50-State Blog Network Weekly Roundup

Which bookstore will you be visiting at midnight tonight? Would you be surprised to learn that only one presidential candidate has played the Harry Potter card so far?

Either way, here are some updates from around the 50-State Blog Network, brought to you this week from Minnesota Campaign Report‘s Joe Bodell.

Alabama Left in Alabama	A decidedly non-establishment challenger emerges in Alabama’s First congressional district. Ben Lodmell may be shaking things up a bit in Alabama Democratic Party circles.
Arizona AZNetroots	A chilling future-imperfect scenario on terrorism. Ugh.
California Calitics	Yet another contact will be testifying against John Doolittle(R-Roseville) in what can only be described as a ticking clock until his indictment.
Colorado SquareState	Colorado’s congressional representatives fight back against President Bush’s threatened veto of SCHIP reauthorization. What’s SCHIP? “State Children’s Health Insurance Program”. Kick the kids while they’re down, right Mr. President?
Connecticut My Left Nutmeg	Thank you Ed Koch, who helped give us six more years of Joementum…at least you’re being reasonable enough to admit that your support for continued American presence in Iraq was wrong-headed.
Delaware Delaware Liberal	Delaware Liberal’s Jason Scott formally challenges Cong. Mike Castle (R-DE) to a debate on his Iraq policies.
Florida FLA Politics	Christine Jennings, would-be Congresswoman but for 18,000 Diebolded undervotes in Sarasota County in 2006, is coming back for another run in 2008. Go Jennings!
Georgia Tondee’s Tavern	State Senator John Douglas gets pulled over by a off-duty cop for erratic driving. After being let go with no ticket, Douglas threatens the city he will hold up grant funding opportunities and local legislation next session. Our favorite (R) punching bag.
Hawaii Poinography!	Dueling op-eds from state legislators on veto overrides — an interesting read.
Idaho 43rd State Blues	That repeated whacking noise is 43rd State Blues’ shoe against Sen. Larry Craig’s noggin on oil, energy, Iraq, and…well, everything.
Illinois PrairieStateBlue	Illinois activists are looking at Congressional seats in 2008. In IL-6, Operation : Turn DuPage Blue is gaining increased prominance after Tammy Duckworth opted not to challenge Peter Roskam for a second time. In IL-10, Dan Seals was named a “Future Leader” at YearlyKos, but don’t forget he has a primary challenger.
Indiana Blue Indiana	Republican Governor + Trickle-down Reagan-style economics = bad economic markers for Indiana. Pretty simple, actually.
Iowa Bleeding Heartland	I’ll have to work on getting Amy Klobuchar to guest-post on MNCR, but until then, I’ll be in awe of Bleeding Heartland and Iowa Sen. Tom Harkin’s post on the recent all-night Iraq debate.
Louisiana Daily Kingfish	Republican scion Bobby Jindal has retained a political consultant with a reputation for working on losing campaigns. Sort of. Read about it.
Maine Turn Maine Blue	It’s from earlier in the week, but Sen. Susan Collins and Joe Lieberman wrote an op-ed in the Boston Globe together. Mainers — please, please, please remember that Sen. Collins hanging out and working with Joe Lieberman in no way makes her a bipartisan get-things-done sort of Senator. Quite the contrary. Also at Turn Maine Blue, Tom Allen is guestblogging in his effort to unseat Collins.
Maryland Free State Politics	Free State Politics has encouraging news for progressives in potential replacements for departing DINO P.J. Hogan from his Maryland State Sen. seat
Massachusetts BlueMassGroup	A historical note on liberty, government overreach, and a really enormous ball of cheese. Also, a look at fundraising in the 5th CD race, with some interesting developments therein.
Michigan Michigan Liberal	I am shocked — SHOCKED!!! — to hear word of a Republican official seeking to suppress voter turnout and disenfranchise voters. If you can’t win with fair rules, just change the rules, right? Congrats to Michigan Liberal’s founder, Matt Ferguson, on the birth of his brand new twins. Good luck Matt; you’ll need it.
Minnesota Minnesota Campaign Report	Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) can always be counted on for a good legal complaint against political actors who are being naughty. In this case, it’s the Republican Party of Minnesota getting slapped for playing fast and easy with their retirement fund contributions and other financial shenanigans.
Mississippi Cottonmouth Blog	Cottonmouth Blog picks up on the NRA getting involved in the Lieutenant Governor’s race. “Effective grassroots organization”, huh?
Missouri Fired Up! Missouri	A Republican Governor misusing state government for political ends? Oh get out! I mean….oh, forget it. Incredulity just doesn’t go far enough to cover the things these people think they can get away with.
Montana Left in the West	The continuing shift toward strong protection of civil liberties and a hands-off governmental approach to social issues continues in Montana, courtesy of Matt Singer and Forward Montana. The media are starting to pay attention, too.
