I, for one, find this sort of thing really helpful.

Just saw the latest McCain ad on CNN. "Serious Change": Clean energy, portable affordable health care, mortgage relief...very good ad

i gotta ask: is there a prominent link on barackobama.com to fightthesmears.com? coz there are gonna be some big smears...
however, i sure do like those texas numbers!!

We're not altogether crazy in Texas - the gov doesn't have much power and we only let the lege meet every other year.

Give us that much credit - we know they're wack.

Not to burst anyone's bubble but the state board issue is not going away unless we raise hell. My Mom who was an educator for over 30 years and now continues to do work for her school district was in court twice last month fighting the SBE to not allow specific curriculum that is guided with christian undertones in English education. The SBE is pretty close to evenly split on these issues as many on Texas feel that the reason our Kid's aren't doing better is because they aren't reading their bibles properly(snark). But seriously we have to continue to take this issue on, there has only been a handful of traditional media articles/coverage(Houston Chronicle and Dallas Morning News) covering this issue. The culprit behind the introduction of thee new materials(other wise known as the 'alternative' document) is a educator named Donna Garner. One of the highlights of the curriculum is the summer reading list which includes 100 books with a make-up of on no Hispanic authors. I would find it troubling if my Kid was never exposed to any Hispanic literature in our schools. Hispanics are oart of our Texas community just like the rest of us the make up the cultural mileaux(?). Some of the other readings parables and stories from the Bible. I am not against religion but if there is going to be any religion in my life it is not going to be promoted through the state! It will be private!
IF I link correctly this is a great read about the developments up to now

Anyways I would agree that Texas is definitely in play this year and I would also agree that Cornyn must go, he is part of the problem. By the way he has an ad out if you have not seen it called "Big John: Big Bad John" Hilarious if you get a chance to see, might be on you tube! If you guys have not already, I know times are tight, but take a look a Noriega, I believe he has a shot! And we have to get rid of Craddick and Perry or our state will literally be the prime example of Bush's failed system. I am bit cynical after I tried to convince all of my friends and family, mostly unsuccessfully, to not support Bush in 2000 and 2004. At this point the national picture is looking much more rosy in my friend and family network for the Obama crowd, so I agree that many of us have seen firsthand the failures of this administration and its cronies to effectively protect our Basic Rights/Constitution and run a Government bureaucracy. It's simple their policies have run up the debt, asked question regarding our constitutional rights(4th amendment) , mismanaged a war and its occupation on two fronts, mismanaged the DOJ(breaking the law), committed war crimes, and allowed our Business community to effectively guides us down a path of folly and ruin. I know I make it sound so bleak but seriously if Bush is not remembered as the worst Leader of this century and perhaps last then our History will not be accurate and our America will not be the America I grew up in. He is that Bad! Look at this clip via you tube

Let's kick some Ass!

this pep tal was okay, but pretty thin gruel when it's examined closely. First, he said they have a good lead in "most" of the states Kerry won. Not all folks, most. And this is still June. Democrats traditionally are way, way ahead in the polls throughout the summer. Obama barely leads McCain in most polls. Others show something more encouraging and traditional. Nonetheless, Obama's campaign can take nothing for granted, particularly the states he is expected to win in. He is going to have an extraordinarily difficult time winning in states Dems don't typically win despite the rhetoric of being "competitive". The best news in the pep talk was that they do not plan to concede anywhere which is a mistake Democrats have made in the past allowing Republicans to concentrate their forces defending a much smaller battlefield. Democrats can and must run hard everywhere so that the Republican resources are spread thin so we can poke holes in their defenses wherever possible. Regardless of all the details, the election will be a squeaker in the best case scenario. Take nothing for granted friends and remember: losing is always possible so don't take winning for granted.

He sounds so calm cool and colected. I had made a donation to Obama's campaign about 10 mnutes prior to clicking on the TPM link

There has been a lot of huffing and puffing lately on where Obama really stands on various issues. Is he a progressive pandering to the center to win the GE or a centrist who pandered to left for the nomination? I think progressives are going to be very disheartened to discover it is most assuredly the latter. Nothing in his short political career suggests otherwise. You can rant all you want about clever he is, but it's really how clever he was in getting you to nominate him.

The best way to tell where a candidate stands is to look at his main advisers. Well, so far he has chosen a centrist (actually right of center) economics team that embraces the so-called Chicago school of Milton Friedman, which was the philosophy of Robert Rubin, the arch Clintonite. Now, it appears his foreign policy team is all Clintonites and many are quite hawkish.

Now, I am not suggesting that Hillary would have been more progressive (though she actually may have been on labor issues), just that the evidence is mounting that you guys drank some damn good kool-aid. My main concern is that by the time the GE arrives, you idealists will be so disillusioned that you will vote third party or just sit out the election altogether. I really hope that doesn't happen, but I saw this coming a long time ago.