2006 Elections

Part 1 of a letter from the makers of Sarasota's eVote machines to the Sarasota election board. The election board ignored the letter.

UPDATE: Keith Ellison is also the first ImpeachPAC candidate to win a Congressional Election. Congratulations!

Massachussets elects its first African American governor and first woman Attorney General.

Now comes word Keith Ellison is the first American Muslim to be elected to the House of Representatives :

A significant community of Somali immigrants in Minneapolis cast their first votes for him in the crowded September primary. Ellison also was the surprise choice of party regulars.

While Muslim Americans make up less than 3 percent of the U.S. population and have largely been a non-factor in terms of political power, get-out-the-vote efforts in several Muslim communities could indicate they may become an emerging force.

Roughly 2 million Muslims are registered U.S. voters, and their ranks increased by tens of thousands in the weeks prior to Tuesday’s mid-term elections, Muslim groups have said.

Since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks by Islamic militants, Muslim Americans have become sensitized to what many feel is an erosion of their civil rights. U.S. foreign policy that targets Muslim countries also has generated a sense of urgency, experts said.

Reuters

George Allen concedes, Jim Webb wins and Democrats control the Senate, 51 to 49. Sweet!

ALEXANDRIA, Va. Nov 9, 2006 (AP)— Republican Sen. George Allen gracefully conceded defeat Thursday after a bruising battle against Democrat Jim Webb, sealing the Democrats' control of Congress and the political downfall of a man once considered a White House contender.

Allen said the "owners of government have spoken and I respect their decision."
Source : ABC News

I suppose this was to be expected; being unused to defeat and enmeshed in their discredited ideology to the detriment of common sense, conservatives are claiming that the thrashing received by their party and their candidates on Tuesday was actually, somehow, a victory. Karol over at Alarming News opines:

We have work to do but we're already ahead of the curve because we've seen the American people embrace conservative principles. Democrats had to run to the right to win. That's a success for conservatism, even if its a loss for Republicans.

The snarky response would be that America needs more conservative successes like the one we just saw – many more. But even in terms of actual results, this narrative doesn't withstand scrutiny. I recall that after the fall of the Berlin Wall, seventeen years ago today, some communists in the Soviet bloc rejoiced, claiming this was a welcome development that would allow real communism to flourish; it stands to reason that the ideological cousin of communism, authoritarian conservatism, would make similar claims.

However, this election was a victory for a new coalition of centrists and Progressives. Consider, via Media Matters and DailyKos:

The under-30 crowd not only rocked the vote on Tuesday, but they did so happily in favor of Democrats:

Republican pollster Ed Goeas said young voters could have swayed a number of tight races on Tuesday, noting that of 28 seats Democrats picked up from Republicans in the 435-member House of Representatives, 22 were won by less than 2 percent of the vote and 18 were won by just 5,000 votes or less.

"The increase in the youth vote did come into play," he said.

Do we have to spell out why Generation Y would have voted Democrat?

A poll by Harvard University's Institute of Politics last week showed that by a three-to-one margin, young Americans said the country was on the "wrong track."

Forty-six percent favored a total troop withdrawal from Iraq within a year, while a third said troops should be withdrawn after the Iraqis take full control.

Future elections could also be at stake. The "Generation Y" of Americans born from 1977 to 1994 -- shaped by the September 11 attacks, the Iraq war and Hurricane Katrina -- in nine years will make up a third of the electorate.

Feeling it!

'Tis The Cell Block Tango, a Bob Fosse great, in honor of Donald Rumsfeld and the GOP. Enjoy.

The weekest link in the executive cabinet has been forced out of office. Donald Rumsfeld has been told to go buh-bye after Democrats swept Congress and are one win away from taking over the Senate as well.

WASHINGTON - Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld stepped down as defense secretary on Wednesday, one day after midterm elections in which opposition to the war in
Iraq contributed to heavy Republican losses.
ADVERTISEMENT

President Bush said he would nominate Robert Gates, a former
CIA director, to replace Rumsfeld at the
Pentagon.

Asked whether his announcement signaled a new direction in the war that has claimed the lives of more than 2,800 U.S. troops, Bush said, "Well, there's certainly going to be new leadership at the Pentagon."

Bush lavished praise on Rumsfeld, who has spent six stormy years at his post. The president disclosed he met with Gates last Sunday, two days before the elections in which Democrats swept to control of the House and possibly the Senate.

