AK-Sen: Begich takes lead

AK-Sen: Begich takes lead

www.dailykos.com

Stevens (R) 125,016
Begich (D) 125,019



About 40,000 votes are in from today's batch of absentee, early, and question ballots to be counted today, so we still have another 12,000 or so votes to go before the day is finished. And remember, the districts that will be counted later this week are all Begich districts. While we need to wait for every vote to be counted, chances are we will win this thing if Begich ends up the day leading.

And right now, it looks like that's what we're going to get.

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[edit: title to same as source]
Headline: Please use the original story headline from your source.

[edit on 13-11-2008 by 12m8keall2c]

Just thought it was good news to share with all. I was really questioning what was wrong with people in Alaska. Re-Electing someone convicted of corruption charges.

The good new out of all this, if Stevens doesn't win, Palin doesn't get that national seat people speculated she'd go for.

I for one am tired of her, I'm so cutesy attitude, then railing against sexism. Because people questions why they McCain campaign spent $15k a month on her make up artist.

My father has been in charge of huge building projects, Defense Intelligence Agency and State Farm Headquarters to name two, and he doesn't make no $15k a month.

www.dailykos.com
(visit the link for the full news article)

[edit on 13-11-2008 by djpaec]


[edit: title to same as source]
Headline: Please use the original story headline from your source.

[edit on 13-11-2008 by 12m8keall2c]

I hope Begich gets in. He seems to come from honorable roots his Dad is a former Alaskan Congressman (Nick Begich Sr.) who mysteriously disappeared. Mark's Brother Nicholas Begich Jr. is a kick-ass MD, lecturer guy who's very active the native and local politic scene and is co-author of "Angels Don't Play this HAARP" & has his own website devoted the biofeedback devices and binaural beat products at Earthpulse.

Here's a really cool lecture Nick Begich gave on Mind Control technologies etc


It might do the country to have a well informed senator in office (assuming he & his brother share information which it seems they do).

To be honest I don't know about Begich, only a little about Nick (from the HAARP stuff etc), but I do think that it would be good news for Stevens to be defeated.

It boggled my mind that people could re-elect a criminal like that, and it's not like he just did a small crime outside of work, like a traffic offence, it was a fraud related to his position!

reply to post by Shakesbeer


Wow, that video really reminds me of the 6th Day with Arnold Schwarzenegger. I never thought I'd see technology like that even remotely possible before I died. Scary stuff.

I have a few things I thought I would contribute...

I am an 8-year Alaskan citizen. My family lives here, my son was born here, this is where I got married, Alaska is home to me and my family.
I am not here to defend or attack Senator Ted Stevens in any way. I am here to tell you what I see from the standpoint of an Alaskan citizen..

He is veteran in the Senate with over 40 years in service to his country and he has done so much to help this state over the years. Everyone here calls him by first name because everyone and their dog in Alaska knows who he is. After living here for the past 8 years and spending 3 years here as a youngster, this is basically how I see it..

Alaskan citizens are extremely polarized on each side of the political spectrum and from what I have seen over the years it has always been that way. This is a beautiful, pristine, amazing place to live and because of that many people on the Democrat side tend to be extremely liberal. Many many issues we deal with in Alaska deal with the environment and it's wildlife in one form or another.. This is anotherreason whu many democrats tend toward the liberal ideaology.

But this is also a land of opportunity and it always has been. Whether it has been gold, oil, or natural gas, this state has always been ground zero for political bickering of all sorts on both sides with regards to the environment and how it should be used. What we honestly need is a happy medium.. But most people here are so unhappy with one view or another that state and local policies change alot.. And that doesn't really get anywhere to finding that happy medium that benefits both sides..

We have all sorts of really important issues we are dealing with up here.. We have the issue of the controlled killing of wolves, we have the issue of the gas-line they have been talking about for years, we have the existing oil pipeline that goes right through where I live which has always been hotly debated and every day it falls into disrepair more and more. We don't have sales taxes here.. We do pay higher prices for everything from eggs to milk to gasoline. But that is mainly because of transportation costs. We receive a "dividend check" from the government every year and every year it gets larger. This year we got an extra couple thousand dollars from the government as an energy supplement that was added on to the dividend check. The state and local policies are quite different from the "norm" down in the lower 48.

Now, for over 40 years Senator Ted Stevens has fought for the Republican majority in the state of Alaska. People not only respect him for that.. People LOVE him for that..

