Thanks to Betsy Muse of BlueNC for compiling this roundup and writing the text that goes with it. -desmoinesdem  

We’re down to the final days before the North Carolina and Indiana primaries.  We have a complete primer on the North Carolina primary process posted at BlueNC.  

Blue Indiana has this first in a series posted at this link.  

In North Carolina the excitement has spilled over to the down ballot races.  It’s the biggest year I can remember in my voting life.  I was 14 the last time North Carolina had a say in who would be the Democratic nominee.  I’m almost 46.  At this rate it may never happen again in my life, so I’m enjoying every minute of it.  I can even get past the negative ads so that I can celebrate the unprecedented voter registration numbers and so that I’m prepared to help the other North Carolina races take advantage of the organization efforts once all eyes are on to the next state.  

The rest of the the roundup is after the jump.

Thanks, as always, to Betsy Muse of BlueNC for this roundup. -desmoinesdem

It’s Spring Break here in our neck of North Carolina. We’re Tar Heel fans, so are glued to the tube during March Madness. Unfortunately, North Carolina is in for a different type of March Madness as the Clinton and Obama campaigns descend on the state. We have a short roundup this week while many of our state bloggers take a much needed break. Enjoy!

The roundup is after the jump.

Thanks, as usual, to Betsy Muse of BlueNC for the roundup. -desmoinesdem

After an unexpected absence last week, I’m back and so is the 50 State Blog Roundup.

How’s the tension at your favorite national blog community?  Take a break from all the nastiness and drop by your favorite state blog for a change.  Look in on our statewide and local races…..just stay away from the presidential primary threads.  They bring a whole new meaning to March madness!

After the jump are a few posts from last week and the roundup for March 14, 2008.

Thanks again to Betsy of BlueNC for the roundup.-desmoinesdem

This week finds many of us burning the candles at both ends.  We see campaigns gearing up in North Carolina as the time for filing to run for public office comes to a close at noon today.  Campaigns are looking to hire “internet outreach coordinators” for the first time and BlueNC has been announced as a venue for an open forum discussion between our two Democratic gubernatorial candidates.  Imagine seeing that in the newspaper and realizing we didn’t have a date set for the event!  We will also host a debate or forum between at least three of the four candidates for Lt. Gov. in NC.  Just yesterday we received confirmation from a candidate for senate that she will live-blog at BlueNC.  Check out the other state blogs on the list and on the Open Left and MyDD state blogrolls.  

The rest of the roundup is after the jump.

Thanks to Betsy for the roundup, which came while I was in the hospital. -desmoinesdem

Rick Renzi’s under indictment, Sue Myrick gets caught with her fingers in the cookie jar – possibly legally, Patrick McHenry has questions surrounding just about everything he does, John Shadegg can’t make up his mind. How many more Republicans will get caught up in legal or ethical controversies prior to November?

One way to stay on top of this is to follow along with the state blogs. We’re discussing our congress critters and their shenanigans long before it hits the national scene. Stop by. Check us out. You too can be the first to know.

The roundup for last week is after the jump.

Thanks again to Betsy of BlueNC for this week’s roundup. -desmoinesdem

Texas
   Phillip Martin of Burnt Orange Report lays out the strategy of how Barack Obama can win Texas.  

Oregon
   First recorded version of Ginsberg’s HOWL was in Berkley, right? Nope–a new discovery puts it at Portland’s Reed College, 52 years ago this Valentine’s Day.  

Michigan
   Clinton, Obama campaigning for – but not IN – Michigan

Iowa
   desmoinesdem discusses the preferences of Iowa’s superdelegates and notes that Democracy for America has endorsed Ed Fallon, who is challenging incumbent Leonard Boswell in the primary to represent Iowa’s third Congressional district.

New York
   The Daily Gotham diagnoses a rebellion among national Democrats and wonders what that means for the State of New York.

Texas
   As the focus on the Democratic Presidential Primary shifts to Texas, Fort Worth Is Fired Up and Ready to Go!

Arizona
   Incumbent Republican John Shadegg is out of the picture in AZ CD3 and Bob Lord has received increased support from local and national Democrats.  

California
   Arnold Schwarzenegger talks a big game about putting all options on the table, but won’t be forthright about the need to raise revenue.

New Mexico
   New Mexico’s filing deadline came and went this week, and now we know who is running for the three open House and one open Senate seats.  Fun times.

Delaware
   Republican State Rep. Nancy Wagner uses earmarks to give her husband a job.  Rev. Chris Bullock announces his candidacy for Delaware’s sole congressional seat.  State Sen. Harris McDowell delays Delaware’s move to wind power with meaningless hearings.  

