New 10:15 a.m.

Stevens should ignore
Palin's foolish call

WHAT IN THE world was Sarah Palin thinking when she smiled sweetly into the news cameras and said Sen. Ted Stevens should resign?

Stevens, convicted this week in federal court in Washington, D.C., in a trial that raised eyebrows because of its screwups, has vowed to continue his campaign for re-election and pursue his appeals.

It seems every struggling politician, including Palin, who wants to make headlines now is lining up to climb on the “Ted should step aside” bandwagon. The problem? Palin should know better.

If Stevens were to step aside, Democrat Mark Begich surely would be elected. That would give Democrats . . .

(cont'd from front page) another soldier in their march toward a filibuster-proof Senate, perhaps the only one needed to give the liberals total control. In turn, that spells disaster not only for Alaska — for resource development, any environmental agenda that comes down the pike, for hunting — but for the nation as a whole.

Everybody would be better off if Stevens kept campaigning and stayed on the job. If he is unsuccessful in his appeals, he can resign and Alaskans will vote to replace him during a special election. If he did what the lovely Sarah P. and her cronies want, Alaska would be saddled with Begich.

You would think she would know all that and care more about her state’s future.