WASHINGTON — Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens’ indictment Tuesday on seven counts of making false statements on his financial disclosure forms could not have occurred at a more politically inopportune time for him or his fellow Republicans.
In less than a month, on Aug. 26, he has a primary contest against five opponents including a wealthy businessman who is attacking the incumbent’s ethics in television ads. Should he survive, the six-term senator probably will face his stiffest general-election challenge yet, from Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich, who was leading in polls before the indictment.
Although Stevens’ spokesman said Tuesday that the senator’s re-election campaign “is continuing to move full steam ahead,” some Republican strategists in Washington expressed concern that his legal troubles — and resulting political vulnerability — could move the Democrats closer to achieving a coveted 60-seat majority in the Senate.
“We’ve had nothing but challenges all the way through, so what else is new?” said Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, who was tapped earlier this year to serve as a lead fundraiser for the National Republican Senatorial Committee.
Republicans entered this election at a numerical disadvantage — 23 seats to defend compared with just 12 for Democrats — and have caught almost no breaks. Five Republican senators opted to retire and one resigned office last December, including incumbents in Virginia and New Mexico, where Democrats are now strongly favored in the fall. Senate Republicans have fallen far behind their Democratic counterparts in fundraising.
That playing field emboldened Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y., chairman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, to openly muse to reporters last week about the prospect of winning nine seats in November, which would give the Democrats a 60-seat majority in January. That number that would allow Democrats to break Republican filibusters and exert true majority control of the legislative body.
Some Republican strategists noted Tuesday that Stevens’ legal problems could also jeopardize Alaska at the presidential level. Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., has deployed staffers in the state, a sign that he intends to mount a serious campaign there. Political observers there cannot remember the last time a Democrat made a serious play for Alaska, which has not voted for a Democrat since President Lyndon Johnson in 1964.
“Republicans are in desperate need of new, fresh ideas and faces,” said one Republican strategist who closely follows Senate races. “Stevens should resign immediately. The only thing he does by staying in is continue to damage his party.”
Senate Republicans had planned to spend the week hammering Democrats for not pushing energy legislation allowing for more domestic oil drilling. Tuesday, the Republicans learned that their most senior colleague was indicted on corruption charges related to energy executives as they assembled at their political headquarters for a talk about the campaign season ahead.
One senator present at the meeting said the lawmakers learned of the indictment from aides sending BlackBerry messages, at which point the matter was briefly mentioned at the meeting and they were advised to not speak to reporters about Stevens.
Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., who faces a potentially difficult challenge in November, did not comment about Stevens all day. Others noted that Stevens, whose fiery temper was well-known throughout the Capitol, had reached an iconic status in the chamber where he has served longer than all but six senators.
“He’s been a fighter for his state, for his country,” said Sen. Christopher Bond, R-Mo., who serves on the Appropriations Committee with Stevens.
Stevens finds himself part of a group of aging senators, all 75 or older, who are battling health or political circumstances that could dramatically reshape the institution in the next few months and years. Sens. Pete Domenici, R-N.M., 76, and John Warner, R-Va., 81, are retiring after more than three decades in the Senate. Sens. Robert Byrd, D-W.Va., 90, and Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., 76, are battling health problems.
Younger senators have noted the potential for a dramatically recast set of characters playing the role of Senate elder statesmen in the next few years. “For all of us it would be something to consider, because you’re losing a lot of institutional memory,” said Sen. Ben Nelson, D-Neb., who won his second term in 2006.
One scenario being floated by Republican operatives is for Stevens to compete in the Republican primary and hopefully win it, after which he would step aside and allow the Republican State Central Committee to pick a candidate of its choosing. Stevens has shown no willingness to reconsider his re-election plans, however.
Begich, the Democratic challenger, said in a statement: “The indictment of Senator Ted Stevens is a sad day for Alaska and for the senator after his 40 years of service to our state. … I have great faith in our state and our people, and we will continue to move forward.”
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