Apparently, Brock Olivo did not do well in social studies class. And presumably, he was even worse in history.

Asked to name his favorite of the Founding Fathers, our favorite former football star turned heinously awkward political candidate has a terrific answer:

"Abraham Lincoln".

In his defense, another candidate said "Ronald Reagan", an answer in which I am really trying to see the funny side. Even Brock himself didn't name Reagan as his fave founder (although to be fair, he almost did).

The Repubs actually have two serious candidates, Bob Onder and Blaine Luetkemeyer, and they better be praying with all their might that they don't split the vote and enable one of these two maroons to win the primary.

Race tracker wiki: MO-09

Lots of news today.

NM-Sen: So far, everything has come up Milhouse for Tom Udall; he has substantial polling leads and a significant cash advantage over Republican Steve Pearce.

Get ready for a round of negative ads from Pearce...and, it seems, from shadowy Big Oil groups. NM FBIHOP reports:

The American Energy Alliance, a group with no website, no online FEC filings and no IRS filings, has started airing ads blasting Tom Udall for not wanting to drill anywhere and everywhere.

...

An excerpt: "The U.S. is sitting on top of vast untapped oil reserves, estimated at about 2 trillion barrels, enough oil to last us for 300 years."

This is complete bullshit.  Even Saudi Arabia doesn't have 2 trillion barrels; they have about a quarter of that in their reserves.

Who are these guys? They're the American Energy Association, a group with no real profile since 1996:

A September 13, 1996 Washington Post article described the group as "a coalition of the National Association of Manufacturers, American Petroleum Institute and Edison Electric Institute."  Hmm... wonder what their agenda on wanting more drilling could possibly be.  

Steve Pearce can't afford to close the gap between himself and Udall. He hasn't the resources, nor the likability. So it will be left to third-party organizations, here and elsewhere, to do the Republicans' jobs for them.

NC-Sen: DSCC chair Chuck Schumer loves Kay Hagan:

Schumer confirmed the DSCC has committed millions of dollars to advertising for Hagan and said the organization is setting up an "extensive" on-the-ground field network of staff on Hagan's behalf.

"That shows our commitment," Schumer said. He would not go into further details.

The Chairman was so bold as to say:

"Kay Hagan's on fire," Schumer said. "She's doing great. That's a seat we’re real strong in."

And even though North Carolina isn't a state in which Democrats are ahead, Schumer made a prediction about Hagan: "She's going to win," he said.

She very well might.

KS-Sen: Pat Roberts certainly seems to think he's in some danger; he's out with his fifth ad of the cycle.

This one is especially weak. It hits Democrat Jim Slattery for a weak attendance record in Congress in 1994, his last year...conveniently ignoring that Slattery was in Kansas running for Governor in 1994.

Nice one, Pat Roberts.  

Meanwhile, Slattery's latest ad hits the Republican incumbent Roberts on gas prices:

MN-Sen: A Rasmussen poll shows Al Franken and Norm Coleman deadlocked in Minnesota:  

Franken recently shook up his campaign staff, and has taken a harder edge against Coleman in recent ads. Coleman, for his part, has responded in kind with his latest ad, entitled "Crazy Porn", which alleges that Franken was responsible for, well, writing crazy porn.

Things are better for Franken then they were even a few weeks ago, but beating Norm Coleman is not going to be easy. It never was.

House Races

NH-02, NH-02: Take these polls with a boatload of salt, but here are the UNH polling numbers for New Hampshire's Congressional districts. In NH-01:

And in NH-02:

MissLaura has serious reservations about the partisan sampling used in UNH polls (they certainly missed the boat badly in polling these races in 2006). So take these polls for what they're worth, which is not a lot.

They do underscore two fundamental truths; Hodes is pretty safe, and Shea-Porter has work to do. That said, I think she'd win if the election were held today.

However, this is a very bad race about which to be complacent; Cook Political Report just moved the race to "Tossup" from "Leans Democratic", indicating the concern around Shea-Porter's reelection bid.

NC-10: Despite hanging in an R+15 district, everybody's favorite young wingnut, Republican Patty McHenry, is in fear for his political life.

