Alabamians are going to move their primary to the first Tuesday of February, 2008. This would supposedly follow New Hampshire by a week. The week prior to New Hampshire would be a caucus (or two) still undecided (Nevada is the CW choice), and a week prior to that would be the Iowa caucus. It remains to be seen when Arizona, Delaware, Missouri, Oklahoma and South Carolina, which were the first Tuesday in Feb., after NH, in '04; and Michigan, which is reported to be potentially moving to this same 1st Tuesday of Feb. place their primaries; and there's also the '04 caucuses of New Mexico, North Dakota, and Washington that could be on this date; and there's been reporting of a Mountain West cluster on this early Feb. date that would potentially add Utah and Colorado to the date. Still early, and lots of shaking out to do, but it sorta looks like the first Tuesday in Feb, '08 is going to be the National Super Tuesday of '08. Jerome

We've talked over and over again about getting geographic diversity and representation in the primary process. And while I'd love to have seen DC's first in the nation primary honored in 2004 (for obvious reasons to educate the nation about the lack of Congressional representation), I think the potential move of Alabama to join early states on the first Tuesday of February is a positive step to find the right nominee for the party. I don't think one state from each corner of the country really cuts it.

Next Monday, the Alabama State House is poised to cast the final vote on the move, and Governor Riley has already promised to sign the bill into law.

I'm posting on behalf of DC for Democracy.

DC for Democracy is calling on our grassroots brothers and sisters to tell their Representatives to do their jobs and have an open 17-hour debate on what we are going to do in Iraq - for the first time since 2002.

On Monday, Daily Kos had a great diary about H Res 543, a bill that would create 17 hours of debate on Iraq on the floor of Congress.

DC for Democracy recently started a nationwide, grassroots campaign called "Change the Course" - and with the support of Democracy for America, we have just expanded from 3 pilot states to 30 states. The plan? We do the lobbying here in DC, you do the lobbying in home districts during Congressional recess. We're already working with local DFA groups in MD, CA, NY, PA, and NJ. When we started out there were 60 names on the discharge petition, and now there are 75.

We need your help! We need your action! Can you join us? More on the flip...

We thank all of you who worked so hard during the past few months to pass issues 2, 3, 4, & 5.  Your dedication and passion for change are an inspiration.  This was just the first step in a long-term reform movement.    

Although we are disappointed by the results, we will continue our efforts to demand a responsible and accountable state government.  But as we work to improve Ohio, we must also demand responsibility and accountability from those within our own Party.

We are of course angry at the usual suspects who opposed these issues to protect the corrupt status quo--the Republican Party, corporate special interests, and their radical allies on the religious right.  But we should be just as angry with Democratic Party "leaders" like Jimmy Dimora and Susan Gwinn who actively campaigned to defeat these reforms.  Dimora is the Chairman of the Cuyahoga County Democratic Party and Gwinn is the President of the Ohio Democratic County Chairs Association.  Both acted not on principle, but to protect their own political fiefdoms at the public's expense.

With friends like these, who needs enemies?  These Party leaders have betrayed us.  They must be held accountable.  

Over 300 international parliamentarians from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) are meeting in Washington today. In addition to their work, DC voting rights advocates have put forward a resolution to be voted on by this body to call out the hypocrisy of the Bush Administration's claim to spread democracy world-wide, but ignore it in their own backyard - the Nation's capital.

In response, DC residents are holding mass demonstrations and rallies today to highlight our lack of full voting representation, and encourage support for this resolution. We pay federal taxes, serve on federal jury duty and send our young men and women to die in Iraq to bring democracy abroad, but the Bush Administration refuses to even discuss bringing that democracy into their own backyard where 600,000 Americans live without a voice, or a vote, in the U.S. Congress that governs us.

You can join us for a lunch time rally, but be ready for some serious "monitoring" by the U.S. Army. At 7:30 this morning, we held the first of the two rallies today. One demonstrator reported that a gentleman was taking pictures of each of the rally supporters. He asked if he was with the media. The answer shocked him: "No sir, I'm on assignment with the Signals Battalion out of Fort Meade, Maryland."

The stars may be aligning to make Alabama the political "belle-weather" for Southern political strategy. This traditionally conservative state may seem an unlikely testing ground, but forces seem to be converging to ensure the next three election cycles, 2006-2008-2010, put the "Heart of Dixie" squarely in the middle of the battle for Republican and Democratic power. What's on tap?