Last week, as he campaigned to save the Republican majority, Bush declared that Rumsfeld would remain at the Pentagon through the end of his term

This was history in the making. Don't anyone downplay it. As pointed out by Michael Bouldin at Daily Gotham, "for the first time in American history, a political party lost no seats it was defending. Ain't never happened in 230 years, folks." This was historic.

But there is one very key lesson to be learned by us...by Democrats and by the left in general. This was won big because we worked together. When we are united, Democrats win. When we let the Republicans divide and conquor us, we lose. It is up to us to maintain that unity. Unity does not mean conformity. Mostly it means mutual respect even when we disagree.

So who were the big players in our victory? I think there are several key players. In no particular order:

Act Blue: $17,419,765 raised since 2004. Mostly small donors, not that "soft money" Republicans love so much.

MoveOn: targeted ads in some "safe" Republican districts made those districts so unsafe for Republican that Democrats won. CT-5, IN-2, NY-20, and NH-2 shifted after MoveOn.org ads went on the air and we wound up winning them.

But that ain't all. They then set up the most ambitious phone bank in history, making 6 million calls to voters by election day. This was probably the biggest GOTV effort in history.

But that ain't all...they now are offering a $250,000 reward to anyone who can give evidence of election fraud that leads to a conviction.

Howard Dean: we never would have won so big in Indiana or scared them so much in Wyoming and Idaho and Tennessee had it not been for Dean's 50-state strategy. Chuck Schumer's more targeted Senate strategy made sense for the Senate, but Howard Dean gave the states the ability to exploit Republican weaknesses when they appeared. Probably half our pick ups are thanks to this new infrastructure Dean has helped build in states that previously were ignored as being "too red." 2005 was a successful test of the 50-state strategy. 2006 was a RESOUNDING victory for Howard Dean's strategy. I don't think the DSCC needs to change its strategy, but the DCCC might want to take some lessons from Doctor Dean.

Progressive Majority: Targeting smaller, more local races right down to school board, Progressive Majority is training and helping out the next generation of leaders in several key states as well as helping boost minority representation. In 2005 they won about 70% of the races they targeted. They were more ambitious this year and didn't fare so well, but they did well enough and they came really close in many other races. As they expand, they will be a force through out the nation for helping young progressive activists enter politics. We could probably have won this election without Progressive Majority, but their efforts are helping pave the way for future victories.

Make no mistake...this was a progressive grassroots victory. But it was also a victory for ideological diversity within the Democratic party. Some real progressive grassroots activists helped some moderate Democrats win, and now that we have won, the progressives and moderates have to maintain respect for eachother. Both sides have to remember this: we could not have won without this progressive/moderate alliance. United in respect, we can find the common ground we need to to win big. Divided over the few issues where we differ, or divided through lack of mutual respect, and we lose. Let's remember this lesson. Republicans work by conformity and dictating from above. Democrats work by respecting diversity and listening to eachother. So let's DO IT folks. As I keep quoting these days, remember what FDR said:

"Let us never forget that government is ourselves and not an alien power over us. The ultimate rulers of our democracy are not a President and senators and congressmen and government officials, but the voters of this country."

A white woman's spite turns into a racist political campaign now passed into law. A law that would allow public universities and civil service departments to discriminate against minorities.

What does Jennifer Gratz think? That it will give the advantage to white women over white men?

This in from Michigan:

The ballot proposal was headed by Jennifer Gratz, the Southgate Anderson High School graduate who sued University of Michigan in 1997 to challenge its use of racial preferences in admissions.

Her case went all the way to the Supreme Court. When the court upheld the use of race as a factor in university admissions she and Connerly went to work to put the question before voters.

The passage of Prop 2 effectively overhauls the University of Michigan's selective admissions process and puts outreach, recruitment and financial aid programs for minorities and women in jeopardy. While U-M's use of affirmative action has been widely publicized, other less-selective Michigan colleges have gender- and race-specific programs and scholarships that would likely be challenged.

U-M President Mary Sue Coleman will address the university at noon today about the impact of Prop 2's passage. Leaders predict that enrollment of black, Hispanic and Native American students combined will plummet from 12-14 percent of the student body to about 4-6 percent.

Let Freedom Ring!

South Dakota voters overturned the most restrictive abortion law in the nation Tuesday, handing abortion rights supporters a huge victory in a conservative state.

The law was signed in March but was put on hold pending the election. If approved, it would have barred almost all abortions, including for rape and incest victims, and allowed them only if a mother's life was in jeopardy.