Facing a remarkably talented opponent in Democrat Dan Johnson, McHenry was on the verge of trailing in fundraising for the second quarter. So rather than suffer this embarrassment, our man McHenry decided to loan his own campaign $170,000, for good-PR purposes.

I think it's safe to say he's feeling some electoral pressure from Johnson this year.

NM-02: Well, this is intriguing; both Democrat Harry Teague and Republican Ed Tinsley sacked their campaign managers.

This begs the question: who's winning?

Republican Ed Tinsley’s campaign already has a new manager. Chris Collins, who managed Heather Wilson’s unsuccessful primary bid for U.S. Senate, has taken over for Grant Hewitt, who is now deputy campaign manager. Meanwhile, Democrat Harry Teague has fired former campaign manager Brad Foster, who has not yet been replaced.

"We wish Brad well. He did a fine job on the campaign, but looking forward we had a difference of opinion about how to run the campaign," said Teague communications director Alex Cole.

Collins, meanwhile, pointed out that Hewitt is still on Tinsley’s staff and coordinating political activities.

"Grant did a terrific job managing the primary effort. Ed won by 10 points. Now we are shifting gears into the general," said Collins, who is also a former staffer for Sen. Pete Domenici. "... I came on board as an extra set of hands to help out with some of the management and organizational work. We have added several new staff in the last couple of weeks. Everybody is working hard to make sure Ed Tinsley is elected to Congress."

The district is about R+6, but Teague has been a surprisingly strong candidate so far. Hopefully he takes care of this staff shakeup shortly, and can pull off the upset in New Mexico's 2nd.

KS-04: Democratic candidate Donald Betts, a young State Senator looking to oust incumbent Todd Tiahrt in this Wichita-based district, liveblogged today at Future Majority.

NV-02, NV-03: Republican Dean Heller is running push-polls in Neavda against his Democratic opponent, Jill Derby.

I had the entertaining experience of listening in on a telephone poll this evening. It started out reasonably enough, asking the poll-taker's opinion of President Bush and whether he will vote for the Democrat or Republican in the congressional race. But the bias quickly became apparent.

The caller asked about U.S. Rep. Dean Heller's ability "to get things done" and his willingness to put constituents' interests over partisan politics. She asked if Heller is "one of us" sharing the same experiences, "worries and hope for the future."

Listing a number of positions, the caller asked if one was more or less likely to vote for Heller for his proven ability to work on a bipartisan basis, his support of English-only ballots, his fight against wasteful spending and his work to secure funding for DNA testing. My favorite: Heller "knows you can't haul supplies with a hybrid" and that "we need pick up trucks."

The pollster then switched her focus to Heller's Democratic opponent Jill Derby. According to the pollster, Derby is a career politician. She wasted $85,000 of taxpayer money on "worthless junkets" while on the Board of Regents (at one point the pollster said $85 million). She's bragged about national liberal groups funding her campaign. And she supports taxpayer funding of health care for illegal immigrants.

Yup, sounds awfully pushy to me.

Meanwhile, in the Third District, there's better news: The Cook Political Report has moved the race, pitting incumbent Rep. Jon Porter against State Sen. Dina Titus, from "Lean Republican" to "Toss Up".

OH-16: This is a web ad from Democrat John Boccieri. I wish to hell this was on regular airwaves.

MI-07: Patriot Majority Midwest is running an ad hitting Republican Tim Walberg for being the only member of the House Education and Labor Committee to vote against reauthorizing Head Start.

Here's the ad:

Meanwhile, via press release, Democratic candidate Mark Schauer had a record fundraising quarter for a Democrat in the district.

BATTLE CREEK—Today State Senator Mark Schauer (D-Battle Creek) announced that his Congressional campaign raised more than $427,000 in the second quarter, which breaks the previous fundraising record he set earlier this year for the most money raised by a Democrat in the 7th district. Combined with the last quarter when he outraised his incumbent opponent, Schauer has now brought in more than $1.33 million and has more than $928,000 cash on hand.

Impressive.

This Essay is #2 of 3 written by George about his opponent, Doc Hastings.  For more about George and his campaign for Congress, visit his site here.  If you live in the 4th Congressional District, don't forget to vote for George in the August 19th Primary!