Virginia
    RK Conference Call with Gov. Kaine.  

South Dakota
    What Was That You Were Saying, Gov. Rounds?

Utah
   Is Utah the worlds nuclear landfill?

West Virginia
   W.Va. state Sen. Hunter says “I introduced Senate Bill 588 because I fervently believe that God did not intend for us to destroy the mountains, the streams, the forests and His people in order to mine coal.”  Jay the Telcom Operator: Sen Rockefeller’s unwavering support of telco immunity earns him a new nickname “One Ringy-Dingy Rocky” (with a must-see photoplay by OneCitizen).

Minnesota
   SurveyUSA indicates a dead heat between incumbent Republican Norm Coleman and Democratic challenger Al Franken.

Alabama
   Mooncat brings us a heartbreaker on Valentines Day.  Read about payday lenders preying on the elderly and disabled.

Colorado
   At Squarestate, David Sirota is reporting a Colorado Superdelegate plans to ignore the will of Colorado voters.

North Carolina
   At BlueNC, Jerimee reports that Congressman Brad Miller has taken a leadership role in passing the contempt resolution.

Connecticut
   Shays embarrasses Connecticut…..again.

Wisconsin
   At Uppity Wisconsin, xoff says Wisconsin doesn’t need another presidential debate.

Georgia
   At Tondee’s Tavern we find tha Rep. David Scott flipped to Obama and Rep. John Lewis is looking that way.

Idaho
   At 43rd State Blues Idahogie takes on the Super Delegate petitions floating around with a convincing argument.

Illinois
   At Prairie State Blue, Michael in Chicago writes about raising Democratic visibility.

Indiana
   Must see video at Blue Indiana.  An Indiana State Rep., John Elrod (R) is caught on tape doing campaign work during a legislative session.  

Maryland
   Donna Edwards wins! And Eric looks at the implications of that victory.

[Betsy at BlueNC helms the update again this week…]

This week we bring you double the pleasure in our 50 State Blog Roundup. Real life threw me a curve ball last week and I wasn't able to follow through with the roundup. My apologies. You will find last week's roundup tagging along at the end. Without further delay, here's what's going on locally at our state community blogs:

Minnesota
   Tim Walz — first-term congressman and Democratic National Convention superdelegate — endorsed Barack Obama's presidential bid this week.

Iowa
   desmoinesdem discusses the dispute between Iowa's governor and secretary of state (both Democrats) over the best fix for paperless voting machines.

Louisiana
   The Primaries are coming to Louisiana… and Daily Kingfish is torn between the two candidates remaining. Although Daily Kingfish is undecided, Ryan is sick of the all spin being put on the Louisiana internets about how Hillary hasn't released a plan to deal with the Gulf Region. Locally, Governor PBJ's Ethics Plan has some serious holes, and is facing criticism from the Ethics Board themselves!

{much more under the fold!}

This week’s round-up comes courtesy of Betsy at BlueNC. -Chris

Happy New Year and Congratulations to Iowa Democrats on the excellent turnout for yesterday’s caucuses.

Below is an abbreviated roundup for our 50-State community blogs. Enjoy reading up on what’s important in states across the country. Onward to New Hampshire!

Go to the extended entry to read more…

UPDATE from desmoinesdem: just wanted to note that the one celebrating the birthday is Robert P of BlueNC, who did this compilation.

Today’s 50-state blog roundup is brought to you by the letters B, N, and

C – BlueNC. Major, major hat-tip to

Betsy, who really did all the work. If you aren’t reading your state’s

blog, you should be, because “all politics is local” should be more than

a motto. This is an interesting week, the Presidential Primary is

heating up in the early states (see below), while Virginia holds a

special election next Tuesday. At the same time state legislatures seem

to be trying and sneak in some iffy legislation before the holiday

season. Enjoy!

p.s. It’s my birthday this weekend, I’ll keep celebrating until I turn 40.



Advertise on the 50 State Blog Network.

See the roundup below the fold…

This week’s roundup is brought to you by Clem Guttata of West Virginia Blue with a major assist from Mike Paulle. Thank you Mike!

Welcome to this week’s roundup, brought to you by Clem G. of West Virginia Blue. So much for August as a slow news month… there’s plenty to dig into here.

Of Special Note

* Congratulations to The Albany Project. As Phillip Anderson puts it,

I’d have to say the highlight of our week was the Governor stopping by to congratulate us on a great convention in Chicago and inform our readers that he will soon be starting a regular liveblogging gig at The Albany Project. it’s pretty cool.

