The latest count shows Begich with 138,959 votes to 137,937 for Stevens. Alaskan Independence Party candidate Bob Bird is in third place with 12,144 votes, followed by Libertarian David Haase and nonpartisan Ted Gianoutsos. Full Story »
Posted by Ben Ross
A source for numbers of ballots outstanding to be counted is not provided, and this seems to be the crux of the story. There are 24,000 votes outstanding yet the opening statement in the article is "Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens is in grave danger of losing re-election after Mark Begich widened his lead to 1,022 votes Friday." This seems at odds with the story's subtitle: "MARGIN IS 1,022 VOTES: With 24,000 ballots left, no one's getting excited." All in all, average reporting.
This seems biased to me. The authors intent seems to be that Stevens has given up. Most campaign offices close up and the signs come down the day after the election. Other than providing some color to the story, I’m not sure why this paragraph is in the story.