Washington: As the Republican party has been struggling to retain ground in the White House race, the Grand Old Party is making its last ditch effort to protect its credibility by putting pressure on Senator Ted Stevens, who was convicted for corruption, to step down.
The tough call on Stevens came from the party s presidential nominee John McCain and his running mate Sarah Palin, who belongs to Alaska, home state of the felon Senator.
"... (it is a) sad day for Alaska yesterday when he was found guilty of seven felonies. But now he needs to do the right thing," remarked Governor Palin in an interview.
"He needs to step aside and allow our state to elect someone who will be supportive of those ideals of America, the free enterprise, the mission that we re on to win the war. Those things that have got to take place in order to progress this country," she said, adding, "Ted Stevens has got to play a very statesmanlike role in this."
Asked if he has asked him to step down, Senator John McCain replied, "he should, yes".
The 84-year old Stevens was convicted on seven counts of failure to disclose receipt of gifts and other expensive renovations worth USD 250,000 by making false statements on his financial disclosure forms.
But the longest serving Republican has insisted that he is innocent and has been asking his colleagues to support him.
"It is a sign of the health of our democracy that the people continue to hold their representatives to account for improper or illegal conduct. But this verdict is also a sign of the corruption and insider dealing that has become so pervasive in our nations capital," Senator McCain said.