"This is a wake-up call to lawmakers in other states that the American pro-choice majority will not allow any assault on Roe v. Wade to go unanswered," said Nancy Keenan, president of NARAL Pro-Choice America

Unfortunately, they not only re-elected the man that signed the law, Gov. Mike Rounds, but they also banned gay-marriage.

Massachussets elects its first African American governor and first woman Attorney General.

Now comes word Keith Ellison is the first American Muslim to be elected to the House of Representatives :

A significant community of Somali immigrants in Minneapolis cast their first votes for him in the crowded September primary. Ellison also was the surprise choice of party regulars.

While Muslim Americans make up less than 3 percent of the U.S. population and have largely been a non-factor in terms of political power, get-out-the-vote efforts in several Muslim communities could indicate they may become an emerging force.

Roughly 2 million Muslims are registered U.S. voters, and their ranks increased by tens of thousands in the weeks prior to Tuesday’s mid-term elections, Muslim groups have said.

Since the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks by Islamic militants, Muslim Americans have become sensitized to what many feel is an erosion of their civil rights. U.S. foreign policy that targets Muslim countries also has generated a sense of urgency, experts said.

“(Americans) treat us differently after Sept. 11. My own father was attacked,” said Ellison supporter Khadra Darsame, a 1995 immigrant from Somalia. “Ellison said everybody matters equally and he told us what he would do ... he will do the right thing.”

Jim Webb is winning by half a percentage point. He should declare victory NOW. Force Allen to go on the defensive.

Kirsten Gillebrand and John Hall win in New York state, in two extremely Republican districts.

Awesome!

Anything short of a miracle!

Completing one of the most extraordinary political journeys the state has ever seen, Democrat Deval Patrick today won a landslide victory over Republican Kerry Healey and two other candidates to become the first African-American elected governor of Massachusetts.

And completely amazing:

Coakley faced no challenge in the Democratic primary and coasted to a win tonight. During the campaign, her highest profile moment came when she appeared in television advertisements hailing Deval Patrick's gubernatorial candidacy.

What a night.

This from an email just received from Working Assets' Act For Change via US Newswire:

Washington, Nov. 7 -- MoveOn.org Political Action is offering a $250,000 reward for new material evidence leading to a felony conviction for an organized effort of partisan voter suppression or electronic voting fraud.

Throughout the day accusations of election fraud and voter suppression incidents have been flooding into state and federal authorities throughout the country. In Virginia, the FBI has launched a criminal investigation into charges of voter suppression. In 20 Congressional districts, NRCC robocalls appearing to come from Democrats harassed voters with repeated calls in an apparently coordinated campaign to suppress the vote.

Complementing an earlier reward for whistleblowers, MoveOn's reward is being offered to anyone who provides this information.

The feeling here among the Big Apple's grassroots is that winning Congress is going to be far more powerful for the Democratic Party than taking over the Senate. That said, I am very excited that Whitehouse has smacked Chafee out of the Senate.

Had Lincoln Chafee been a true pro-choice candidate as he had led NARAL to believe he was, he would have voted against both John Roberts and Samuel Alito. He did not. And for that matter, his ass needed to be thrown out of the Senate.

Tomorrow, of all days, the Roberts court starts deliberating on the late-term abortion ban. Thank Lincoln Chafee for voting the two most anti-abortion justices this country has ever had the misfortune to have seated in the Supreme Court.

Hola culturekitchenettes, it's the blogdiva reporting live from New York City's only urban country club -- complete with crack head caddies -- the Partk Avenue Country Club. Grock! How I hate that name.

I am here thanks to the coordinating efforts of New American Majority, Drinking LIberally, Democracy for New York, DL21C and other grassroots organizations working here in the city for either the Democratic or Working Families parties. Anybody that's anybody in the political grassroots movement here in New York City is here, waiting and cheering (or booing) as the results come in.

Here's a little podcast I've tried to extrude from the manic noise enveloping the place. Just wanted to give a little taste of what's happening here.

Use this post to tell us who did you vote for, how was your experience, how's the polls looking. All that good stuff.

You can also post images (as long as you host them elsewhere, like PhotoBucket, Buzznet or Flickr).

So go out there.

Vote.

The report back here.

