I missed several Sabato’s Crystal Ball emails due to accidental unsubscribing. Here is one of many make-up posts. 05/29/2008 Rhodes Cook’s THE “CONTROVERSIAL” CAUCUSES: An Outsized Influence in 2008 Maybe one of the most intriguing – and nefarious – aspects of this long-running Democratic presidential campaign is that the legitimacy of the system itself has come into question. Doubts, to be sure, have been raised about the role of the unelected “superdelegates”. But...

I missed several Sabato’s Crystal Ball emails due to accidental unsubscribing. Here is one of many make-up posts. 05/29/2008 Alan I. Abramowitz’s CAN MCCAIN OVERCOME THE TRIPLE WHAMMY? Electoral Barometer Shows Democratic Advantage With the long and contentious Democratic nomination race finally winding down, the attention of the media and the public is beginning to shift to the general election. In November, voters will face a choice between two rather atypical presidential candidates....

I missed several Sabato’s Crystal Ball emails due to accidental unsubscribing. Here is one of many make-up posts. 05/15/2008 Rhodes Cook’s OBAMA’S NEXT CHALLENGE: Turning Primary Losses Into Electoral Votes As Barack Obama prepares to move from the primary to the general election phase of the 2008 presidential election, he faces a new challenge which combines both – to bring many of the states where he suffered primary losses this winter and spring into the Democratic column...

I missed several Sabato’s Crystal Ball emails due to accidental unsubscribing. Here is one of many make-up posts. 05/15/2008 Alan I. Abramowitz on THIS IS NOT YOUR FATHER’S (OR MOTHER’S) DEMOCRATIC PARTY: The White Working Class, Democrats and the 2008 Election Forget about soccer moms and NASCAR dads. The key voting bloc in 2008 is the white working class. According to the new conventional wisdom of American politics, the presidential candidate who can win the support of white working...

BBC: US Suffers Heavy Afghan Losses Nine US soldiers have been killed in Afghanistan in clashes with Taleban militants. US commander Daniel Dwyer told the BBC the soldiers had been killed in clashes in the north-east of the country. The BBC’s Martin Patience in Kabul says it is one of the biggest single losses in a day for the coalition since the start of military operations there. The attack came as international and Afghan security forces battled militants on several fronts. On Sunday,...

I missed several Sabato’s Crystal Ball emails due to accidental unsubscribing. Here is one of many make-up posts. 06/19/2008 Larry J. Sabato on SENATE SENSIBILITIES – The Update: The ’08 battles for the U.S. Senate Lots of exciting changes have occurred in the nation’s Senate races since we last reviewed them in December 2007. Yet overall, the outlook hasn’t changed much. Democrats will pick up seats to pad their slim 51-to-49 margin. They are defending a mere 12 seats,...

I missed several Sabato’s Crystal Ball emails due to accidental unsubscribing. Here is one of many make-up posts. 06/12/2008 Larry J. Sabato on CONGRESSIONAL COMBAT, CONTINUED: 2008 contests for the U.S. House – June update Last December, when we first sketched out the upcoming House elections, we suggested that Democrats were likely to have a good year. Nothing has changed our forecast in the six months since, and if anything, we now see November 2008 as probably the best year Democrats...

I missed several Sabato’s Crystal Ball emails due to accidental unsubscribing. Here is one of several make-up posts. 06/12/2008 Rhodes Cook’s PRIMARY CONCERNS: McCain, Obama have some base building to do For the first time in 40 years, the Democrats and Republicans are each on the verge of nominating a candidate who failed to attract even half of their party’s primary vote. Counting fully sanctioned, half sanctioned, and non-binding primaries, Barack Obama took 47 percent of this...

Have we come to THIS? Sports Illustrated: Presidential candidate Obama to sponsor Cup car at Pocono race SI.com has learned that for the first time in history, a major presidential candidate may sponsor a race car in NASCAR’s premier series. According to sources, Barack Obama’s campaign is in talks to become the primary sponsor of BAM Racing’s No. 49 Sprint Cup car for the Pocono race on August 3. Details of the agreement are expected to be worked out over the coming days. A BAM...

Three new articles from Sabato’s Crystal Ball: Alan I. Abramowitz: Is Time on John McCain’s Side? The Nomination Gap and the 2008 Presidential Election Larry J. Sabato: TIME TO CHANGE THE UNIT RULE – And avoid a potential electoral calamity Larry J. Sabato: THE MAP – The Crystal Ball’s First Look at November’s Electoral College

LISTEN to The Capitol Steps on-line [or on your local NPR affiliate]: This year’s and last year’s Fourth of July broadcasts are available for download here in RealAudio format. Fourth of July 2008 Edition: Politics Takes A Holiday! NEW Recorded live at the Ronald Reagan Building in DC. (One half hour: 4.5 MB) RealAudio/RA Fourth of July 2007 Edition: Politics Takes A Holiday! Recorded live at the Ronald Reagan Building in DC. (One half hour: 4.5 MB) RealAudio/RA

MSNBC: Former Republican Senator Jesse Helms dies at 86

An East Jerusalem Palestinian hijacked a bulldozer today and began attacking buses, cars and the people in them. A few people were killed and around 60 were wounded. Fortunately, the terrorist was quickly killed. Jerusalem Post: Bulldozer driver shot dead after going on rampage in capital Jerusalem Post: ‘Israel must demolish terrorist’s house’ Jerusalem Post: We acted precisely as we were taught David Horovitz: Another attack from ‘within’ InfoLiveTV Ynet News: 3...

