by Kim Stevens [courtesy of Party Line]

by Charles Harker [courtesy of Blog for America]

I'm getting a sinking feeling that republicans might start concerted efforts to fix elections. We must get involved to try to control the government before it tries to control us. Find a couple of hours,  get involved, serve on election commisions, etc..the freedom you save could be your own..We must work for democratic ideals rather than have republican ones shoved down our throat's!

by Michael Kuykendall [courtesy of Blog for America]

As astonishing as it sounds, if you follow the GOP "logic" on the Protect America Act expiration, this is the only truly logical conclusion. Do these guys actually listen to themselves?

by Brian Leubitz [courtesy of Calitics - Front Page]

With less than a week to go before polls open, how are the vote by mail returns going? Well, a first piece of good news: Democrats have the highest return rate, and 100k more than republicans.. The bad news? Low overall return rates.

These numbers aren't extraordinarily high, which you might expect for such an energized ballot. However, I'm guessing that many people were waiting for the results of the earlier primaries like Nevada and South Carolina. So, expect these numbers to move up substantially in the coming week.

So, take these numbers with a grain of salt, but I think we can generally say that 30% return rate is fairly low for a presidential primary at this late stage. But, there is still time to get those vote by mail ballots back to the registrar. Do it today so you aren't one of those late ballots.

by David Reiter [courtesy of Blog for America]

When researching the plans each candidate had to accomplish their various goals, I had no idea who I was going to vote for. To tell you the truth, I still don't know. During the process I recognized a few things I thought I would share...especially since some of you asked me to summarize their policies in a shorter format.

Firstly, I like Dennis Kucinich, and he was originally going to be included in the chart. Ultimately, he was not included because 1) When you go to his site you will notice that he has great ideas, goals, and platforms...but his website and other information researched was scant on the details of how he would pursue those goals...there simply was not 10 specific plans on each of the 5 issues highlighted. 2) The point of the issue chart was to focus on specific plans to achieve goals, not to list what the candidates say their goals are. 3) One of the 3 leading candidates are assured of gaining the Democratic nomination, no matter how you look at it, and we wanted to provide purely objective information.

by Kathleen Percy [courtesy of Blog for America]

I'd like to know your position on NBC's outrageous decision today to rescind the invitation and exclude Dennis Kucinch from this debate next Tuesday & how that reflects on our democracy.Let's see the Democrats stand up to the MSM like the Republicans did last week when MSM tried to exclude Ron Paul from getting his message out!!

[courtesy of The California Majority Report]

Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger's decision today to spearhead Common Cause's redistricting that excludes Congress won't make him any friends with Republicans in Washington, D.C. or Sacramento.
 
Yes, the same Governor Schwarzengger who told the Sacramento Bee on February 18, 2005:

"Behind closed doors on Capitol Hill, Schwarzenegger was vigorously questioned on his redistricting plan in a meeting with the state's 20 House Republicans, some of whom are worried about their own re-elections if their districts are redrawn by an independent panel to make them more competitive.
 
But Schwarzenegger said he will not entertain the thought of exempting congressional districts from the remapping. "It's non-negotiable," the governor said."

Congressman Kevin McCarthy, probably the most active redistricting proponent, has said he opposes any proposal that excludes Congress.

There's more...