Palin Staying Quiet On Endorsing Stevens For Reelection

[DogPoundPup]

Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin is not saying whether she will vote in November to send the indicted Ted Stevens back to the Senate for a seventh full term.

The indictment has put Sen. John McCain’s (R-Ariz.) running mate in a tricky position. If Palin endorses Stevens, it will appear that she is undermining her message of taking on the GOP establishment and cleaning up corruption in her state. But should the popular governor oppose his reelection, it could deliver a blow to Stevens’s campaign and give Democrats ammunition as they try to pick up one more Senate seat.

Palin’s spokesmen in the McCain campaign have not responded to several inquiries seeking comment on the governor’s position on Stevens. A spokesman for the McCain campaign told the Alaska-based Peninsula Clarion that Palin has yet to endorse Stevens, the paper reported on its website Friday.

Stevens has pleaded not guilty to seven counts of concealing more than $250,000 of gifts from a now-defunct oil-services company. The trial is slated to begin later this month and could conclude before Election Day.

Democrats in the state are trying to make an issue out of Palin’s wavering approach to Stevens.

“Gov. Palin can’t have it both ways,” said Bethany Lesser, spokeswoman for the Alaska Democratic Party. “Palin claims to spearhead reform in Alaska, rooting out corruption. But so far she has stood steadfast by indicted Sen. Stevens’s side. Alaskans and the nation deserve to know once and for all – where does Palin stand on Stevens for Senate?”

Aaron Saunders, a spokesman for the Stevens campaign, said the governor and senator have had a “strong working relationship for many years.”

“They have been supportive of each other’s past campaigns and we fully expect that to continue this fall,” Saunders said. He added that the Alaska Democratic Party is “clearly panicking” after seeing the latest poll numbers and is resorting to “desperate, nasty attacks.”
http://thehill.com/leading-the-news/palin-mum-on-endorsing-stevens-2008-09-05.html

[texastoast]

1. Can we get the nutter from the north to talk

So slimy already.

[livetohike]

2. So many good stories. I'll bet the journalists who are just getting

to work on the ground don't know where to start.