I apologize, it appears that I have missed several Sabato’s Crystal Ball emails due to accidental unsubscribing. Here is today’s article – I will post the others as I have time to read them. Today’s article is by Michael Baudinet of the U.Va. Center for Politics: Time Is On My Side: The Nomination Gap Much has been made in the past of presidential candidates’ campaign theme songs, but there would be no more appropriate choice for this year’s Republican nominee,...

MSNBC: DES MOINES, Iowa – The rising Cedar River burst through an earthen levee Thursday just outside Cedar Rapids, and at least 10,000 people there have been ordered to evacuate, officials told NBC News. Power is out for most of downtown, complicating rescue efforts, city spokesman Dave Koch said. Cedar Rapids firemen have been organizing boat rescues of stranded residents, Koch added. The new evacuations follow a 150-foot breach early Thursday in an earthen levee.

New York Times Blog The Rail: 6:37 Kent Desormeaux says Big Brown was keen early and stumbled a bit. In the end, he said, “I had no horse.” Asked what went wrong? He says “I have no idea.” Dutrow is silent. Tells reporters to leave him alone. 6:35 Is there something wrong with Big Brown? 6:33 Da’ Tara! 6:32 BB in position. 6:31 Da’ Tara sets pace. 6:30 And they’re off!

Breaking News Alert The New York Times Wednesday, June 4, 2008 — 7:03 PM ET —– Clinton Will Suspend Campaign on Friday, Adviser Says Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton is moving to suspend her campaign and endorse Senator Barack Obama on Friday after Democratic members of Congress urged her Wednesday to leave the race and allow the party to coalesce around Mr. Obama, according to a senior adviser to Mrs. Clinton. Read More

msnbc.com – BREAKING NEWS: Clinton tells N.Y. lawmakers she’s open to being Obama’s VP candidate WASHINGTON – Hillary Clinton has told congressional colleagues she would be open to becoming Barack Obama’s vice presidential nominee, saying she would consider it if it would help Democrats win the White House. Clinton, a New York senator, made the comment on a conference call with other New York lawmakers Tuesday, according a participant on the call. The senator’s...

CNN Breaking News Email: Barack Obama has resigned as a member of the Trinity United Church of Christ in Chicago, his campaign says. I was actually tipped off by Jazz’ earlier post and went looking for this: (CNN) — Barack Obama resigned Saturday from his Chicago church — where controversial sermons by his former pastor and other ministers had created repeated political headaches for the frontrunner for the Democratic presidential nomination — his campaign confirmed. The resignation comes...

Results 1 Scott Dixon #9 2 Vitor Meira 4 3 Marco Andretti 26 4 Helio Castroneves 3 5 Ed Carpenter 20 Etc…..

Want to assist cyclone survivors in Burma and earthquake survivors in China? TMV reader C Stanley suggests: In reading this story, where China is specifically listing an urgent need for tents, I was moved to research and give to an organization that had been mentioned to me recently – a group that provides tents and other subsistence items in natural disasters. One ‘box’ costs about USD 1000 (that includes the organization’s costs in delivering it.) Contents: Each ShelterBox...

Chris Cillizza of Washington Post’s The Fix On the Top 10 Veep Choices The Friday Line: Veepstakes! Ask someone who works for either Barack Obama (Ill.) or John McCain (Ariz.) about the search for a vice presidential nominee and, to a person, the response you get goes something like this: “It’s way too early to even be thinking about specific names.” Bring up potential VP’s with people outside the direct orbit of the campaigns, however, and you get a panoply of names,...

Some aid workers can and do get into the country – here’s how to help: Myanmar Cyclone Relief New York, NY, May 8, 2008—Thanks to its historical, 94 years of operation as a non-political entity and relief organization, JDC staff has been granted entry visas to carry out humanitarian aid efforts for victims of cyclone Nargis which hit Myanmar last week. A senior JDC professional is on the ground in Myanmar, where he will assess the situation and carry out plans to aid the estimated...

Another twofer from the University of Virginia’s Center for Politics: OBAMA’S VICE-PRESIDENT? – May 8, 2008 – Guest columnist Gerald Pomper suggests Webb MCCAIN’S VICE-PRESIDENT? – May 8, 2008 – Guest columnist Kathryn Lopez suggests Romney

The State of Israel is celebrating its 60th Birthday today. Israeli President Shimon Peres in the Jerusalem Post on 60 years of public life. Other Jerusalem Post Israel@60 articles Ynet’s coverage British PM Gordon Brown: Israel`s creation one of the 20th century`s `greatest achievements` Iran’s Ahmadinejad compares Israel to a dead rat ISRAEL21c: Israel in 2008 bears little resemblance to the tiny agricultural nation that declared independence 60 years ago. Today it’s a high tech...