Ted Stevens begs his colleagues not to expel him from the Senate.

Convicted Sen. Ted Stevens (R-Alaska), facing possible expulsion from the Republican Conference next week, is contacting his Republican colleagues and urging them "to give him a chance" and hold off on any such vote until his legal appeal is resolved.

Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) has publicly declared that he will offer a motion next Tuesday to kick Stevens out of the Republican Conference, thus stripping him off his committee assignments.

But Stevens has been calling his GOP leaders and other colleagues urging them to hold off, according to GOP sources. In private conversations, Stevens is assuring his fellow Republicans that he will step down if he loses his appeal, but in the meantime, he wants them to hold off on kicking him out of the Republican Conference.

"There is not a lot of support for DeMint right now," said an aide to one Senate Republican who has spoken with Stevens. "I think members are taking a wait-and-see attitude."

Stevens, the longest-serving Republican in Senate history, was convicted on Oct. 27 on seven counts of failing to report more than $250,000 in improper gifts. Despite the conviction, Stevens has maintained his innocence and refused to resign from the Senate.

This is starting to border on pathetic.

I have no idea why the Republicans would hesitate to expel Stevens from the Senate. Even if he wins this election, he will surely lose his appeal and end up in jail. Don't forget he was found guilty on ALL SEVEN CHARGES.

In that case Alaska must hold a special election within 90 days, and it is a given that Mark Begich will emerge victorious. (Despite the fears of some of the Democrats up here.)

If he loses this election then he gets replaced by Mark Begich now, and the Republicans miss an opportunity to show they do not accept criminals in their party. If they fail to kick Stevens lose, they will essentially show their willingness to allow felons to join them.

Considering the number of Republicans, both in and out of Alaska, that have been convicted of a crime or are the subject of ongoing investigations you would think the Republicans would waste no time in trying to create distance between their party and convicted felon Ted Stevens.

But hey, that is just me.