good of his party or state unless it is part of a plea deal. With a split opposition, Don Young may actually end up winning renomination.
I'm not saying that there is a lock for the Democrats on either the Senate or House seat -- either or both could very conceivably stay Republican. (Especially the House seat if Parnell or LeDoux beats Young). But if I was the state Republican Chair, I'd be tossing and turning at night when looking at the political landscape -- because what should be two safe Republican seats are in very real and imminent danger of switching to the Democrats.
July 30, 2008 10:43 AM | Reply | Permalink
While this certainly doesn't "guarantee" a Democratic pick-up, it doesn't exactly help the Republicans either, does it?
None of the Republican challengers to Stevens (including this guy - who has only lived in Alaska since January according to the Anchorage Daily News) seem like very strong candidates... Vickers may self-finance but he has no roots or credibility in the state. Former State Rep Dave Cuddy is the only one who held elected office - and that was 25+ years ago. The field is rounded out by a couple of right wing pastors with no funding or campaign organization,. None of them would be strong choices against a well-known and popular figure like Begich in a November election.
So the Republicans must be left hoping that Stevens wins his primary and then voluntarily turns down the nomination so a cleaner Republican can be named to take his place. Does anyone forsee Ted Stevens voluntarily giving up? In the meantime, the Republican brand is becoming so damaged in Alaska thanks to this, Don Young, Ben Stevens and the corrupt legislature, and now Sarah Pallin has the shine washed off her by getting a trooper fired for petty vindictive personal reasons.
I hope Stevens wins the primary, but even if one of his challengers wins, they are not going to be strong candidates.
And the hope has got to be that Don Young manages to win with a split vote between Lt Gov Parnell (slimed now with Pallin association) and State Rep Gabrielle LeDoux....
With Stevens and Young on the ticket, and Republican corruption headlines between now and November, the state could even be in play for Obama (especially if Bob Barr decides to take a couple of campaign trips up north).
I don't see how it hurts Begich's chances -- but nothing is a sure thing in a red state, at least not until after the primary and the final slate is set.
July 29, 2008 4:37 PM | Reply | Permalink
So what would a Begich x Vickers race look like?
July 29, 2008 5:00 PM | Reply | Permalink
Take a nap today, that's what it will feel like.
July 29, 2008 5:10 PM | Reply | Permalink
I can't wait to get started.
July 29, 2008 9:22 PM | Reply | Permalink
Alaskans don't take kindly to carpetbaggers. I've never heard of this guy until I saw him here on TPM. A quick google of him yielded his main platform of 'anti-obama'.
Google John Lindauer's run for Governor.
July 29, 2008 5:21 PM | Reply | Permalink
Why was Ted Stevens indicted today by Justice? Did it have anything to with the stories on the Justice Department hiring scandals which threatened to extend into the White House? I believe that story has disappeared from the electronic media -- including the TPM family/ Any bets on whether it shows up in any of the print media tomorrow? Has the Gooding scandal been buried when just when it appeared that it was inexorably leading to a criminal conspiracy involving the White House as well as Fredo and Ashcroft? There is little doubt that those victimized have a very good civil suit for violation of their civil rights--1st Amend. right of association - as well as other rights BUT it also appears that there is a prima facie case for a criminal conspiracy to violate civil rights -1st Amend. right of association --among other criminal statutes. Fitzgerald has been prosecuting Chicago officials for patronage hiring for several years where the Chicago personnel rules/laws were far less stringent than the Federal statutes being violated at Justice.
Now Justice will claim that it is their policy to indict sufficiently long before an election so that voters have plenty of time to consider their options as well as give the alleged wrong-doer time to make his.her case to the voters. And I agree with that even though I am not certain how often it actually happens.
Maybe I am too cynical, but the Justice hiring scandal may have just been swept under the rug.
July 29, 2008 7:31 PM | Reply | Permalink
Something tells us Vickers will be editing his new ad to mention the indictment.
Let's hope he also edits so it doesn't suck nearly as much. Good lord, what a terrible ad. Clearly written and produced by some small-time state-level political consultant.
July 29, 2008 9:28 PM | Reply | Permalink
Actually the ad seems more like it was written by some small-time candidate himself... even a fairly useless political consultant could have done better than this kind of self-produced "vanity" campaign ad by a guy with money to through around.
July 29, 2008 10:47 PM | Reply | Permalink