Poor Ted Stevens:

Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens dropped further behind Democrat Mark Begich in his re-election bid Tuesday as the convicted felon’s 85th birthday became a grueling wait that could determine whether his decades-long hold on power is over.

The longest-serving Republican in the history of the Senate trailed the Anchorage mayor by 2,374 votes out of 290,198 counted as election officials continued tallying absentee and other ballots. Begich had led by about 1,000 votes before Tuesday’s count.

Things are looking very good for Begich. Every time new numbers come out of Alaska, he moves further out in the lead.