Brutal Fight Brews in Alaska
WSJ.COM
In Political Perceptions
Katherine Rizzo is the "Inside Congress" editor for Congressional Quarterly and CQPolitics.com, supervising coverage of congressional leaders; she's also a former writer for the Associated Press. Click here for Rizzo's full bio.
The guy running for re-election to the Senate from Alaska is a cantankerous bully who seems to be accused of everything except tossing someone in the snow on Christmas Eve. One guy running against him already did that.
Ted Stevens, an 84-year-old Republican who's been a senator for 40 years (come this Christmas Eve), is in the political fight of his life.
His likely re-election opponent, Democrat Mark Begich, 46, is mayor of Anchorage. Since there's an August primary to get through, the two aren't officially running against each other yet, but their respective parties are already sniping through a pair of Web sites — BegichBaggage.com and RetireTed.com.
The contest is shaping up to be the meanest congressional race in the country, or at least runner-up.
The Democrats have started reminding Mr. Stevens's constituents about an investigation into his ties to an oil service company, VECO, headed by a pal who has been convicted of bribery, and the search of Mr. Stevens's house by FBI and IRS agents looking into whether his VECO friend paid for a major remodeling of the place. There have been no charges against Mr. Stevens but also no resolution. So the investigation is hanging over him in this election season.
Not to be outdone, the Republicans' Begich Baggage Web site points out that the anticipated challenger:
• Had his own trouble with the IRS;
• Defaulted on some loans;
• And he ain't Santa Claus.
The eviction — for which the Republicans provide photocopies of court documents on their Web site — happened in 1993. Julie Hasquet, the campaign press secretary, said Begich rented to low-income tenants and "went to every length possible to accommodate" those who fell behind in their rent payments.
"But once in awhile, cases went to court and involved eviction proceedings. In those cases, the judge sets the date by which a tenant must be out of a unit if they have not paid their bill," she said. "Mark had no control over what a judge decided and would certainly never intentionally have someone evicted on Christmas Eve."
A Matter of Timing
The timing of the 1993 case already is a campaign issue.
"Mark Begich has a lot of baggage. We're going to be bringing that out," said Sen. John Ensign of Nevada, who runs the Senate Republicans' campaign arm, the National Republican Senatorial Committee. "He is not the unflawed candidate that Chuck Schumer thought he was getting." (Mr. Schumer is Mr. Ensign's direct rival, in charge of fund-raising and candidate support at the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. The New Yorker helped recruit Mr. Begich to make the run at Mr. Stevens.)
It's hard to imagine a politician more ready for this fight – or any fight, for that matter — than Mr. Stevens.
Last year, when Mr. Stevens became the longest-serving Republican senator in history, colleague Mitch McConnell told a story about the Alaskan losing his temper on the Senate floor while still a freshman in the early 1970s.
Mr. Stevens, the story went, had been promised a vote on an amendment important to Alaska. After the bill moved without it, "Ted ran right up to the chairman and yelled at him right to his face: 'You SOB, you promised me a vote,'" recalled Mr. McConnell, a Kentucky Republican.
Mr. Stevens violated the decorum of the Senate chamber but won his vote.
In 2005, Mr. Stevens was so angry about the defeat of an Alaska drilling measure that he bellowed to his adversaries, "I'm going to go to every one of your states, and I'm going to tell them what you've done. . . . This was wrong."
He singled out Democratic Sen. Maria Cantwell. "I'm sure the senator from Washington is going to enjoy my visits to Washington because I'm going to visit there often," Mr. Stevens said, making an odd and ultimately idle threat.
There are plenty of other tales about Mr. Stevens at his most combative. "Super Extreme Blustery Senator" is the suit of armor Mr. Stevens wears into battle with colleagues who don't sufficiently understand Alaska or the press, or both.
But there's more to the guy, including a decades-long record of using his position to lavish federal spending (remember the "bridge to nowhere"?) on Alaska; a World War II Distinguished Flying Cross; and great devotion to family and close friends.
A Friend in Need
"I am proud to call Ted Stevens my brother," Sen. Daniel K. Inouye of Hawaii has said.
Though he knew it would not serve the goals of his caucus, Mr. Inouye, a Democrat, contributed to the campaign of his Republican friend and even helped with fund-raising.
The complicated, combustible Mr. Stevens is going to need that help and more.
Only 12 of the Senate seats up for election this year are held by Democrats while 23, including five open seats, are held by Republicans.
The Alaska seat is one the Democrats think they can turn over in November , and the early polls show Mr. Stevens slightly trailing his likely general election rival. The party is likely to pour considerable resources into that race along with other top-tier contests, including those in Colorado, New Hampshire, New Mexico and Virginia.
Before Mr. Stevens gets that far, he has to get through an Aug. 26 primary election rematch against David Cuddy, a developer who spent more than $1 million of his own money in an unsuccessful challenge for that seat in 1996.
Then comes the big fight.
Write to Katherine Rizzo at KRizzo@cq.com. |
