Ted and Dianne

I highly doubt that Ted Stevens and Dianne Wilkerson have ever met. The powerful, 40-year Alaska and former Appropriations Committee chairman and the plucky Massachusetts state senator from the rough Roxbury neighborhood in Boston could not have less in common personally. But politically, I think that these two are soulmates.

We all know Ted's story. His house was raided by the FBI, and his response was to delcare for re-election and announce that he was not even worried about his chances. Now, he is refusing to resign or give up his campaign in the face of seven guilty verdicts on federal corruption charges. Dianne? Well, her behavior pretty much mirrors Stevens' except she has not been convicted yet (a mere formality). Despite being arrested by the feds on bribery allegations -- charges which are substantiated by undercover tapes of her taking wads of cash and stuffing them into her bra -- she remains resolute, and has rejected calls for her to resign for the Massachusetts State Senate. She has even vowed to keep pushing her write-in campaign to the Senate -- she was ousted in September in the Democratic primary -- much like Ted's campaign this year.

Talk about the right stuff. Someone should introduce Ted and Dianne to each other. I have no idea which of them is more entitled to the award for political chutzpah and hubris. Together, the Alaska Republican and the Boston Democrat prove that corruption and arrogance cross all political, social, economic and racial lines.