Many people up here saw the Ted Stevens federal corruption trial as people hanging him out to dry. Alot of Republicans up here probably already knew he was corrupt. After all the evidence that was held against him in court, they ended up finding him guilty based on not filling out his tax paperwork properly as a U.S. Senator. Alot of people up here also saw this as "cheap tricks" and it didn't really add up. Because of all this, most Republicans I know really sympathized with him in a way (even though they knew he should have handled himself better as a U.S. Senator or he wouldn't have been in this position in the first place).

Alot of Republicans also didn't want to see a Democrat suddenly take over the senate seat of a state where the majority of citizens pretty much always vote towards the Republican side at the state and federal level. Our state is so politically polarized, that a Democrat Senator would probably also be somewhat liberal and the majority of Republicans up here simply did not want to see that happen. With so much of our state's prosperity riding on important issues like the gas-line and future oil exploration and drilling elsewhere in the state, people did NOT want to see a Democrat Senator that could possibly ruin the work so many people have done to make these things a reality over the years. Not only because it means more money for the state. More and more money for the state translates to Alaska being more self-sufficient, productive, and it means a bigger and bigger dividend for every Alaskan citizen. It also might eventually translate to people paying less for property taxes (which are insanely high up here right now) and possibly cheaper energy costs which are EXTREMELY high up here (especially in the winter where the average family pays not only for gasoline for their vehicles but extremely expensive heating oil on top of an already skyrocketing cost of living).

The situation is complicated up here.. It isn't as simple as people looking from the outside in wondering why the hell Alaskans voted for a corrupt politician. The average Alaskan sees much more at stake if he were to lose to Begich.. And to them that justifies willing to vote for good ol' Ted once more who has served our state for over 40 years.

But it is quite clear to me that Good ol' Ted doesn't always know what he is talking about.. He is very good at rambling, stuttering, and sometimes making himself look like a complete moron..

The internet is not a series of tubes..




-ChriS

reply to post by BlasteR


Thanks for your insight BlasteR. From someone looking on the outside in, isn't it that Senator Stevens has done a lot for your state at the federal level why you guys like him so much.

Now I'm not trying to denigrate Alaska for what I'm about to say. But in 2007 for every dollar Alaska gave to the Federal Government they recieved double in return. Thanks, for the most part, to Senator Stevens.

One thing that pushed my buttons during the election was how Todd Palin was accused of being part of the Alaskan Secessionist Party. And Governor Palin gave them the ol' atta boy at the last convention they had, with a taped message. I guess my question is, is the Secessionist movement that big up there? Because if it is, dont' you think it's just like 'looking a gift horse in the mouth'?

Blaster - The guy is guilty of not reporting over $250,000 dollars in "gifts" from the oil company. To be more accurate, he was convicted in federal court for doing so & just because he's incumbent doesn't mean a damn thing. A large majority of the incumbent politicians may appear to be doing such a great job on the surface but in actuality really suck. Such as someone who takes in ordinate amounts of money from special interests and lies about & gets convicted of 7 counts of corruption -ahem Stevens ahem- ...oh but he's a good one that Stevens, unlike Begich & his family who cares about the environment, understands politics, and tries to help the average American.

And people wonder how things got the way they have. It's because no one is paying attention to the important things, like when their senator is convicted of corruption....might want to pay attention to that one.

Originally posted by Shakesbeer
Blaster - The guy is guilty of not reporting over $250,000 dollars in "gifts" from the oil company. To be more accurate, he was convicted in federal court for doing so & just because he's incumbent doesn't mean a damn thing.

This is exactly what I'm talking about. I do completely agree.. He has a federal corruption trial, he is convicted, yet he is still a contendor? My point though was that to the average Alaskan Republican the situation is a little more complicated and because of the details involved with the case people basically sympathized.. He is so loved up here by the right wingers that he could've probably gotten away with more. But how would it work if Ted Stevens did get re-elected? After all these Republicans voted for him, Would he be voting on legislation from a prison cell? I think it goes a long way to show how crazy some Alaskans are on this issue..

People hyper-analyzed this corruption case from the start in order to either attack Ted Stevens or support him.. Republicans I talked to were almost willing to let it slide in a way (which doesn't make sense). If 40 year senate veterans are corrupt, what does that say about politicians in general? And shortly after his corruption trial, I saw THIS on CNN.

How many other politicians are getting away with these same kinds of activities that we don't know about?

-ChriS

reply to post by BlasteR


The source being 'The Daily Kos' is the only thing that makes me think that it might NOT be acurate! Its a Soros rag ya know!


Zindo

reply to post by ZindoDoone


You're also one of those people that puts value in the Carolina Journal.
How's five thirty eight they got everything right on the election. They got the lead at 1,022 now.

www.fivethirtyeight.com...