Two figures in the Stevens story highlight the Republican Party of the past and its promise of the future. Alaska voters should have kicked Stevens out. Had his defeat given Democrats the 60 votes they need in the Senate to run roughshod over the opposition, I’d not have objected. Too bad he didn’t have the grace to resign after he was convicted of lying about accepting home improvements without paying for them.

He’s the past. One of the GOP’s rising stars, U.S. Sen. Jim DeMint of South Carolina, stood tall in moving to expel Stevens from the GOP conference and stripping him of choice committee assignments on Appropriations and on Commerce had he won. Until the absentee ballots from Anchorage were counted, it appeared he had.

DeMint held off at the behest of colleagues who urged him to wait until Stevens had actually been reelected before sanctioning him. Now he’s gone anyway. Good riddance.

DeMint is as conservative as Barack Obama and Joe Biden are liberal, according to the National Journal. Obama ranked #1 and Biden #3 as most liberal in 2007. DeMint ranked #1 as most conservative.

Before conservatives can sell their ideas they have to first establish their credibility. Being just another ethically-challenged politician out to loot the treasury for the home crowd — the Ted Stevens model — doesn’t fly anymore. That’s the model that grows and corrupts government.