No Need to Clean Up After the Mud Was Thrown?

If it annoys lefties, it must be good for our country:

Alaska Republicans call for new Senate election

By DAN JOLING – 4 hours ago

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — The Alaska Republican Party on Thursday called on Democratic Sen. Mark Begich to resign in light of the now-abandoned federal convictions that had crippled his GOP opponent, Ted Stevens, in last year's election. Begich rejected the idea and even his Republican colleague said what's done is done.

State Republican Party Chairman Randy Ruedrich said Begich should step down to allow for a special election so Alaskans could vote without the "improper influence of the corrupt Department of Justice."

Republican Gov. Sarah Palin immediately endorsed the idea.

"I absolutely agree," she said in a statement released by a spokeswoman Megan Stapleton of SarahPAC, Palin's political action committee.

Stevens, 85, the longest-serving Republican in U.S. Senate history, was convicted of seven felony counts a week before the November election.

Jurors found that he lied on Senate financial disclosure forms to conceal hundreds of thousands of dollars in gifts and home renovations from a wealthy oil contractor, but on Wednesday the Department of Justice announced it would dismiss the indictment against Stevens because prosecutors mishandled the case. Prosecutors have decided that a new trial would be inappropriate.

Even with the convictions, Stevens lost to Begich by less than 4,000 votes.

Begich, the former mayor of Anchorage, said he intends to serve his six-year term.

"I got into the Senate race long before Senator Stevens' legal troubles began because Alaskans were looking for a change and a senator as independent as Alaska," Begich said in a statement released by his office. "Today, with our country in a severe recession, it's more important than ever that we have a senator focused on fixing our economy so Alaskans have the jobs they need to support their families."