* MyLeftNutmeg recaps the many stories of the one year aniversary of Ned Lamont’s primary victory. Lamont’s victory, showing Democrats the power of embracing the Democratic Party, led directly to our 2008 general election gains.

Social, Economic and Environmental Justice

* Wasatch Watcher asks: Does mine boss Robert Murray care about the trapped miners?

* Square State has the sad story of Outrageous Discrimination Against Latino Citizens.

* RI Future questions why Republican Gov. Don Carcieri is using taxpayer dollars on a right-wing lawyer to oppose a same sex marriage dispute in the RI Supreme Court.

* Yoda of PrairieStateBlue walks a picket line with John Edwards.

* BlueMassGroup discusses the LGBT presidential forum.

* Left In The West has the reality-based view of Idaho’s wild fire season (it’s shaping up to be a bad one).

* BlueHampshire has a captivating diary on the need for substantive debate on predatory lending and mortgage servicing fraud (as well as the frustrations of being a citizen prop for a Presidential campaign).

* At TexasKaos the look into capital punishment rates and wonder why the state of Texas is so keen to kill its citizens.

All Politics are Local

* It’s impossible to keep up with everything in a huge state like California. For a one two stop hit of top stories, visit Calitics for this week’s roundup of state stories and highlight of Calitics local stories.

* Burnt Orange Report announces an exciting initiative: TexBlog PAC.

* Don’t let the Republicans find out, but Green Mountain Daily lets slip the news that sometimes government really does work.

* KeyStone Politics has the disappointing news of Philadelphia schools dropping “recognition months”.

On Blogging

*PrairieStateBlue writes in praise of lurkers.

* Bleeding Heartland wonders if political blogs have a higher tolerance for dissent than non-political blogs. Interesting question. What do you think?

* Turn Maine Blue lays down some guidelines for candidates posting on the front-page.

* The Daily Gotham tells “what we publish, how, and why”.

Candidates and Elections

* My Silver State tells of a encouraging visit (with video) by Obama to Elko.

* West Virginia Blue notes wildly popular Gov. Manchin may have long coat-tails with straight party ticket voting in West Virginia in 2008.

* Wasatch Watcher reports: Barack Obama stops over in Utah.

* Check out a new congressional candidate and a new (maybe) congressional candidate at Michigan Liberal.

* AZ Netroots continues their loud cry for help. Why isn’t there a Democratic challenger yet for AZ-01?

* In Watching the Right in Florida FLA Politics announces a network of blogs to, well, watch the right in Florida!

* Tondee’s Tavern is pleased Bill Gillespie is making moves to enter GA-01 race.

* At Blue Indiana, candidate Barry Walsh (IN-06) diaries about his formal announcement of candidacy.

* Daily Kingfish dissects the LA-GOV race to conclude… Jindal can be beaten.

* Blue Jersey makes the case against Republican Rep. Jim Saxton (NJ-03)

* BlueNC has some cool news. Dem. challenger Larry Kissell (NC-08) is welcoming Ambassador Joe Wilson to the state for a fund-raiser.

* Jerid reflects on his summer in New Hampshire for Buckeyestateblog.

* State Sen. Andrew Rice’s announcement of a U.S. Senate bid against Jim Inhofe is the big news at Blue Oklahoma.

* Horse’s Ass (WA) reminds us all why Darcy Burner is a netroots hero (w/ video)

Politicians, Governing and Mis-Governing

* From Michigan Liberal: the short-lived blog ban by the MI Senate is now over.

* Left In Alabama points out the self-serving nature of the Republican governor’s proposed reforms.

* Susan Collins (ME) is caught at Turn Maine Blue holding a farce of a virtual town hall meeting.

* Free State Politics reminds us, it’s not too early to start thinking about NCLB Reauthorization

* What is the connection between Peter Smith, Tim Pawlenty, and the I35 bridge collapse? MN Campaign Report has the answer.

* Fired Up! Missouri wonders why Gov. Matt Blunt is asking Supreme Court nominees 111 questions.

* NMFBIHOP notes the US Attorney scandal is refocusing on Republican Rep. Heather Wilson.

* Rumsfield v. Kucinich (video)is the highlight at AsOhioGoes.

* Upitty Wisconsin finds the ring wing compalining because Republican Attorney General follows the law.

* At West Virginia Blue Carnacki more attentions pays to what vulnerable Republian Rep. Capito (WV-02) does than what she says.

Welcome once again to the 50-State Blog Roundup, brought to you this week from LoadedOrygun‘s TJ, one of the state blog rookies. Treat him kindly…

See you next week!

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.