Sen. Ted Stevens Found Guilty

From The Washington Post:

Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens has been convicted of lying about free home renovations and other gifts he received from a wealthy oil contractor. The Senate's longest-serving Republican, Stevens was found guilty on all seven counts of making false statements on Senate financial documents.

The verdict throws the upcoming election into disarray. Stevens is fighting off a challenge from Democrat Mark Begich and must now either drop out or continue campaigning as a convicted felon. * * *

With regard to the local Senate race, I just heard something interesting: a friend of mine went into the Obama Campaign office here in town and asked the guy there why they weren't sent to Nevada or some other battleground state. His response was that they are still in place in this blue state in order to help Jeff Merkley get elected to the Senate.

And by the way, this stuff about Palin is pretty interesting:

[T]wo sources, one Palin associate and one McCain adviser, defended the decision to keep her media interaction limited after she was picked, both saying flatly that she was not ready and that the missteps could have been a lot worse.

They insisted that she needed time to be briefed on national and international issues and on McCain's record.

"Her lack of fundamental understanding of some key issues was dramatic," said another McCain source with direct knowledge of the process to prepare Palin after she was picked. The source said it was probably the "hardest" to get her "up to speed than any candidate in history."

I have no doubt that some folks in the McCain Campaign will attempt to blame Palin if McCain loses. I find that hilarious.