-------

In 1996, Jack Abramoff, then a member of Preston Gates Ellis & Rouvelas Meeds, targeted my Congressman, Doc Hastings, for lobbying, while Hastings served on the House Natural Resources Committee. [1] Abramoff, and his team of lobbyists, then represented the Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas, a South Pacific territory of the United States. [2] Abramoff’s firm received millions for its lobbying efforts on behalf of the Commonwealth. [3]

My Dad, an extremely wise man, who went from being a ditch digger out of high school to becoming a successful small businessman, has a favorite phrase, "Do Something!" Throughout my life, from the football fields and wrestling mats of my youth to the classrooms and stumps of the present, I have heard the exhortation, "Do Something!" I've been thinking a lot about this lately. Everyday, while talking to people, either at their doors or at a local fair, I hear the same story. People are worried, frustrated, and angry about gas prices, the economy, the Iraq War, and health insurance. Gas, food, and health-care costs are going through the roof, people (rightly) are cutting back, people are losing homes due to foreclosure, job layoffs are just beginning to be announced, and winter is just over the horizon...Congress, meanwhile, does nothing.

I know it's considered gauche to pimp out your own blog, but I only registered it, what, a day ago, so it's not like you can read anything at samethreechords.blogspot.com, even though it's there and I am very good looking.

In Kos's otherwise great post yesterday about Joe Garcia and the South Florida Cuban exile community, I was a little bothered, as a proud Democrat, South Floridian, and Cuban American, by some of the wording. It's not you, it's me.

In 2005, Alabama Congressman Mike Rogers (AL-03) cast the deciding vote on CAFTA as he changed his mind at the last minute after consulting a CEO of a company in his district (also a large donor to his campaigns).

Unfortunately, thousands of sock and apparel jobs have left the districts of those that voted for CAFTA. Many of those also were last minute votes.

This vote is not lost on Josh Segall who is challenging Rogers this fall. In fact this could be one of the deciding factors for voters in this district.

At Ryan for Kentucky, we believe that the playing field has been tilted against working families for far too long. My whole life, it seems that war has been waged on union workers and workers attempting to form new unions. I have witnessed this personally in a union fight. Although initially, 80% of the workers at our warehouse signed on to become union, the long process allowed the company to come in and "behind the scenes" peel off these votes. How? By turning worker against worker. Promising promotion of certain workers, and higher wages and more benefits if the union failed.

Columbia Street in Albany is one of those modern marvels of urban transportation.  It's one of those streets that becomes a one way street in one direction and then in a different one.  And a different one.  I was wondering how I was to find Congressional candidate Tracey Brooks's campaign headquarters...

...in a torrential downpour, that is.  For those who aren't film buffs, rain symbolizes change.  Which is the big word in all 2008 elections.  This includes the 21st Congressional District of New York where Tracey Brooks is one of five Democrats seeking to replace a Democratic veteran of two decades.

In the interview below the fold, Tracey goes deeper into her life's story and experience than ever before, and faces questions that may be the closest any candidate in the race gets to Hardball.  Campaigns themselves can be an obstacle course, as can an interview, but as she says in the interview below:

"Never have I faced anything with an obstacle perspective, but rather a can-do, will-do, must-do perspective...just like we have approached this race."

Barack Obama isn't the only one facing the dirtiest of race-baiting attacks this cycle.

Rep. Mark Kirk, locked in the race of his life with Orange to Blue candidate Dan Seals, has already made several highly controversial statements about Democratic candidates this cycle, most notably this one (emphasis added):

DON WADE: In fact, yesterday in a conference call, Barack Obama's advisers were asked, "If Osama bin Laden were caught, should he get to challenge his detention in U.S. courts?" And the advisers said that -- should that right to challenge detention that they get at Gitmo based on the Supreme Court ruling, should that be applied to bin Laden? -- and Obama's advisers said, "Yes."

KIRK: Yeah, and I would much rather have a policy where if we see Obama there's a shoot-on-sight order.

DON WADE: Well, okay. I'm with you, but I don't know whether that's going to make 67 -- well it might --

ROMA: I don't think Osama bin Laden -- no one ever sights him.

