STEVENS LIVES TO SEE ANOTHER DAY — FOR NOW…. Both Senate caucuses got together this morning for meetings that would help decide the fate of two long-time senators. For Democrats, that meant voting on Joe Lieberman’s future and his committee chairmanship. For Republicans, it was a scheduled vote on whether convicted felon Ted Stevens remained in the GOP caucus.
The good news for Stevens is that vote has been postponed. The bad news for Stevens is that the reprieve is temporary.
Sen. Jim DeMint (S.C.) said Tuesday he will hold off on pushing to expel embattled Sen. Ted Stevens (Alaska) from the GOP Conference until after the outcome of his colleague’s re-election to another Senate term is known.
But DeMint said he has the support to boot Stevens — recently convicted on seven felony counts — from the Republican ranks.
“After talking with many of my colleagues, it’s clear there are sufficient votes to pass the resolution regarding Senator Stevens. The question now is timing,” DeMint said. “Some who support the resolution believe we should address this after the results of his election are confirmed in Alaska. For this reason, I will ask the Conference to postpone the vote on Senator Stevens until Thursday.”
This isn’t much of a victory for Stevens. Sure, if DeMint’s motion had passed, and Stevens were booted from the Republican ranks, it would have been humiliating. But the vote was delayed because everyone believes Stevens is going to lose his re-election bid anyway, making the vote pointless.
Either way, Stevens has no future. Either he loses in Alaska — where Stevens currently trails by 1,022 votes — or he loses in the Senate.
