In Pennsylvania, the most important race for the May 17th election is the special election to fill Auditor General Jack Wagner's vacant state senate seat.  It's a heavily Democratic district, but the Republicans convinced a Democratic member of the state house to switch parties and run as a Republican.  So this race pits Democratic County Councilman Wayne Fontana against Dem-errr...Republican Michael Diven.  It's an important race, because the Republicans in the senate are very close to being able to override a veto

Diven's pretty personally popular, and the campaign has gotten exceedingly ugly.  In such a close race, both sides are scrambling for volunteers to work on Election Day.  So much so that Michael Diven has offered $50 to the first 100 people to sign up to work the polls for him.  

Email and action suggestions are after the jump.

Here's a mix suitable for pre-GOTV pumpups, frantically refreshing CNN's returns site, or protests in front of swing-state courts.

1 - Spanish Bombs (The Clash) alternatively Death or Glory
2 - We've Got A Bigger Problem Now (Dead Kennedys)
3 - Maggie's Farm (Bob Dylan)
4 - Killing in the Name (Rage Against the Machine)
5 - Four Dead in Ohio (Crosby Stills Nash & Young)

more (with poll!) after the jump...

First-time voters, under the Help America Vote Act, are required to show ID when they go to their polling place.  For absentee voters, the statute is less clear.  Allegheny County, home of Pittsburgh, PA, screwed it up pretty badly...

(there's more after the jump, but I'm writing this now to fill up the minimum character requirements for the main entry box)

Last night, the CNN poll question was "Who won the debate?" for about an hour.  When the poll showed Edwards up by a ridiculous margin, they changed it to "Will the VP debate affect your vote?"  Cowards.

But now, it's back to "Who won?"  Go and show them that Edwards STILL won.

http://www.cnn.com/ELECTION/2004/

from AP article
http://www.post-gazette.com/pg/04275/388715.stm

"Democratic strategist Jim Duffy said Bush forced Kerry to agree with him on broad policies -- such as embracing the doctrine of pre-emptive strikes in some circumstances and asserting that the United States cannot pull out of Iraq.

'So that left him debating the minutia,' Duffy said, 'and I'm not sure how that plays in America.'"

Newsweek has their weekly poll out
http://msnbc.msn.com/id/4614818/

While the reelect numbers are not too impressive... still Kerry 48, Bush 47 (sans Mr. Nader), the issue breakdowns are unbelieveable.

Issue             % Disapproval
 Iraq war             50
 Economy             54
 Jobs                  60
 Medicare             58
 Taxes                 49 (only 43% approve!)
 Education            41

But who votes on education?  Looks like it's time to break out the gay-bashing...

Poll of 1002 adults, margin of error 3%

Does anyone know who won the primary in the Georgia 12th congressional district?  Barrow and Haines both advertise here, but Haines also has a blog of his own, so he's my guy.

I know Haines is planning to open an office in Savannah on the 5th, so I'm thinking he won.

It probably wasn't because of his embrace of the blogosphere, but it couldn't have hurt.

Tim Noah makes a good point in his article today...
http://www.slate.com/id/2094118/

Why don't we see what we can do?
Here's my 10-second attempt.  Email yours to culturalissues@family.org

Dear Brother Dobson,

I don't think that George Bush is doing enough to preserve Christian values in America.
He hasn't pushed hard enough to ban baby-killing or homosexuality. Why, he even let
the liberal courts remove the TEN COMMANDMENTS(!) from courthouses.

I think America needs a president who will fight for Christian values and witness for
Jesus Christ. I sadly realize that if you run for President, you probably will not get enough
votes to win, but you can remind President Bush and the Republican Party that they should
be using their power to do God's work.

God Bless,
procyon

A rumor among Dean staffers in New Hampshire is that Kerry is pushpolling against Dean's religious views.

Alleged Kerry Pushpoll Question:  "Do you think that Howard Dean talking about his 'deep belief in Jesus' is hypocritical given that he raised his children Jewish?"

That's the scuttlebutt, at any rate.

NBC has early returns!
http://www.nbc4.com/politics/2762976/detail.html

56 of 142 precincts reporting
Dean 41%
Sharpton 36%
CMB 12%
Kucinich 8%

Turnout 8%  The one time DC statehood is a legitimate issue, and nobody shows up!  Oh well... The Dean campaign will want to bury this, and turnout is a good excuse.

No mention of Vermin Supreme.

www.politicallyright.com is a winger-wonderland.  

Among the front-page stories in January is one that explicitly states that Howard Dean "Courting the Terrorist Vote." That's the title of the article.

It regularly features Ann Coulter, Tom Delay, and NewsMax.

Article titles include "Conservative Students Deserve Human Rights," "Dean Attracts First Non-Stoned Supporter," and "Leftist Thugs Disrupt Rove Speech."

Among these hacks, there shines a beacon of respectable and objective journalism.  Nedra.

Her article, in featured in July 2003, is titled
"Guess Who the NAACP is Mad at Now."  

Here's the link to the archives from that month
http://www.politicallyright.com/July2003/index.htm

Nedra's article is listed 3/4 of the way down the page.  I'd provide a link directly to it, but PoliticallyRight doesn't actually have copies of the articles.  At least, I couldn't find any.

Today's Iowa poll...
http://www.theiowachannel.com/politics/2750996/detail.html
Dean 29
Gephardt 25
Kerry 18

same poll, from October
http://www.theiowachannel.com/politics/2597550/detail.html
Dean 26
Gephardt 26
Kerry 15

MOE in both polls was +/- 5
A remarkably stable race, given all the good stuff that's happened for Dean since October.

Clark, though, has gained NO traction-not THAT surprising, but given the level of national buzz for him recently...

Bush's re-elect numbers look better since October, too.  He's running close with Generic, but he thumps all the named contenders.