In a GOTV email from Howard Dean, he outlines the values that the Democratic Party stands for. And they represent what I stand for and these are the reasons why I am a Democrat. As I have said before, it is not a lack of ideas that is the problem with the Democratic Party. It is a lack of unity in achieving those ideas. Here is a list of Democratic Values according to Howard Dean (and I agree):

Honest Leadership & Open Government
We will end the Republican culture of corruption and restore a government as good as the people it serves.

Real Security & A New Direction in Iraq
We will protect Americans at home and lead the world by telling the truth to our troops, our citizens and our allies, and we will heed the advice of our commanders on the ground and force a change in the failed Republican strategy in Iraq.

Energy Independence & Lower Gas Prices
We will create a cleaner, greener and stronger America by reducing our dependence on foreign oil, eliminating billions in subsidies for oil and gas companies and developing energy alternatives.

More Jobs, Better Pay & College Access for Everyone
We will create jobs that stay in America, raise the minimum wage, and open the doors to college for every American.

Healthcare that Works for Everyone & Life-Saving Cures
We will join 36 other industrialized nations in making sure everyone has access to affordable health care, and we will make decisions to invest in stem cell and other medical research based on science, not politics.

MoveOn.org was founded to support the movement to censure President Bill Clinton then move on to the business facing the nation (which included the threat of al-Qaeda, ignored by the Republicans until 9/11/2001).

Today, faced with the most corrupt and anti-Constitution administration in modern history, MoveOn.org and the target of its censure effort, President Bill Clinton, are teaming up.

"Nothing that is wrong with America can't be solved with what is right with America."
--Bill Clinton

Today and tomorrow we can try to fight what is wrong with America with what is right. The corrupt and anti-Constitution Republican Party can be fought with good, honest grassroots activism enhanced with modern telecommunications technology. President Clinton, a man I much admire even if I did not always agree with him, has the following message for all grassroots activists in every corner of the nation:

Right now, it's all about reaching out to people and MoveOn knows how to do that better than anyone. I'm writing to tell you that the Democratic candidates in the tightest, neck-to-neck races in the country are counting on you to pull them through to victory with the energy, spirit and passion that define MoveOn.

Today and tomorrow, tens of thousands of MoveOn members are getting together in living rooms and at kitchen tables to call voters in toss-up districts where just a few hundred votes could mean the difference between victory and defeat.

Just a few more days. This year has been amazing. MoveOn.org used targeted ads to leverage some safe Republican seats (like IN-2) to tossups or lean Dem. MoveOn.org's phone banks started by targeting 30 close races and wind up with 54 close races. Among the closest races are Idaho's first district. This rapidly went from solid Republican to tossup.

What's my point? My point is not that I think a Democratic takeover is guaranteed. My point is that we have the greatest opportunity for some 30 years to completely rout the Republicans and expose their corruption, greed and incompetence. But to do this we ALL have to give everything for the next few days. I am trying to make it easy for you. I am highlighting below some critical phonebanking you can do from home, and some ready made Act Blue sites for your donations that reflect three different philosophies for winning elections. PLEASE phonebank or donate if you aren't volunteering in your district.

CAMPAIGNS: Winning in 2006

We have a mere few days to win. And winning depends on you. So, here are the GOTV efforts you can do from home between now and Tuesday. I BEG you to be a part of these efforts!

HELP NY STATE (AND CALIFORNIA) FROM HOME: Help John Hall for Congress (also cooperating after 9 PM with McNerney campaign in California)! Focus on TWO House races in one shot!) sign up to phone bank FROM YOUR OWN HOME here: http://www.johnhallforcongress.com/...

..here's a reminder of how the media works.

AP, Washington, 3 November, 2006: In a press conference today, George Bush announced a new Federal program aimed at educating grade school students about the true material composition of the moon, which Bush maintains consists mainly of processed cheese spread.

"We owe a lot to great American companies like Velveeta and Philadelphia. Without them, our moon, that great American tradition, would not be there to light the night skies for our brave soldiers fighting for victory in Iraq. This new program will educate our youngsters about the true role of all of these American heroes."

Some Democrats took issue with Bush's assertions, maintaining that there is no scientific evidence that the moon consists of anything but rocks. As proof, Senator Ted Kennedy cited rocks brought back from the moon by the Apollo astronauts.

Kennedy's claims were sternly rebuked by scholars at an independent think tank, the Cato Institute. The head of its creationism/flying dinosaurs division, Howard Redsnout, used withering criticism in rebutting the theories of the Massachusetts Senator: "How Ted Kennedy would have the gall to mention rocks after he let a young woman drown in a river full of them is beyond me. Clearly, Fat Teddy is just carrying water for his elitist liberal friends up in Cambridge, no pun intended."