Kirk apologized to Senator Obama for the alleged mix-up. But he's back to making underhanded, oh-so-subtle statements about Democrats, this time about Dan Seals himself.

The Kirk campaign is going after Seals for being "unemployed".

"After losing his bid for Congress, Seals did not return to GE Finance and was unemployed," according to a Kirk campaign memo out last week. "Near the end of the 2006 campaign, Seals paid himself $25,000 out of his campaign donor funds — an act that is legal but strongly discouraging to donors ... in May, Seals filed his 2008 financial disclosure with the U.S. House showing only $3,300 in earned income through the first quarter of the year."

Unemployed? Seals has been working as a business consultant and lecturer at Northwestern University.

Most candidates for Congress take at least a leave of absence from work to focus on their campaigns, especially campaigns as hotly contested as this one. This is hardly a secret. Candidates frequently sacrifice promising careers out of a commitment to public service; praise to those who do.

Heaven forbid we actually have candidates for office who put public service ahead of their own personal gain. I understand why that concept may be foreign to Republicans, but still.

Regardless of the stupidity and irrelevance of the quote, it is wildly inaccurate, as the Seals campaign pointed out:

But Seals’ campaign said in a new memo distributed Monday that the incumbent is resorting "to demeaning and untruthful smears" reminiscent of slash-and-burn GOP operative Karl Rove.

"Mark Kirk entirely overlooks the fact that Dan Seals has worked as a business consultant and lecturer at Northwestern since 2006 and that Seals’ wife serves in a senior level corporate position," the Seals campaign memo states. "So the question is, what does Mark Kirk find so objectionable that the Seals family, like many families in the 10th district have two working parents?"

"It is this out-of-touch mentality that has guided Kirk’s votes against economic relief for hard-hit families and also driven Seals to devote himself full-time to campaigning, because now more than ever change is needed in Washington," the memo continues.

So why on earth would the Kirk campaign seek to target Seals as "unemployed", given the fact that it isn't true?

Why would they think that dog would hunt, given Seals' stellar professional and educational resume? In addition to his consulting work and teaching at Northwestern, Seals has worked as an English teacher and Senate aide, worked in marketing at Sprint and GE Finance, and holds degrees from Boston University, Johns Hopkins, and the University of Chicago.

Who do they think they're kidding with the "unemployed" line? Who do they think would buy the idea of Dan Seals as a freeloader?

Please tell me it doesn't have anything to do with Seals being African-American, running in an affluent white district.

Because if it does, Kirk is guilty of engaging in the most shameful and vile brand of politics imaginable.

On the web:
Dan Seals for Congress
Orange to Blue ActBlue Page

Race tracker wiki: IL-10

I'm very excited to announce that Swing State Project has upgraded Josh Zeitz's vigorous challenge to Republican and anti-choice House caucus chair Chris Smith. The NJ-04 race has now been dubbed a 'Race to Watch' by the well-respected site.

Blue Jersey has also reported on the upgrade.

In NJ-4, Josh Zeitz got some welcome news as his race has been added to the list of Races to watch. This will certainly be good for the Zeitz campaign as they try to keep up the momentum they've been building.  It's also good to see the continuing expansion of the playing field.

We at the campaign are hopeful that you'll join in the momentum (Josh-mentum?-just kidding). Please come to Josh's website and consider making a contribution. You can also contact ian_at_joshzeitz_dot_com if you want to volunteer. Please do recommend this diary so that we can get the news out.

CO-Sen: After a series of polls showing Democrat Mark Udall with a 9-10 point lead over Republican Bob Schaffer, here's the first one in a while showing a closer race. From Rasmussen:  

Udall isn't likely to win by 12-15 points, or anything like that. Despite myriad missteps and scandals from Schaffer, and despite a solid campaign for Udall so far, this race is far from over. Nevertheless, the edge is Udall's, and has been since the race began.

NC-Sen: Elizabeth Dole's rather shocking attempt to get the high-profile AIDS relief bill named after her predecessor, the late Sen. Jesse Helms, has gone up in smoke.

