Congressional Wire: Palin Choice Boosts Stevens
07 September 2008 5:00 am by Taylor Marsh
Guest post by Scott Hopkins
A consequence of the Palin choice that is rarely mentioned is the effect it will have on the Senate race there between Ted “Tubes” Stevens and Anchorage mayor Mark Begich. With the primaries over, and Alaska Republicans choosing Stevens again despite that pesky corruption indictment…the prospect of getting rid of Mr. Bridge to Nowhere was becoming more and more realistic.
Then Palin happened.
A 56-39 lead for Begich seen earlier this month has suddenly been reduced to 49-46 in the latest poll.
Gag me with a spoon. This is a big shift in just three weeks, down from a 17 point Begich lead then to just 3 points now. Begich’s positive rating dropped from 65% down to 57%, while Stevens improved from 46% to 50%. It’s a new paradigm.
Gag me with a spoon? Their words, not mine, but I understand what they are saying.
Say what you want about Palin, but she’s very popular in her home state, and with her on the ticket Obama now has zero chance of pulling off an upset there. Even if she fails to endorse him, Stevens’ odds of holding onto his seat just got a lot better thanks to her coattails.
Begich is still in a good position to make sure that doesn’t happen, but the road just got rougher thanks to the addition of the rarely-seen Alaskan barracuda to McCain’s ticket.
Take action via the Internet tubes at Mark Begich for U.S. Senate and the Begich ActBlue page.