Ann Coulter, the highest paid courtisan of the Republican Party, has a little secret she doesn't want people to know : She's in deep doo-doo over allegations of voter fraud.

WEST PALM BEACH, Florida (AP) -- Conservative columnist Ann Coulter has refused to cooperate in an investigation into whether she voted in the wrong precinct, so the case will probably be turned over to prosecutors, Palm Beach County's elections chief said Wednesday.

Elections Supervisor Arthur Anderson said his office has been looking into the matter for nearly nine months, and he would turn over the case to the state attorney's office by Friday.

Progressive bloggers, Brad Friedman has been on this case since the beginning. Actually, he has been blogging about this as far as June of this year. Read all the details at his follow-up post to the Coulter case.

Obviate some (not all) of the tin-hat foolery interspersed by the people of Pluri Media Group (no relationship, by the way, with ePubluribus Media), and what you get is a solid Lou Dobbs special report on how to steal elections this coming Tuesday.

The kicker? "Unfortunately for democracy, there is no paper trail with the new electronic voting machines, so a recount is impossible".

Michael Rogers of BlogActive commissioned an ad response to Ken Mehlman's race baiting crapulence targetting Harold Ford Jr.

Yes!

Hey Ken. Call me.

I was a latecomer to eating organic, and even now it is a preference, not an absolute. I favor organic when it isn't TOO expensive.

One reason I switched to organic produce is because of the taste. Simply put, organic stuff tastes better. This is partly coincidental. Organic techniques do not by definition give better taste. It is more the fact that non-organic produce is produced for appearance, not taste.

I switched to organic meat because of antibiotics. Mainstream agriculture uses antibiotics routinely in animal feed, which then leads to antibiotic resistant strains of bacteria which are becoming a human health hazard. Generally, only organic meats are guaranteed to be raised without this misuse of antibiotics. Finally, reading about geysers of pig shit on giant pig farms in one of Al Franken’s books sealed the deal with organic meat.

Slowly I realize that once you get beyond the foolish fads that some organic advocates favor, there are some real logical reasons for going organic. Agriculture is becoming increasingly unsustainable, and organic techniques can mitigate this. As environmental crises grow, this will become more and more important.

Which is why it is heartening to see that two no-nonsense organic farmers are running for office this year.

Jon Tester is running for Senate in Montana. From his website:

Just got this from MoveOn.org

Dear MoveOn member,
Bam. Right out of the gate we're already moving fast.

Since yesterday we made 83,555 calls—smashing the goal of 45,000. It's so fantastic. Let's keep up the pace to beat our goal before the Friday deadline.

These calls are going to Democrats who might not vote—that's why they are so important.

Can you chip in? We need it. Just click below to get started.

http://pol.moveon.org/phone/volunteer/?id=9341-5835097-vG7Llqm1vaQavBMbz...

Our online tool makes it easy to make calls. We give you instructions, lists, a script to use on the phone and you can do it from your home. It only takes a few minutes. Personal calls like this will make the difference.

Think about it: you get calls around election time, right? Usually they are those recorded messages—not a real conversation with a real person who cares.

That personal touch is the most important reason why what MoveOn members do together is so special and effective. All of us actually care—that's one of the reasons we're on the MoveOn list—and that comes out in your voice when you make calls. Nobody can buy that.

Love to talk on the phone? Take a minute to get your volunteer kit here.

Now I am never one to be overly optimistic, but I have to say that you KNOW the Republicans are hurting when they are having trouble hanging on to IDAHO.

Yes, Idaho. Two separate polls taken in October (Mason-Dixon and RT Strategies) show the ID-1 race to be close. One shows it a statistical dead heat and the other shows it to be within 6 points. Dare we hope for Congressman Grant from Idaho?

Furthermore, the Republican hold on the Idaho Governorship has slipped from strong retention to weak retention.

Yes...in IDAHO.

Meanwhile, the Wyoming House race (at large) also remains closer than anyone would have expected. THe most recent poll (Aspen) shows the Democrat within 4 points of the Republican. Congressman Trauner from Wyoming? Sounds good to me!

Yes, in Wyoming.

And, of course, Republicans are fighting to keep the Montana Senate seat and might lose as many as three House seats in Indiana.

There are no more safe red states. Sure, many of these close races will still remain Republican. But they are having to fight for it!

