What the hell?

Last time anyone checked, Patty Madrid was up four points in the NM-1 race against Heather Wilson. Now, in the Democratic heart of the swing district, Republicans are trying to muddy the water:

After receiving sworn affidavits from voters who were deliberately and repeatedly given incorrect information on voting locations in Albuquerque by the Republican Party and related organizations, District Judge Vanzi is considering a temporary restraining order which would ban the Republican Party from contacting voters who are not registered Republicans.   The evidence suggests an active strategy aimed at confusing and disenfranchising minority, Green, and Democratic voters.  A hearing will be scheduled tomorrow in response to a Democratic complaint.

Who does this help? (Warner exit stage right)

Not Hillary Clinton. Everyone on the Mark Warner bandwagon were already looking to an alternative to the Church of HRC. That she is too east coast, too liberal, to politicy, to plastic... too what we've already seen, is why they were looking at Warner.

This doesn't help John Kerry, Wes Clark, John Edwards (well maybe a little... the last southerner in the race) because Warner was a fresh face and they're all retreads. It could help Evan Bayh or Tom Vilsack, they're both midwestern wanna-be centrists. But come on, they have the personality of a plastic fork.

This helps Gov. Bill Richardson most of all.

For just over a month the Washington State Netroots Agenda has been collecting ideas from one end of Washington to the other, building a list of ideas that could make up a progressive, grassroots written, agenda for our next legislative session.

Cross posted (somewhat) at Olympia Time.

I've been reading Applebee's America the last few days, and I want to write down some thoughts. Here is one of the first.

Awhile back I wrote something in reaction to a NY Times article on "relos," or folks that move from exurb/suburb to exurb/suburb, following upper class management jobs. I was wrong about the exurbs (maybe not relos though), or at least the "community" part of the exurbs:

For the last few months I've been thinking about this concept called civic republicanism, a sort of catch all counter philosophy for the overarching theme of the Republican Party (which is I got mine). A "greater good" philosophy would cover all the typical Democratic bases, and bring them together in a way that

The argument for a "greater good" philosophy for the Democratic Party has been focused around what kind of politics we should believe. I've even started keeping notes on what I think would be included in a civic republican platform (wiki here).

The difference between the Bad Boss contest sponsored by Working America (AFL-CIO) and the SEIU's Since Sliced Bread contest redoubles my already heald impressions of both organizations. It also reinforces the two ways liberals/Democratics/Progressives are approaching things these days.

The AFL-CIO represents bad politics: bitter, tearing down, win at all costs (also represented by the DSCC and the DCCC).

The SEIU represents a positive, constructive, win as much as we can, but make it all good, type of politics (also represented by the DNC's 50 state strategy).

At Gnomedex in Seattle, Edwards says what other 2008 donkeys should all be saying, knowing and putting into practice. It isn't about the technology, it is what the technology does to the conversation. It opens it up, calls for more acoutability, accesability and authenticity. Seattle PI: