Well, the Donuts were surprised by the overwhelming response to the Series Blogging idea. We went in for a cup of joe and came out with 3 dozen donuts and a double cappuccino. We think we're ready to take the next step by getting two pilot series up and running.

Based on both on- and off-line discussions with fellow snackers, we think the Science/Earth and GenNext topics will be able to get up to speed quickly and help us work through the kinks in the system. Knight Rider has offered to be the contact person for the Science/Earth topic and Reg NYC has volunteered for the GenNext topic. We hope that the Science/Earth team will have their first blog up sometime next week and that GenNext will start the week after.

(cross posted from Noel's Blog on DKos http://www.dailykos.com/story/2006/4/11/214133/265)

The Houston Chronicle with one-third of of the votes counted has declared Ted Ankrum the winner of the Texas Primary Run-off for Congressional District 10.

U.S. House, Dist. 10 (33.2%)
*Ted Ankrum, D 72.7%
Paul Foreman, D 27.3%

This was a race between two Vietnam Vets (more below the fold).

Brought to you by Fighting-Dems.com

Ted Ankrum for U.S. Congress (TX-10)

Service: Captain, U.S. Navy; retired; Major, USNR. A 30-year veteran with four tours in Vietnam. He has been awarded the Bronze Star Medal for Valor, Navy Commendation Medal, Vietnamese Medal of Honor and Cross of Gallantry, Purple Heart; Member of Nuclear Navy Personnel selected by Adm. Rickover. A 20% Disabled Veteran.

From the diaries -- Larry

Did you see my blog last week about Curt Weldon's attack of Admiral (ret) Joe Sestak?

Lower Than Whale Poop

Well, Joe has thanked everyone for their support on myDD. Please drop by and comment:

http://www.mydd.com/story/2006/4/7/181234/1309

Also, here's a diary about the Admiral from Chris Bowers:

http://www.mydd.com/story/2006/4/7/152118/7850

Here's an article from the Daily News on the topic:

http://www.sestakforcongress.com/pages/news.php?id=61

I'm speechless. And y'all know that doesn't happen much. Just when you think Republicans can sink no lower, one of them outdoes the rest. Curt Weldon (R-PA-07), who I'm ashamed to call my Congresscritter, remarked regarding his Democratic opponent's 5-year-old daughter's brain cancer treatment:

Weldon also suggested Sestak should have sent his daughter to a hospital in Philadelphia or Delaware, rather than the Washington hospital.

Unfuckingbelievable.

See the whole story at the Hill.

I'd like to see the DCCC spending money on making things as fair as they can be. I'm an idealist at heart. Forget "winning." That just makes us as bad as they are. The DCCC should spend its money to ensure that the choices are in the hands of the voters--that is, they should be levelling the playing field to the extent that they actually can. They should not be tilting it. If there are really good candidates who are not getting exposure because they're broke and if that exposure would likely translate to votes, then the DCCC should be helping those candidates. There will always be limited resources and the DCCC will always have to make decisions. But I really think if we saw the DCCC as an enabler rather than as a king maker, a lot of the hard feelings would go away.

My DD poll:
http://www.mydd.com/story/2006/3/21/02048/4430

Kos polls
April Straw: http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2006/3/20/153024/596
Fantasy: http://dailykos.com/storyonly/2006/3/20/161720/108

Very cool! Politics from the ground up -- Larry

Democracy for NYC is having a Spring Gala on March 29. Take a look at the host committee on the invitation--Ruth Benedict, Gordon Suber, and Eric Massa are on it in addition to several other Clarkies. Hope to see you there!

Dear Maria,

Massa for Congress Unites 29th District Democrats

For the first time in the 29th Congressional District's history, there is united support among democrats for a congressional candidate.  Eric Massa has officially received the endorsement of the Monroe County Democratic Committee in his bid to unseat freshman representative Randy Kuhl, making it the eighth and final county to throw its support behind Massa's race.  Click here to read full article.

This week the team started doing status reports, so I thought the easiest way to update everyone on what’s up is to share the status reports. (Actually, we worked a lot harder than this; the real status reports are much more detailed and useful for accomplishing things but not for conveying interesting information.)

-------------------

PROJECT: Wes Clark Book Club

PURPOSE: Select a book to read as a group and discuss it. (Not to be confused with blogger book reviews and Wes’s reading list which are under separate projects.)

SCOPE: A Book Club user account will be home to the Book Club. Using the poll feature, bloggers will vote on a book to read from a short list that hopefully is supplied by Wes. Then, Book Club will post a blog where users can comment on the book.

We just thought we'd let everyone know that we've got a team in place and we're working on reading through everyone's suggestions and last summer's report.

Expect little updates and requests for help as things begin to happen. Don't forget to keep emailing us ideas, problems, questions, and feedback.

Thanks,
CarolNYC, icantbelieveimvotingforageneral, ms in la, Tom Rinaldo, and Westcott

Original announcement: Clark Bars and Hot Blogs