Idaho...Wyoming...Montana...Indiana. Sounds like a 50-state strategy might be paying off.

If you can bear it,  the photographs are here. They are from the Musarium program, "Without Sanctuary," and they are a documentation of lynchings. Of the "strange fruit" that hangs in trees. Of what happens when the worst in the human psyche is joined with the worst in others, and mobs arise.

AFP Via Yahoo!News

One hundred Americans, who thought they were going to play heroes to the Iraqi people, were killed during the month of October. We have 2 full days to add a few more to that tally.

I still have to find any numbers for the Iraqi citizens that died during the same period; and there is reason to believe hundreds have died during the same period of time. We could even expect many more will die up to the day of the midterms elections.

From Abu Aardvark:

"Al-Qaeda's Scenario During the Coming Weeks" argues that the coming two weeks represent a pivotal moment in al-Qaeda's long-term jihad strategy. Since 9/11 and the Afghan war, al-Qaeda has been pursuing a stage in its long-term strategy which the author calles 'direct combat'. Keeping American in Iraq has been the key to its strategy. America has suffered great losses through this stage, both economic and its people, and many of its allies have already abandoned the fight. The next two weeks (giving a clue as to when it was written) will reveal whether al-Qaeda's leadership believes that this stage of direct combat has served its purpose of weakening America sufficiently. If it does, according to the author, al-Qaeda will remain silent, allowing the Democrats to win the Congressional elections and initiating a new phase of the conflict. If it does not (as the author hopes), it will intervene through a bin Laden tape or an attack on an American ally in order to ensure a Republican victory which will keep the Americans trapped in Iraq longer in order to weaken it more before moving to the next stage.

Tom Vilsack is challenging us all to volunteer. Sign up and he will hook you up with a campaign near you that needs help. Here's his challenge:

It's time to schedule your volunteerism and recruit your friends to join you. It's time to make a commitment to real change by volunteering your time.

Over the past year, our Heartland PAC community has raised hundreds of thousands of dollars for gubernatorial and secretary of state candidates all across the country. In some cases, we provided early money to help draw attention to important down-ballot races. More recently, our contributions have helped our candidates respond to some pretty shameful Republican attacks. We've emptied our war chest, and now it's time for the real work to begin.

Momentum means nothing if we don't get our voters to the polls. And that's where you come in. We have created an easy volunteer form where you can sign up to help any of our 41 endorsed candidates. No matter where you are -- there is something you can do.

Sign up and we will send your volunteer commitments to the campaigns right away.

Despite being down, Republican activists are hard at work. The GOP's famous "72 Hour Plan" is reported to be in full swing, making hundreds-of-thousands of phone calls, canvassing precincts and finalizing GOTV plans. While they appear to be desperate -- their TV ads, and machinery is running and shouldn't be underestimated.

Have you heard of the race over at California's CD-4? A democrat called Charlie Brown is running against the Republican incumbent John Doolittle.

WTF?

Rhode Island Senate: Whitehouse (D) 50%; Chafee (R) 42%

Pennsylvania Senate: Casey (D) 54%; Santorum (R) 41%

And just because the headline reads, Senate balance of power -- Montana now a "toss-up" :

George W. Bush says he uses "The Google" :

BUSH: Occasionally. One of the things I’ve used on the Google is to pull up maps. It’s very interesting to see — I’ve forgot the name of the program — but you get the satellite, and you can — like, I kinda like to look at the ranch. It remind me of where I wanna be sometimes.

Well, I use "The Google" I lot too. Let's say I have a love and hate relationship with the Google. Speaking of which, the program Shrub was referring to is Google Earth. As you can see by the screenshot, Google Earth will be tracking all the midterm elections on their map.

If you want to play along, you have to download their software. Go check it out.

The 2006 mid-term elections are going down as having one of the most virulent campaign seasons in the last 100 years. Republicans have been the gravely wounded targets but it does not mean that Democratic incumbents and candidates have not come out hurting and smarting from the bloodfest. Because, it has been a horrendously bloody political season that started with the downfall of Jack Abramoff.

We can say that, well, the republicans were asking for it. I am not one to be beneath smacking down conservative hypocrites like Abramoff, Foley or Craig. As you well know though, I am also as eager to smack Democrats and liberal bloggers hypocrites.

Which is why, instead of smacking, I want to put a word of caution ... 19 days before the elections.