Sen. Elizabeth Dole, R-N.C., introduced an amendment to add Helms, the N.C. Republican who died July 4, to the title of a $48billion bill passed Wednesday in the Senate that triples spending for a much-acclaimed program that has treated and protected millions in Africa and elsewhere from the scourges of AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis.

Her measure, though, didn't get a vote. The legislation was already named after two other lawmakers who fought against the spread of AIDS, former Reps. Henry Hyde, R-Ill., and Tom Lantos, D-Calif.

Dole's amendment came as a surprise, of course, because Helms spent a good bit of his life attacking AIDS victims:

Helms changed his view on foreign relief programs late in his Senate career, and teamed up with rock star Bono to help suffering populations overseas.

What many critics won't soon forget are Helms' comments like this one about people with AIDS in his own country: "There is not one single case of AIDS in this country that cannot be traced in origin to sodomy."

This, too:

Dole's amendment, quietly introduced Monday, was first reported Wednesday by the Huffington Post. The news quickly spread on the blogosphere, where there was a proliferation of Helms quotes – such as 1995 comments to The New York Times, which quoted him as saying people got AIDS because of "deliberate, disgusting, revolting conduct."

Dole's legislative career in the Senate has been underwhelming by any analysis. And if a failed amendment to get an AIDS relief bill named after the most controversial politician in North Carolina's recent history is her best attempt at padding her resume, it may be time to consider someone else.

NH-Sen: Plenty of movement in the Jeanne Shaheen - John Sununu race. Two polls out, both from pollsters of questionable reliability. From ARG:

Too good to be true, right? So witness UNH:

Too bad to be true? It is. MissLaura has a healthy dose of skepticism about the partisan samples used in the UNH polling, which she articulates at Blue Hampshire. The UNH poll, FWIW, showed Paul Hodes losing by 20-25 points, in late 2006.  

Gazing at these polls, CQ Politics shakes their head, shrugs their shoulders, and moves the race to "Leans Democratic".

MS-Sen: For a race widely considered a tossup, or leaning ever so slightly Republican, Mississippi's Senate race has been relatively quiet. But Mississippi remains one of the closest Senate races in the country in polling, and Barack Obama's campaign apparently intends to seriously contest the state, expecting to increase the black vote in Mississippi by over 30%.

The Politico has an excellent article noting that even if this does not turn Mississippi to Obama, it could win the election for Musgrove.

It is possible for a Mississippi Democrat to win in a statewide election, but it would likely require 30 percent of the white vote along with nearly the entire black vote. In 2003, Musgrove lost his reelection bid for governor to current Gov. Haley Barbour, a Republican. Musgrave took about 22 percent of the white vote, and lost the election 53 percent to 46 percent. In 1999, when Musgrove beat Republican gubernatorial nominee Mike Parker in one of the closest races in Mississippi history, he performed even better among white voters, running well ahead of typical Democratic performance in Northeast Mississippi, a Republican stronghold.

The formula that has sometimes worked for Mississippi Democrats is directly at odds with Obama’s strategy for putting Southern states in play. Obama and his aides have made the case that Obama could increase black turnout so substantially — by 30 percent or more — that Southern states with large African-American populations would become competitive even without much of a change in the white turnout. But the math here is much harder than the Obama campaign asserts. If you take the 2004 presidential election results, increase the black vote by 30 percent and assume that the white vote stays the same, Obama would still lose Mississippi by more than 100,000 votes. And most analysts think that a 30 percent increase in the black vote is extremely optimistic. Obama will surely draw African-Americans to the polls in record numbers, but even a 10 percent to 15 percent increase in African-American votes would be historic. Add to that Obama’s problems in attracting white Mississippi voters even in the Democratic primary, where he attracted only a quarter of white Democrats.

What Musgrove hopes is that he can have the best of both worlds. He can run as a more conservative Democrat picking up moderate white voters, just as Travis Childers did in the House special election to replace Roger Wicker. But Musgrove might also benefit from Obama energizing and turning out the black vote even while Musgrove keeps his distance from the presidential nominee.

Musgrove is running even in the polls with incumbent Republican Roger Wicker, so even a small increase in the black vote in Mississippi would be a tremendous boon to Musgrove's campaign.

House Races

AK-AL: Kos wrote last night on the burgeoning scandal surrounding Alaska Governor Sarah Palin.

