With ’06 Lt. Governor nominee and former State House Minority Leader Ethan Berkowitz now in the race to take out Rep. Don Young, there’s pretty much one guy on the Democratic bench in Alaska that could make a race against the scandal-haunted internet guru and Senator Ted Stevens: Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich.
Begich swung by Washington, DC recently and received the full court press from DSCC Chuck Schumer and six other Senators:
Begich recently spent a day in Washington, D.C., meeting with seven U.S. senators, including Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada, Finance Chairman Max Baucus of Montana, and Chairman of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee Chuck Schumer of New York.Begich told The Associated Press that meetings lasted at least 30 minutes with each senator. He said each lawmaker urged him to take on Stevens, who has held office since 1968.
Begich, 45, said he hasn’t yet accepted the challenge.
“It’s humbling in a lot of ways because these meetings were not an in-and-out shuffle,” he said. “Their message was clear: They would love for me to serve in the U.S. Senate.
“As the day progressed, it closed out with Reid and Schumer, and it was a hard sell at that point.”
Begich has been procrastinating on committing to the race, but it appears that Senate Democrats are pulling out all the stops to get him to enter the fray. What could be next? A weekend ski trip with Bill Clinton?
(H/T: S2G)
This would be SO sweet. Senile senator tubes in the middle of a corruption probe running against the most popular Democrat in the state. What a year it would be to elect a Democrat to the senate from Alaska.
I love Schumer’s committment to getting the best candidates possible… It’s something we could all appreciate a little more.
-Begich
Is he saying there job was hard because he was turned off by the idea of running? Or…It was hard to turn them down? Anyone think they understand what he’s saying better than me care to chime in?
Thanks. There’s my 2 cents. We need Stevens to go down, and Begich is probably the only one who could do it.
I get the feeling Stevens is going to do the bait and switch. If he looks safe until he has 2-3 days to file, and Begich jumps in, it could catch his potential replacements off guard or force Stevens to run for re-election.
Alaska is cheap. 3 million can fund a campaign there for 3 months. Begich can wait, Stevens can’t.
I think Begich has made up his mind, otherwise Berkowitz would not have jumped in against Young. Begich is pressuring Stevens to run for re-election by not filing this soon. It’s good for us.