BernieHund: The Political Watchdog

Breaking news reports that Senator Ted Stevens (R) of Alaska has been convicted of seven counts of failing to report approximately $250,000 of gifts and renovations on his house. This could end his forty year run of serving in the Senate. Uncle Ted may be facing jail time.

It goes without saying that an appeal is in the making.

According to the New York Times

A federal jury of eight women and four men from the District of Columbia found that the 84-year-old Republican, who has represented Alaska in the Senate for more than 40 years, knowingly failed to list on Senate disclosure forms the receipt of several gifts and tens of thousands of dollars worth of remodeling work on his home in Girdwood, Alaska.The verdict came after more than three weeks of testimony, the highlight of which was Mr. Stevens making the calculated risk of taking the witness stand in his own defense.

Senator Stevens is up for re-election on November 4, 2008. With a conviction staring him in the face, it is questionable as to whether Senator Stevens will be re-elected. The maximum sentence for each of the seven charges is 5 years per charge. However, at his age it is doubtful that he will get the book thrown at him. And, once again, there is the appeals process.

Of course, the Senate, even if Stevens is re-elected can expell him from the halls of the Capitol by a two-thirds vote of the entire Senate. Even if Senator Stevens is re-elected and becomes involved in a drawn out appeal of his convictions, he may still lose his seat.

Stevens has been well loved in Alaska where he has brought home the bacon, in the form of earmarks and pork barrel spending for decades. In fact, friendly Alaskans refer to Senator Stevens as Uncle Ted.