The sweat equity (literally) of Alan Grayson supporters paid off Tuesday night when he announced to a standing-room-only crowd at campaign headquarters in Orlando that he had won the Democratic nomination for U.S. House District 8.  

In case you were distracted by Mark Warner's electrifying speech last night, there were a number of hot congressional primaries in Alaska and Florida yesterday. Here's a quick round-up of last night's action:

• AK-Sen (D): Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich won the Democratic Senate nomination with an impressive 91% of the vote, with 98% of precincts reporting.
• AK-Sen (R): Ted Stevens survived his primary against banker Dave Cuddy and Floridian beardo Vic Vickers (and several other also-rans), but only with 63.5% of the vote.
• AK-AL (D): Ethan Berkowitz won the Democratic nomination for the state's at-large House seat by a 59-41 margin over '06 candidate Diane Benson. Alaskan Independence Party candidate Don Wright received 5600 votes and will also appear on the November ballot.
• AK-AL (R): With 98% of precincts reporting and many absentee ballots still outstanding, Don Young has taken a 145-vote lead over Sean Parnell. This race is heading into "contentious recount territory" real fast.
• FL-08 (D & R): Democrat Alan Grayson upset '06 nominee Charlie Stuart by a 48-28 margin for the right to take on Ric Keller in November. Keller, meanwhile, barely survived his primary challenge from right-wing radio personality Todd Long, with only 53% of the vote to Long's 47%.
• FL-09 (D): In a bit of an upset for the DCCC, attorney Bill Mitchell beat out wealthy former Plant City Mayor John Dicks by a 38-33 margin for the nomination against frosh GOP Rep. Gus Bilirakis.
• FL-10 (D): Dunedin Mayor Bob Hackworth dispatched '06 nominee and Ron Paul acolyte Samm Simpson by a 47-29 margin for the chance to take on longtime GOP Rep. Bill Young. Max Linn, a self-funding candidate who ran for Governor in 2006 on the Reform ticket, only earned 24% of the vote.
• FL-15 (D & R): Physician Stephen Blythe crushed pilot Paul Rancatore by a 65-35 margin for the Democratic nomination for this open seat. Republicans nominated state Sen. Bill Posey with 77% of the vote, and he seems poised to run away with this race come November.
• FL-16 (R): Pittsburgh Steelers heir Ed Tom Rooney won a tight three-way race by a 37-35-28 margin for the GOP nod to face off with Democratic Rep. Tim Mahoney.
• FL-24 (D): Former state Rep. Suzanne Kosmas crushed '06 nominee Clint Curtis by a 72-28 margin. Kosmas will face ethically-challenged GOP Rep. Tom Feeney in November.

House Races

MN-03: Democrat Ashwin Madia, running for the open seat of retiring GOP Rep. Jim Ramstad, is up with his first ad. I like the production values:

PA-10: Via SSP, SurveyUSA polls the race (8/23-25, likely voters, MoE: ±4.0%):

Those are some fairly hairy numbers for Carney, who is running for his first re-election bid -- any incumbent below the 50% bubble has to be concerned. His favorability numbers are decent (40% favorable, 23% unfavorable, and 30% neutral), but clearly show that he could stand to boost his profile some more at home.

In better news, the poll continues to throw some cold water onto the NRCC's "drilling=electoral profit!!" hopes. When asked if they would vote for a candidate who favors increased offshore drilling or one who favors promoting alternative sources of energy as a way to combat the energy crisis, voters in Pennsylvania's 10th choose the candidate touting alternative energy over the driller by a 54-36 margin. This confirms similar results we've seen in the past couple of days from CO-04 and KS-02. If the GOP's drilling message can't sell in conservative red districts like these, where can it be effective?

CT-04: Because nothing spells "confidence" like crashing your opponent's press conference to make your own whiny defense, GOP Rep. Chrissy Shays does exactly that, and embarrasses himself in the process.

NY-26: Everyone's favorite nutjob, crazy Jack Davis ("D"), says that immigrants from Mexico will start a new Civil War:

Congressional candidate Jack Davis, in a speech earlier this year, warned that increasing immigration from Mexico could lead to a new civil war between northern states and Mexican-influenced Southern states that may want to secede from the United States.