Democrats may well end up smarting, and not in a good way, from what I can only describe as their embrace tactics from the school of Karl Rove politics. This political season has been an all out war by Democrats. They are kicking ass indeed, but it may come back to haunt them.

Here's the problem:

In their eagerness to get elected anybody who calls themselves these days a Democrat, they are helping elect the rejects of the Replican party, people who not until they saw a political opportunity to switch, had no reason to call themselves a Democrat.

Party switching is not a new concept. Historically though, the wave has been against Democrats : Since the 1960's, and after the success of the Civil Rights Movement, most of party swtichers were Democrats (candidates and incumbents) bolting to the Republican party.

Over at a Republican biased polling place there has suddenly been a big shift in their Senate predictions. For ages they have been estimating that Dems would pick up two or three Senate seats...at best. That doesn't count Lieberman as a Democrat, of course. The Republicans have been seeing it as a pretty good chance, though far from certain, than Dems would pick up Montana, Ohio and Pennsylvania Senate Seats, maybe pick up Rhode Island, and probably lose New Jersey.

Their predictions had held largely steady for quite some time. Then came Foley's sleaze scandal where a sitting Republican congressman was caught soliciting sex with a minor. And the Republican leadership, which may have known about the scandal as far back as 2000, has been lying about it and covering it up.

Suddenly, this Republican biased election prediction site sees Democrats winning Montana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Missouri AND Tennessee. They also see Democrats holding on to New Jersey and catching up fast in Virginia. Let me emphasize that anyone who wants to help Democrats win in Montana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Missouri, Tennessee, New Jersey and Virginia can click on the above named states and donate/volunteer through my Act Blue lists.

There are so many ways I could hit this photograph with my final thoughts on this photograph. Yet, I keep coming back to two quotes that resonated with me during the whole Lunch with Clinton mess.

The first quote comes from FireDogLake's Hardin-Smith:

liberal bloggers were invited to meet with the former President of the United States to talk about policy initiatives and the Democratic party and politics going into the November elections.

These words resonated because it made no sense to me for any of the bloggers in that meeting to rationalize the omission of the top bloggers of color in the left; especially if these discussions were meant to hammer on what Democrats could do to win the midterms and, down the road, the presidency. Why would these bloggers be silent accomplices to this big tactical mistake? Why in the world would they want to keep the influencers of thousands of connectors within the colored grassroots?

Then I read this quote from Jeralynn Merrit: I enjoyed being with Liza one night in Amsterdam, but FDL is family.

I was so blown by how not just simple, but simplistic and pedestrian the explanation was. The photograh is about "family". Not just in the physical sense of the word, mind you.

Look again at the photograph?

Have you read at least 5 of these bloggers? Take any --MyDD, FireDogLake, DailyKos, Americablog, Mahablog, TalkLeft, Eschaton, The blogging of the President. Tell me, how really different are these bloggers' styles of writing, topics of discussion and brand of ranting?

Armstrong Williams (of all people!) wrote the following in an article called, Diversity, which is about the absence of people of color in the technology fields :

For example, when hiring, bosses may look for those personal traits they associate with their own success. Consequently, they may end up hiring people who look, think and act in a manner similar to themselves. If confronted with a minority applicant who looks, sounds or communicates differently, they may turn these differences into perceived soft skill deficits.

[...]

Unfortunately, this sort of latent discrimination is virtually impossible to prove. Partly because there exists a strong tendency among judges (and sometimes even juries) to favor an employer's interpretation of events. But more to the point, because people in management simply tend to mentor people who look and act and sound like their sons.

What that means is that young, white Americans have traditionally benefited from the availability of mentors to help hone their talents, while minorities, even to this day, suffer from a lack of mentors to identify with and learn from. There is a logical progression: a lack of mentors equals a lack of learning opportunities, equals a lack of advancement, and equals a lack of certain high level positions being filled by minorities. With time, this sort of arbitrary sorting of high and low level employees comes to be regarded by many as the natural way of things

Most of the people, and I would argue for the exception of Jessica Valenti, have had through the last 2 years what amounts to the kind of working relationships Armstrong describes in his essay. They refer to each other's work regularly, refer each other to grants, workshops, conferences and mainstream media opportunities. And they all as a block make decisions on which candidates they are going to be fundraising. As a block, they all work together as one seamless narrative called "the blogs".

That's the problem I see with that photograph.