2006 - Governor and state-wide elections
2008 - The first Southern presidential primary
2010 - Congressional redistricting to eliminate one U.S. House seat

From the diaries--Chris

Or at least that's what you'd think judging Sam Brownback's (R-KS) statement in DC yesterday. In fact, it wasn't so much a statement even, as much a "warning". Yes, a warning to the 600,000 residents of the District of Columbia. If the District recognizes a married gay couple for tax filing purposes, Brownback vowed to bring the full weight of Congressional meddling onto the District's budget and laws.

This from a man who tried to lead the national effort to create a Constritutional ban on same-sex marriage. Said Brownback, "I was hopeful we weren't going to be confronting this issue..."

Now, many people may not get the connection. For those that don't, here's a quick primer.

1. The District of Columbia lacks Congressional representation for its citizens. We have an elected "delegate", Ms. Eleanor Holmes Norton, but she has no vote on the floor of Congress, so she's limited in her power to essentially making noise as best she can.

2. Citizens of the District pay federal income taxes, but have no federal representation. Other territories that share our lack of representation, are exempt from federal income taxes. We define "Taxation Without Representation".

3. The Congress of the United States (in which we have no voice, remember) has the privilege of reviewing, and approving, every dollar we spend, and every law we pass.

Conservative members of Congress have long used the District to advance their own causes. For example, against near unanimous local objection to school vouchers, Congress decided to force a "pilot program" on DC residents two years ago. The District has a ban on handguns, but Indiana Republican Mark Souder sought to repeal our gun ban right before the 2004 elections to make political hay for their base constituents. The District wanted to spend its tobacco settlement money from several years ago on health care programs, but Texas Senator Kay Bailey Hutchinson decided we'd best lock that money away in a "rainy day" fund so restrictive, it has no practical use, and DC cannot draw down the funding. The list goes on, and on, and on...

Mr. Brownback, DC residents didn't elect you - the voters of Kansas did. Go back there. Pay attention to your constituents - that's what you're paid for. Frankly, we don't want you in DC.

And they say Virginia is for lovers...

A quick study by the Virginia Public Access Project shows the Virginia gubernatorial candidates have raised nearly $5 million dollars in the first three months of 2005 - well ahead of the fundraising pace of the Governor's race at this time in 2001. The Washington Post has a good write-up. During the same time period in 2001, Mark Warner and Mark Earley had raised just above $1.8 million. The high tempo fundraising pace is surely part the result of a charged donor base with Virginia being only one of two states with elections this year (and a whole lot people around the country itching to get active and make VA a line in the sand).

Also helping boost the totals is the early seed money from the DNC to Democratic candidate Tim Kaine. The DNC wrote a check for $1.5 million, much to the ire of Republican Jerry Kilgore, and his spokesman - providing one of the funniest quotes of the week. In reaction to Kaine outraising Kilgore by nearly 2:1, Kilgore mouthpiece J. Tucker Martin tried to cast Kaine, a very moderate Southerner, as a liberal New Englander. His exact quote (and just in case it's not clear what he means, Dean = DNC)... "Fifty-seven percent of Kaine's money came from Howard Dean. Between Howard Dean's money and Tim Kaine's liberal record, Kaine is well on his way to becoming governor of Vermont."

Nearly half of Kilgore's fundraising came from just 7 donors that each gave $50,000. And don't forget our man Russell Potts, a Republican who has joined the race running as an independent. He raised over $300,000 - which includes a $250,000 check from a close friend (limits on campaign contributions in VA state races, well, basically don't exist).

Now, correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm not sure who, besides an arch-conservative, could label Kaine's voting record as "liberal." Kaine's own staff and supporters describe him as "moderate to conservative" and he won't be getting the backing of NARAL any time soon. And I'm pretty sure the DNC funds are from the grassroots fundraising bonanza the DNC has experienced with Dean at the helm.

Comparing Kaine to Dean is a clear signal this is going to be a nasty, nasty race. Also of note, Virginia Republicans are trying to get a ballot initiative passed this year banning same sex marriage. My guess is the average conservative and moderate Virginian equates Dean and Vermont to embracing same sex marriage (something that won't fare well as a ballot initiative).

A sign of things to come in the Commonwealth in 2005?