Long story short, Palin apparently had a personal vendetta against a state trooper (and her former brother-in-law), Mike Wooten,who had been embroiled in a nasty divorce from Palin's sister. Over 25 investigations and complaints were filed against him in an attempt to get him fired. All were dismissed save one, which was deemed not serious enough to sack him.

Allegedly, Palin subsequently pressured public safety commissioner Walt Monegan to fire the brother-in-law. Monegan didn't, and was subsequently fired himself.

Finally, Monegan's replacement, Chuck Kopp, is highly controversial in his own right, having previously been charged with sexual harassment by an employee.

Palin is not up for reelection until 2010, but her lieutenant governor Sean Parnell represents the biggest threat to a Democratic pickup in the House race. Parnell's main claim to fame is his association with the formerly universally popular Governor, and this scandal may sink him. From Kos:  

Parnell has tied his entire campaign thus far to Sarah Palin, using her popularity to boost his efforts. Today, word is that Parnell has pulled all ads with references to Palin. Her brand is mud.

Yet without her, Parnell isn't shit either. He's dead in the water. (Don) Young will win his primary in several weeks, and prove easy pickings for the Democratic nominee.

Meanwhile, Palin was considered the fallback candidate in case Stevens got indicted. She no longer looks so hot. Nor can she be an asset for Stevens, Young, or any other Republican up and down the ballot in her state. Alaska's most popular Republican has essentially been neutralized. The "popular Republican" is now extinct in Alaska.

This could indeed kill Parnell's campaign, or seriously damage it. Parnell was Palin's golden boy; Palin's good name is his good name.

ID-01: Bill "Absolute Idiot" Sali has screwed up yet again. This time, he is one full week late in filing his FEC reports. His campaign claims technical difficulties:

I am unable to file the 2nd quarter 2008 FEC report, as FEC technical support is still attempting to fix the Sali for Congress data file.  I first attempted to upload a file to the FEC site on June 6. I again tried on June 9, using the new FEC software update, without success. I then sent FEC technical support a copy of the Sali for Congress FEC file. FEC technical support is still attempting to fix the file so that it may be uploaded. I am in regular contact with FEC technical support and the FEC analyst, in an effort to resolve this matter.

Thing is, that was a full week ago. The response from Democrat Walt Minnick's campaign:

"Frankly it is outrageous that he has not filed this report, the people of Idaho deserve to know who his campaign contributors are. And for him to think that he can get away from not filing his federally mandated financial disclosure to the American people and Idahoan is really outrageous," said Foster.

AZ-03: The Arizona Democratic Party has a new ad opposing John Shadegg, on behalf of Orange to Blue candidate Bob Lord:

TX-10: Democratic candidate (and Netroots Nation attendee) Larry Joe Doherty now sports the endorsements of the NEA, the Texas State Teachers' Association, and the national and state branches of the American Federation of Teachers. From a press release:

With membership of more than 4.6 million educators nationwide, these four front-line organizations represent the teachers who are working hard in our classrooms everyday. In fact, in 2007, McCaul received an 'F' rating from the NEA due to his lack of support for 'quality public education.'

"Larry Joe Doherty will take the fight to Washington on behalf of our educators, students and schools," said Louis Malfaro, President of Education Austin.  "We are proud to support a candidate who understands that a strong commitment to our public education system is the key to long-term economic health for Texas kids, families, and businesses."

Doherty is committed to working with these organizations to fix No Child Left Behind (NCLB). Republican incumbent Michael McCaul has voted to strip $806 billion in vital funding from the program (HR 3010, 6/24/05, Vote #321).

"I will be a dependable voice for our nation's teachers and students instead of a rubber stamp for a party whose policies are out of touch with the American people," said Doherty.

LA-07: Democratic candidate Don Cravins, Jr., was just added to the DCCC's Emerging Races list:

"In the short time that Don Cravins has been in the race, he's put together a solid campaign and shown that he is committed to making things easier for middle class families in Southwest Louisiana," said DCCC Chairman Chris Van Hollen.

