Sen. Ted Stevens (R) of Alaska has been indicted on seven felony counts.  The charges stem from a year-long investigation into his relationship with the businessman, Bill J. Allen, who renovated his home.  Apparently the Senator “failed to report “things of value” that he received in connection with his home in the ski resort city of Girdwood, about 40 miles south of Anchorage,” according to the New York Times, in the span between 1999 and 2007.  Mr. Allen pleaded guilty in 2007 to charges of making $243,000 in illegal payments (read: bribes) to a politician who happens to be Ben Stevens, a state senator and son of Ted Stevens. It would seem that the sins of our fathers are two-way streets.  Politico lays it out quite succinctly:

At the center of the scandal is VECO, an oil services firm that also did hundreds of thousands in renovations to Stevens’ home, then asked him for official Senate actions on their behalf.

This certainly does not bode well for Sen. Stevens. Anchorage mayor Mark Begich (D) has been running very close to Stevens throughout this race, and is sure to pick up a great deal of steam after this revelation.  The calls from Republicans for Sen. Stevens to resign have already begun:

This is one seat that should stay in Republican hands. It will not, however, if Ted Stevens decides to hang on.

For the longest time Ted Stevens has done all things for the good of Ted Stevens. Now is the time for him to fall on his sword and take one for the GOP team.

Ted Stevens must resign.

If Stevens decides to carry on through November, this seat will almost certainly go to Begich, adding to the number of improbable Democratic freshmen from red states who will likely be filling Stevens’ old offices come January.

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