Forget the trial, is Ted Stevens making a comeback? The Senate's longest-serving Republican is clawing back, a new poll out this week suggests. The Ivan Moore Research (D) poll, conducted 9/20-22, surveyed 500 registered voters for a margin of error of +/- 4.4%. Stevens and Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich were tested.

General Election Matchup
Begich........48 (-1 from last, 9/2)
Stevens.......46 (no change)

That margin is about the same as the last poll Moore conducted, marking a dramatic comeback from this summer when Begich, the Democratic nominee, led Stevens by 17 points.

Moore also surveyed the state's House race, and again, Republican Don Young is catching up to Democratic former state Rep. Ethan Berkowitz.

General Election Matchup
Berkowitz....49 (-5 from last, 9/2)
Young........45 (+8)

Even as Stevens started to close the gap earlier this month, Young remained 17 points down in the September 2 survey. Could it be the Sarah Palin effect in Alaska? A Republican oversample? Or could it be, as Moore suggests, that Berkowitz and Begich need to start proving they could fill Young's and Stevens' shoes if they were sent to Washington?