McConnell to Stevens: Resign from Senate or be expelled

Politico is reporting that Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell has joined a growing list of senators demanding that Ted Stevens resign from the United States Senate:

"I think he should resign immediately," McConnell said. "If he did not do that ... there is a 100 percent certainty that he would be expelled from the Senate."

The article notes that McConnell, who originally held back from demanding Stevens' resignation, is locked in a "tough reelection fight in Kentucky" (red state Kentucky? Times they are a-changin!)

It appears that McConnell - a former chairman of the Senate Ethics Committee - is finally throwing Stevens under the bus.

GOP Presidential hopeful and Senator John McCain, along with Republican senators Norm Coleman, Jim DeMint, John Sununu and Gordon Smith all called on Stevens to resign on Tuesday. Once McCain demanded that Stevens step down, even Sarah Palin decided to let Stevens sink or swim on his own.

It appears that Senate Republicans are desperately hoping that Alaskans will do the 'dirty work' of getting rid of the inconvenient Stevens problem by electing Democratic candidate and Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich:

While the Senate can expel Stevens, senators are clearly hoping that he saves them from the excruciating and embarrassing task of expelling him – or that Alaska’s voters do it for them when they go to the polls on Tuesday.

"Voters will determine Ted Stevens' fate much more quickly than the Senate could at this point," said one Senate Republican aide. "Should he be reelected, however, he will most certainly face serious and immediate consequences in the 111th Congress."

Another top GOP aide, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said that “the voters in Alaska will be the judge and jury” in deciding Stevens’ fate at this time, not his Senate colleagues.