Cravins is the 21st candidate named to the DCCC's Emerging Races program. In each of these races, Democratic candidates have generated excitement in their districts for their campaigns for change.  As these campaigns continue to develop and demonstrate increasing strength, candidates will have an opportunity to qualify for the DCCC's Red to Blue program.  

SD-AL: Congratulations to Rep. Stephanie Herseth Sandlin and former Rep. Max Sandlin, who are expecting their first child together in December.

On the web:

Orange to Blue ActBlue Page

Democracy For America is a great organization that really had a presence in Austin, Texas for Netroots Nation. They have supported some great candidates and people this year. DFA has endorsed many New Yorkers, including SD-51 Democratic candidate Don Barber, NY-25 Democratic candidate Dan Maffei and NY-29 Democratic candidate Eric Massa, just to name a few.

They also are, thanks to all of your votes and support, responsible for paying my way in Austin. Thanks to the DFA/Netroots Nation scholarship, I was able to attend Netroots Nation with my registration and hotel paid for. Next year, I hope to assist DFA in their efforts to get more scholarship winners to Pittsburgh.

"We need to focus not on middle-east oil, but on mid-west innovation. ~ Senator Major John Boccieri(D-Alliance)

In July, John spoke about high gas prices and his energy solutions at a Canton gas station. You can watch video excerpts below:

More below the fold!

When we launched this campaign, no one believed it would be easy. We knew that, this time, our opponent could not take this race for granted. We knew that he would attempt to distract the voters of this district from his ten-year record of failed leadership.

It's clear now that Lee Terry is frightened, and his campaign will say and do anything in order to win this race. He hired an east-coast political operative who is a master of dirty campaigning. He recruited our former primary opponent to head up a "truth squad" that is hardly interested in the truth. He has been spreading lies and disinformation on websites and blogs, all in an attempt to tear his opponent down so that he won't have to answer for his own record.

In this video (in Spanish) O2B candidate Joe Garcia essentially accuses the right-wing Cuban-American Frank Calzon of the Center for Free Cuba of essentially pilfering tax-payer funds. Later in the show, Calzon throws a hissy fit and storms out (and you don't need to know Spanish to be entertained by this clip):

A subsequent federal audit found $500,000 missing from Calzon's operation, lost into the pocket of the corrupt South Florida Cuban-American mafia. Just like Garcia had charged. Now, after finding more such discrepancies, Congress has frozen all funding for these corrupt groups.

Congress has put the U.S. Agency for International Development's $45 million Cuba program's 2008 funding on hold, following a series of troubling audits and cases of massive fraud, The Miami Herald has learned.

In a quest to get the funding hold lifted, U.S. AID on Friday ordered a bottoms-up review of all its Cuba democracy programs and suspended a Miami anti-Castro exile group that spent at least $11,000 of federal grant money on personal items.

Rep. Howard Berman, D-Calif., ordered a hold on the U.S. AID Cuba program funding last month, in part in response to a $500,000 embezzlement at the Center for a Free Cuba in Washington disclosed earlier this year, federal officials said.

In a memo sent Friday to various members of Congress, Stephen Driesler, AID's deputy assistant administrator for legislative and public affairs, said the agency recently implemented stricter financial reviews. That new review turned up irregularities at the Grupo de Apoyo a la Democracia (Group in Support of Democracy), a Miami group criticized in the past for using federal funds to send Nintendo games to Cuba [...]

A report by the Cuban-American National Foundation released in May showed that less than 17 percent of $65 million in federal Cuba aid funds spent during the past 10 years went to ''direct, on-island assistance.'' The bulk of the money, the report said, went to academic studies and expenses of exile organizations, mostly in Miami and Washington.

The report echoed findings by The Miami Herald in 2006 and a congressional Government Accountability Office audit that found lax oversight of the programs and came as the Bush administration prepares to dole out a record $45.7 million in Cuba democracy grants.

This is essentially a big chunk of the payoff the corrupt Cuban exile community gets for having its three South Florida Cuban American representatives (and Democrat Debbie Wasserman-Schulz, too). $45.7 million doled out in patronage fashion to all the co-conspirators, and that's not even including the millions wasted on Radio Marti in similar fashion. Democracy in Cuba? Pshaw! There are fancy dinners to be bought! The high life to be lived.