"In the latter part of this century or the next, Mexicans will be a majority in many of the states and could therefore take control of the state government using the democratic process," Davis said in the speech. "They could then secede from the United States, and then we might have another civil war." [...]

"They have an allegiance to Mexico, where they were taught the U. S. fought an unjust war with Mexico and took this territory," Davis said. "They believe the territory of these states belongs to Mexico."

If this lunatic beats Jon Powers in the Democratic primary here, I think a little piece of me will die inside. (Via SSP)

Senate Races

RNCC: You know it's a rough year for Republicans when even Mike Johanns of Nebraska won't show up to their convention. In fact, the only GOP Senators up for re-election who are speaking in St. Paul are Mitch McConnell and home-state host Norm Coleman, who is slated to address the convention not once, but twice!

DNCC: Meanwhile, in Denver, Jeff Merkley, Jeanne Shaheen, Tom Allen and Tom Udall are all addressing the convention today. Don't miss it!

NC-Sen: Shorter Liddy Dole: "The DSCC sunk my battleship!"

MS-Sen-B: Mississippi Attorney General Jim Hood says that the Republican Secretary of State's flirtation with pushing Mississippi's special Senate election to the bottom of the ballot flies in the face of the law. Of course, fair elections and the rule of law have not exactly been the GOP's strong suit as of late.

Very brief diary to encourage reading of today's New York Times article re: wind turbines produce surges of electricity that overpower the outdated grid. Excerpt after the jump.

Even if we were shagged out the door by 10:30 or so by the candidate (heh!), last night was rather upbeat at the headquarters of Steve Blythe, the Democrat who's gunning to take back the Florida 15th. He beat a challenger two-to-one who was a Republican until December 2006.

It's been inspiring and to see what about twenty volunteers (most of them retirees) accomplished on behalf of a principled, plain-talking man.
Last night it occurred to me that there's a lot of grass-roots experience among the Kossacks, when it comes to taking on a well-financed opponent - so I got the go-ahead to request your input. Even though there's no incumbent to take on in the general election, the real adventure is just beginning...

It's Democratic Convention time in Denver, and this week we're seeing some of the most promising '08 House and Senate candidates on display. Many have been struggling for a turn in the spotlight all year, as the presidential race continues to monopolize attention, volunteer energy and fundraising dollars.

Orange County, California's 46th Congressional District has been represented since 1988 by delusionally far-right Republican Dana Rohrabacher. But this year he faces a stiff challenge from Huntington Beach mayor and former city council member Debbie Cook.

Barack Obama and Debbie Cook in Newport Beach, CA

Rohrabacher is one of the worst Republican clowns in Congress, and Cook is a champion on all the issues that matter. The 46th district is ready to vote for a credible alternative to Rohrabacher. This race is winnable and Debbie Cook deserves to be on every progressive's list for donations and support.

More below the fold...

With all the fervor about the Democratic Convention and some of the great speeches we heard, I want to take a moment and write about some of the things that concern me about the future of our country. Obama has impressed me with his rhetoric, his vision of bringing all Americans together to undo the massive damage done during this last decade. Still, progressives face an uphill battle against an establishment that is designed to sustain the status quo.  

If you believe like I do, you believe that the universe (or, perhaps God) is on the side of Justice.  However, stories like former Alabama governor Don Siegelman's make you wonder.

I heard Siegelman's case again today on Rhandy Rhodes' radio program.  His illegal prosecution and irrational sentencing have been traced to our favorite Republican wank - Karl Rove.  

More below...

Before I show you Republican Gordon Smith's new ad, let's just get one thing straight. Gordon Smith voted for the Iraq War. Gordon Smith voted at least five times in support of the Iraq War just last year. No matter how many ads Smith airs trying to fool Oregonians into thinking he's some sort of anti-war hero, his record speaks for itself.

Full disclosure, I am the netroots director for OR-Sen candidate Jeff Merkley

And the Winning Ticket Is -- Obama / Biden 08:

Barack Obama made an excellent choice with his selection of Delaware Senator Joe Biden to be his running mate.  On Saturday I spent the day working at the Democratic booth at the Centre County Grange Fair and throughout the day people were asking if the announcement had been made.  Everyone I spoke with expressed positive opinions about the choice.  If this is any indication of the type of qualified people Barack Obama will surround himself with as President, we can all rest assured that our country will be headed in a better direction come January of 2009.