Nebraska New Nebraska	Nebraska’s state government still finds itself beholden to the big Telecom companies, who staunchly refuse to build large-scale, affordable high-speed Internet access in the state — and they’re preventing the government from doing it instead.
Nevada My Silver State	Welcome My Silver State aboard 50-State Cruise Lines! They have some coverage of presidential candidates’ exploits across the state: Q2 Donations to Bill Richardson, staffing expenditures, and heavy web traffic for Barack Obama.
New Hampshire Blue Hampshire	Republican Sen. John Sununu is in big trouble in 2008. Big. Trouble.
New Jersey Blue Jersey	2006 was a bittersweet victory for many Democrats around the country. For as much good as Rahm Emanuel did as head of the DCCC, there were some cases where just a little bit of support could have given him even more victories (instead of tilting at windmills in Tammy Duckworth’s unsuccessful run). Hopefully this means there’s more progress to be made, and a bigger majority to be built, in 2008.
New Mexico New Mexico FBIHOP	Heather Wilson and The Albany Project	Details on a campaign finance deal reached recently in Albany — and TAR says it’s pretty good.
New York Daily Gotham	Great fundraising numbers coming out of NYC-area State Senate races
North Carolina Blue NC	Is Sen. Liddy Dole about to break from President Bush on Iraq? If the people of North Carolina have anything to say about it, she might want to consider doing so.
North Dakota North Decoder	Ouch — the Center for Public Integrity says for its laws regarding financial disclosures for its Governor.
Ohio As Ohio Goes	As Ohio Goes keeps a close eye on the statements of Sen. Voinovich and just how serious he is about criticizing President Bush‘s conduct of the Iraq occupation.
Ohio Buckeye State Blog	Buckeye State Blog provides first-hand coverage of John Edward’s vist to the poorest city in America (Edwards in Cleveland’s Mt. Pleasant). Also, read It’s With Sadness I Announce I’m Leaving BSB.
Oklahoma blue oklahoma	Oklahoma has a new state poet laureate — read all about him. Very interesting stuff!
Oregon Loaded Orygun	With a recent move to SoapBlox, Loaded Orygun is up and running, highlighting a DSCC poll showing House Speaker Jeff Merkley within six points of Sen. Gordon Smith. Smith is one of the “moderates,” along with Minnesota’s own Norm Coleman, who are going to be heavily targeted for removal in 2008.
Pennsylvania Keystone Politics	Keystone Politics finds a bombshell in the midst of U.S. Attorney investigations in Penn.: “Wecht charges prompt inquiry”.
Rhode Island Rhode Island’s Future	Mark Democrat Jack Reed down on the list of U.S. Senators who are going to be safe as can be in 2008. Here’s to hoping that if no serious Republican opposition appears, Senator Reed will contribute generously to Democratic challengers around the country to help build his caucus’s majority
South Dakota Clean Cut Kid	Who do state officials work for? Themselves, or the people who elected them? Clean Cut Kid takes on Governor Mike Rounds on exactly that topic.
Tennessee Knox Views	It’s apolitical, but ospreys are really, really, really cool birds, and this is a great shot of one with its catch. In more political events, Knox Views goes after Mitt Romney for his approach to sex education and child molesters.
Texas Burnt Orange Report	In large states like Texas, where there are lots of colleges and universities, young voters actually can make a big difference in terms of elections, outreach, and activism. Details on YDA’s activities in Texas here.
Texas Texas Kaos	Do Texas Republicans just not care about public education? Seems that way
Utah Wasatch Watcher	A great photo gallery from a recent visit by Bill Richardson.
Vermont Green Mountain Daily	Brattleboro, VT passes an ordinance banning public nudity from some areas of town. You really can’t make this stuff up: “Don’t people have a Constitutional right not to be offended?” … Ah yes, the ethereal and seldom-mentioned 0th Amendment, which read “The right not to be offended by anything, anytime, anywhere, anyhow, shall not be abridged. By naked people. Ever.”
Virginia Raising Kaine	Raising Kaine highlight a one prominent flip-flop over the Virginia Transportation Plan in “Jeannemarie Then…and Now”.
Washington WashBlog	State Rep Rodney Tom announces a run for U.S. Congress in the 8th district, where Darcy Burner lost a close race to Dave Reichert in 2006.
West Virginia West Virginia Blue	West Virginia Blue notes that even as the West Virginia State GOP is facing an uphill battle (even Republicans don’t trust the WV GOP), incumbent Republican Shelley Moore Capito (WV-02) is enjoying an “Incumbency protection racket: Capito shakes down carpenter’s union”
Wisconsin Uppity Wisconsin	President Bush’s approval rating is 19% in Wisconsin, with 73% disapproval. That is not a good place to be, generally (cue theme to 1980s cartoon “Captain Obvious”).

50-State Blog Network Weekly Roundup

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haven't read any Harry Potter books

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