As you can see in the videos above (even if you don't speak Spanish) is that Joe Garcia has been fighting for accountability for those who receive US tax dollars, and isn't one to let ideology override the interests of the taxpayers.

On the web:
Joe Garcia for Congress
Orange to Blue ActBlue Page

Race tracker wiki: FL-21 FL-18 FL-25

Sarah Palin is the governor of Alaska, and a hugely popular one, with approval ratings hovering in the 90 percent range. She was even discussed as a potential VP pick for McCain.

Or, that used to be the case, as her administration is rocked by revelations that she and her family used the governor's office to carry out a vendetta against a policeman who was a former brother in-law, up to firing the public safety commissioner because he wouldn't fire the trooper. The top wingnut radio host in the state, a huge fan, has turned on the governor big-time, declaring her a one-term governor. The Republican-dominated state legislature is talking investigations. For a state party rocked by scandal, who had seen Palin as a savior -- clean and new, this abuse of power scandal has to be crushing.

Palin doesn't face the voters for another two years, but this scandal has more immediate aftershocks.

We all want Rep. Don Young in the general, as his years of corruption have caught up to him. Polls are showing that Alaskans want change, and Democrats are poised to pick up the seat. Threatening those plans are a competitive Republican primary, as the GOP desperately tries to oust Young and replace him with a less tarnished name.

Lucky for us, two Republicans entered the fray, splitting the anti-Young vote. But one of those two was a top contender -- Lt. Governor Sean Parnell. Can you see where this is going?

Parnell has tied his entire campaign thus far to Sarah Palin, using her popularity to boost his efforts. Today, word is that Parnell has pulled all ads with references to Palin. Her brand is mud.

Yet without her, Parnell isn't shit either. He's dead in the water. Young will win his primary in several weeks, and prove easy pickings for the Democratic nominee.

Meanwhile, Palin was considered the fallback candidate in case Stevens got indicted. She no longer looks so hot. Nor can she be an asset for Stevens, Young, or any other Republican up and down the ballot in her state. Alaska's most popular Republican has essentially been neutralized. The "popular Republican" is now extinct in Alaska.

This is an incredible turnaround. Maybe not as dramatic as Spitzer, but still shocking given her overwhelming popularity.

That must have been one hell of a bitter divorce.

Race tracker wiki: AK-AL

The DCCC reserved ad time in 35 districts a few weeks back, and now they have upped the ante with $18 million more in 20 districts.

A critical disclaimer is that the DCCC is reserving time, not buying it. They don't have to use it, and in some cases, they won't. Other districts not on this list, or the previous one, will likely see DCCC ad buys this cycle.

Without further ado:

Democratic-Held Districts:

AL-05, open
AZ-08, Gabrielle Giffords
CA-11, Jerry McNerney
IL-14, Bill Foster
MS-01, Travis Childers

Republican-Held Districts

AL-02, open
CA-04, open
FL-18, Ileana Ros-Lehtinen
FL-21, Lincoln Diaz-Balart
FL-25, Mario Diaz-Balart
ID-01, Bill Sali
IL-10, Mark Kirk
IL-11, open
LA-04, open
MO-06, Sam Graves
NJ-03, open
NY-25, open
NY-26, open
NY-29, Randy Kuhl
WA-08, Dave Reichert

Not surprisingly, Democrats are on the offensive.

Crossposted at New Mexico FBIHOP

A few weeks back, Marjorie Childress had a great article about net neutrality over at the Independent (the other place I write and actually get paid for).

Something interesting that I remember this weekend was seeing which candidates were the most net-friendly.  I don't mean just showing up and glad-handing at Netroots Nation or sending staff, but also understanding net neutrality.

And the divide between Democrats and Republicans was as clear as the digital divide between the middle-class urbans and lower-class rural New Mexicans.

The New Mexico Independent was curious about what those who are running for federal office in New Mexico think about the issue. As it turned out, Democratic contenders were all informed on the topic and knew where they stood. Conversely, none of the Republicans running for Congress responded to the inquiry. They either declined to comment because of the complexity of the issue or declined all comment. First Congressional District candidate Darren White refused to respond despite several requests.