We have here a picture of suppression. There are experiences taken out of the picture. There are political interpretations and strategizing taken out of the picture. There are whole swaths of voters and electoral percentage points taken out of the picture. There is a whole history and present of political activism within the Democratic Party that has been taken out of that picture.

It is not lost on me that the top black and latino bloggers of the "liberal blogosphere" are not too keen on Hillary Clinton running for president. It is not lost on me either that we describe ourselves as progressives and not as liberals. As you can see, not one of us is in that photo.

Which is why, when I asked the fateful 3 questions,

What does it mean though that there are 20 bloggers invited to this lunch and not one is black or latino? What does it mean for this group of bloggers to be patting themselves on the backs for being with Clinton when they are all in Harlem and not one of them is a person of color? What does it mean for these people to be there and have not one of them raise this issue in their blogs?

I was not just referring to race.

When I asked those questions I was thinking : Why is diversity such a dirty word when it should be considered an integral part of any political practice?

On May 14 1970, I had just celebrated my seventh birthday. I was living at the time in a suburb of Chicago. In 1965, my parents had emigrated from England, my brother was born in 1966, and in 1970, my mother was pregnant again. The events that I'm about to speak of undoubtedly happened on May 15, but I've been snapped back to that time a conversation I had with Liza, about the radical impulse, the differences among so many bloggers—the division that has arisen among those of us who look at the upcoming election and want to cry over our "choices."

Some of us have been accused of being single-issue voters who are willing to see the Democrats lose in November because they are running so may anti-choice D's. In fact, we've been lectured by quite a few people about how if we elect these anti-choice Democrats, choice will still be preserved. It's a logic I can't follow; won't these folks wind up serving on committees where they're still going to be able to have a say on issues related to privacy? Or will they magically vote the way they are told to by the leadership? 'Coz you know, that's been working out so well these past two years.

Anyway. I want to talk about how I became a radical leftist, the moment at which I understood that my way of looking at the world was coming from some other place than "love of country" or "patriotism," the two things we start almost immediately to teach children in school. Kindergartners say the Pledge. But they don't often talk about issues of social justice.

The DNC (somewhat against the wishes of people like Chuck Schumer) is putting its all into a 50-state get-out-the-vote strategy that will hopefully deliver greater than expected wins both in Congress and on a state-by-state level. Winning state legislatures and the vital secretary of state positions in state after state depends on Howard Dean's 50-state strategy.

Here is the final push message and call to action:

We're going to get voters to the polls in all 50 states, and they're going to vote Democrat up and down the ballot. We're building the broadest get-out-the-vote operation our party has seen in a generation, transforming our 50-state strategy into an unprecedented 50-State Turnout machine.

It's only going to work if you and everyone you know get involved. We're kicking off the 50-State Turnout this Saturday -- will you volunteer at a kick-off event near you?

http://www.democrats.org/50stateturnout/find

The culture of corruption and cover-up has been the Republicans' problem for years. Two Republican Congressman have pleaded guilty to corruption, and investigations are ongoing into the scandal surrounding Republican lobbyist Jack Abramoff.

That same culture reaches into the states, where Republican governors in places like Ohio and Kentucky have been indicted -- the Republican governor of Ohio even pleaded no contest to violating ethics laws.

MoveOn.org aims to outdo all previous grassroots GOTV efforts, starting this Saturday and going right through to election day. They are aiming for 5 million phone calls to 5 million voters targeting the 30 hottest House races in the nation. And I can tell you they are already working hard to set things up. I know because Joy and I are hosting one of their organizers, letting her use one of our rooms. She may be staying with us but we never see her because MoveOn.org is working them from 8 AM to 11 PM every day.

This coming Saturday is the big kickoff of their "Call for Change" effort. Their main event is right here in Brooklyn. But there are events all over the country. Some are already filling up! You can find your closest house party by going to the Call for Change website and entering your zip code. There are some 600 events throughout the country this Saturday. This is the start of the final push of 2006. Please do what you can.

The Democrats, angry at 5 years of Republican lies, scandlas and failure since 9/11, are coming out swinging, making national security a prime issue. Here is Howard Dean's most recent fundraising letter for the DNC:

You can't trust Republicans on national security -- and two things proved it yesterday:

1) In a powerful interview that aired yesterday, President Bill Clinton took on the extremist Republican propaganda about 9/11 -- and Fox News tried to cover up the fact that the Bush administration downgraded terrorism as a priority before September 11th and has failed to eliminate Osama bin Laden since the attacks.

2) An explosive report on the still-classified Nationa