Ted Stevens on the Ropes

It's been a disappointing week in firsts for Alaskan Republicans. After Sarah Palin failed to become the first woman elected to the vice presidency, it's appearing as though Ted Stevens will fail in his bid to become the first convicted felon elected to the Senate. In the race for Stevens' Senate seat, Democratic challenger Mark Begich has taken an 814-vote lead. Begich was trailing by about 3,000 after election night, but the tallying of 60,000 absentee ballots pushed him ahead. The state still needs to count 25,000 absentees and 15,000 questioned ballots. According to the liberal blog Daily Kos, most of those ballots come from Begich-friendly districts.