By now, everyone has seen lameduck Dayton backstab Senator Feingold, for which Feingold responded:

In a statement issued to The Associated Press, Feingold said, "I agree with what Sen. Dayton said in January when he called the president's illegal wiretapping program an 'abuse of power.' Now it is up to senators to decide how to respond to that abuse of power.

"The Senate has a responsibility to uphold the rule of law by condemning the president's decision to break the law and I hope my colleagues will listen to what their constituents think during the upcoming congressional recess."

But Dayton also whined like a little baby about being "blindsided" by the proposal. Not telling the whole caucus has happened before, at the time many of us applauded.

Some good news from the Constitution State. First off, Tom D'Amore appears to be on board with Ned Lamont. There was a big discussion after Lamont met with D'Amore and Lamont remarked, "I don't know if I'm feisty enough for this guy." According to the Courant, Lamont is feisty enough:

Thomas D'Amore Jr., a former Republican who managed Lowell P. Weicker Jr.'s successful third-party campaign for governor, stood in the back.

He will act as an adviser to Lamont, who also has consulted with Weicker, the man Lieberman unseated in 1988.

But that wasn't the best news from today's story:

As short time later, Kid Oakland pushed the effort further with To Be a Fighting Democrat (which received 377 comments on the front page of Daily Kos).

Some of the most innovative action is being driven by young people, using social netroots and technology to reach their peers, especially at the intersection of politics and music/beer.

One of the problems with the effort in Texas is that the dynamic advanced so that people were only judging success based upon the election results. If Ciro Rodriguez won, or forced Cuellar into a runoff, then we won. That didn't happen, so we lost.

In 2004, young voters were the only age group Democrats won. Directly after the election, the Boston Globe reported:

Despite long lines and registration snafus, voters under age 30 clocked the highest turnout percentage since 1972. The good news is that America's young people are more engaged in politics than at any time in two generations. Aging cynics have been quick to blame the kids for a host of political lapses, but the cynics have it wrong.

Start with the numbers. According to professor William Galston at the University of Maryland, at least 20.9 million Americans under 30 voted on Tuesday. That is an increase of 4.6 million voters from 2000. Four years ago, just 42.3 percent of young people voted. This year more than 51.6 percent did.

While this was good news for Democrats everywhere, the youth surge in the battleground states was critical.

I went to Sherrod Brown's website and signed up for email alerts, and I would urge everyone to do the same. I've been wanting to post something for a week, I figured I wait until Brown offered an olive branch to Hackett supporters and then post something about how all of us should give him a fresh start. That has yet to happen, but here is where I see things in Ohio.

Right now, the Ohio Senate race is looking really fucked up, and that is a major problem.

Have you read a letter stating that 40 Senate Democrats (90%) took Abramoff money? Because this is a talking point in Montana. The Missoula Independent shows how this is moving from the RNC and NRCC into local papers with the state GOP trying to push it further:

Not a good day for Burns, this morning's local press headlined, Ex-Burns aide talks to Justice

A former top aide to U.S. Sen. Conrad Burns, R-Mont., who quit to work at the firm of indicted lobbyist Jack Abramoff said Monday he is talking to Justice Department investigators as part of the agency's continuing probe of Abramoff's activities.

Reached at his Bozeman office, Will Brooke, Burns' onetime chief of staff, said he has hired a lawyer in the matter.

Meanwhile...

Tonight will be a first for Congress as the Democrats' 30 Something Caucus takes to the floor to answer your questions...in real-time!

Here is how it works. From 9:30 to 10:30 Eastern, the 30 Something Democrats have control of the floor. So ask your question, turn on C-SPAN, and see the answer.

As far as I know, nobody has tried to do a live chat from the floor of the Congress. Here is how the event is being described:

It is clear that Bill O'Reilly is a coward who is aiding the terrorists with his offer for them to attack America.

Bill O'Reilly has caught hell for his remarks and should be fired. Instead of apologizing, O'Reilly is digging in and tonight vowed to publish an enemies list of the names of internet "smear merchants" who have criticized his invitation to attack our country. To help ensure your name makes the list, use the comments to say what you think of Bill O'Reilly.

The reason most often cited for not competing in more districts is limited resources. But 21st Century political tools like Internet organizing and fundraising can change the rules of the game and revolutionize an underdog candidate's ability to recruit volunteers and raise money.

We can't win if we don't compete. And with a majority of Americans believing that Republicans are steering America down the wrong track, the time to start fighting is now.

Today, Crooks and Liars is open sourcing an interview with Hackett, go submit you questions.

Instead of talking-at the netroots, Hackett has started a conversation.

You probably recognize his name, he wrote The Exception to the Rulers with his sister Amy (yeah, that Amy). It is an important article on the future of the Democratic Party, so go read the whole thing and then come back if you want some of my thoughts on the piece and the current challenges facing the Democratic Party.

I think it is great that there are competing loyalties among some bloggers when it comes to the Ohio Senate Primary. I think it shows that some of the blogosphere has matured to the point that loyalties can cross.

But my friend David Sirota decided to spend 1,200 words saying that those who question Sherrod Brown's maneuver are, "pariahs who know nothing about politics and worse, don't really stand for any of the progressive ideals they claim to represent." Sirota wrote an entire post saying I was out of line. Instead of talking about the Senate race, our friend David Sirota blasted a fellow blogger and Sirota attempted to lay down a rule of censorship about what could and couldn't be said. Since the Swing State Project isn't doing posts beginning "OH-Sen" right now, I offer my rebuttal here. Sirota is one of my favorite allies and we'll kick others' asses on other issues, but I call bullshit..

The maturation I've experienced is a process that Democrats, for the good of our Party, need to embrace.

That is why next year's Senate Primary in Montana is critical to the future of our Party.