The daily trivia question at the Democratic booth was "What Pennsylvania town was Joe Biden's hometown?"  I'm usually pretty good at trivia but Kim Bierly had to tell me the answer was Scranton PA.

Rep. Congressman Virgil Goode and Dem. challenger Tom Perriello faced off for the first time on August 13th in a forum that demonstrated the wide gap between the two of them - especially when it comes to immigration policy.  Virgil has repeatedly touted his fence: "There's no way a 12 foot ladder will cross this fence."

A little help of some visual aids would be useful in understanding Virgil's complex "3 tier" fence policy that was outlined in 5 parts?

"Its a three tier fence:

1. Fence Here, 2. Roadway Here, 3. Barrier Here, 4. Road Here, 5. Fence Here."

There is the joke- "what is the definition of an economist? A guy who know 300 ways of making love but doesn’t know any women." This might be just as true about so many "change" candidates. Obama through his choice of Biden has demonstrated that he is not one of them.

The all-but-certain criminality at the top of our government has been getting more coverage lately, but we shouldn't lose sight of those who have at times taken substantial risks to oppose it

For more on pruning back executive power see Pruning Shears.

Voting records are inherently subjective and don't reflect leadership and other important intangibles. Still, I find it interesting to check up on our elected officials and evaluate them based on reasonably relevant criteria.

So, via Progressive Punch, here are the lifetime rankings for the 10 current U.S. Senators who have compiled the best voting records. (A top 20 list for the House follows below the fold, along with links to the campaign websites of our best Members of Congress.)

Top 10 Senate Progressives
http://progressivepunch.org/...

1 Whitehouse RI  
2 Brown OH  
3 Reed RI  
4 Cardin MD  
5 Menendez NJ  
6 Sanders VT  
7 Kennedy MA  
8 Boxer CA  
9 Durbin IL  
10 Lautenberg NJ  

    I am not a committed liberal, however I see a lot of liberal causes that are good and worthy of support. Unfortunately, I see a lot of those good causes being presented in a very bad way. How the message is presented is just as important as the message itself. It bothers me to see a good, just cause overshadowed by the sometimes outlandish and clownish manner that it is presented in.
    My intent is not to make accusations, or to point fingers, but to give advise from the perspective of an outsider looking in with unbiased eyes. No offense is intended, or should be inferred.

I don’t often feel compelled to write to politicians, nor am I naïve enough to think that anything I can say to the Obama campaign will prompt reconsideration of their policy on holding the Bush administration accountable. Nonetheless, for some reason this one was clearly going to bug me until I did it.  So, a few days ago, I sent this letter (below) to the Obama campaign.

The point: Congress (and apparently the Obama campaign, as expressed by legal advisor Cass Sunstein) have made a short term, political "cost/benefit" assessment about holding Bush administration officials accountable for their crimes.  They all seem to have decided that the cost is too high, the benefit too small.  For everyone’s sake, I suggest they recalculate with an eye on the mid-to-long-term costs of NOT holding these criminals accountable.

1841 - John Hampton of New Orleans, LA, received a patent for venetian blinds.

1984 - Clint Eastwood contributed a hand print and the words, "You made my day," to the Hollywood Walk of Fame in front of Mann's Chinese Theatre.

COINCIDENCE? I think NOT!

Quote:
"There is no position on which people are so immovable as their religious beliefs. There is no more powerful ally one can claim in a debate than Jesus Christ, or God, or Allah, or whatever one calls this supreme being. The religious factions that are growing throughout our land are not using their religious clout with wisdom. They are trying to force government leaders into following their position 100 percent. If you disagree with these religious groups on a particular moral issue, they complain, they threaten you with a loss of money or votes or both. I'm frankly sick and tired of the political preachers across this country telling me ... that if I want to be a moral person, I must believe in A, B, C, and D. Just who do they think they are?"
-- Senator Barry Goldwater, 1981

FROM THE CHURCH OF INEFFABLE STUPIDITY:

In debate jargon, there is a term called a "Turn" where you use an opponents argument against them to effectively prove your point. It's time for Democrats to turn the energy debate in an immediate, simple and effective way.

According to Patrick McHenry (also known as Patrick McDouchebag) who by the way needs to ride a bicycle to shed some pounds. Watch this video

To quote McDouche: No folks I cannot make this stuff up