WOOOO!!!! And OMG! Is all I can think at this minute! This is a GREAT sign for us in November. With now 93% reporting the AP has called the race for Democrat Travis W. Childers with 53% for the special election for the open seat in the Mississippi 1st Congressional District! And Scott Kleeb won with 68% of voters!

Kossacs and political bloggers and indeed dem nerds

Congratulations to Rep.-elect Travis Childers, his staff and volunteers, the voters of Mississippi's First District, the DCCC...and the good people at Swing State Project, Cotton Mouth Blog, The Thorn Papers, Will Bardwell, and anyone I'm forgetting :)"

According to CNN

" For Democrats, a decisive victory by Chancery Clerk Travis Childers would be the latest in a series of special-election wins for the party and provide a strong tailwind heading into the November elections.

For Republicans, Childers' defeat could dispel notions that the GOP is in for a widespread thrashing next fall and prove that efforts to link local Democrats in conservative districts to Barack Obama and his former pastor could be a winning strategy in what appears to be a difficult election year for the party."

I just saw this on the morning post on the MAINblog and about choked on my coffee.

It seems Phyllis Schlafly has taken an interest in seeing judges elected in Johnson County Kansas vs. having them appointed in a non-partisan process that costs tax payers little to nothing.

"Voters in Johnson County, Kan. will have a proposition on the November ballot that could send shock waves through the tenure of state court judges.

"They will vote on the right to elect their 10th Judicial District Court judges instead of having them chosen by the lawyers," Schlafly wrote in a column this month.

"We hear a lot in the media about bringing democracy to the world. Citizens in this suburban Kansas county are asking for more democracy in the middle of the United States."

Schlafly said that the appropriation of taxpayer funds, and the raising of taxes, should be a legislative, not judicial, function."

This weekend Demos hosted a conference that focused solely on the economic black hole the Millennial Generation seems to be spiraling into.

"This generation of young people are engaging in politics in a way we haven't seen for a long time," said Tamara Draut, Director of the Economic Opportunity Program at Demos, author of a new report, "The Economic State of Young America," and also a book entitled Strapped: Why America's 20-and 30-Somethings Can't Get Ahead.

"They are reeling from the effects of a decades-long retrenchment in the investments and public policies that helped previous generations work or educate their way into the middle class. This conference is the first step in building a sustained movement of young people to repair our social contract and build a better future."

I was tipped off to this outstanding video from a friend who went to the same high school as the kid who did this video. Justin Benefiel is an 18 year old senior at Yukon High School in Yukon, OK, and will be attending NYU in the fall. He only recently moved to Oklahoma. Where did he live before but our own Leavenworth, KS.

While living in Leavenworth, Justin saw the school's gay/straight alliance and a teacher accused of pushing homosexuality onto students. The school board got involved. Amusingly enough, Leavenworth, Kansas is the hometown of my favorite singer Ms. Melissa Etheridge. (Can't be a real Kansan without giving props to Melissa.)

Justin made this film to educate the public about tolerance, which he says he "believe is losing its identity in today's society."

A truly interesting and extensive piece appeared over at the MAINstream Coalition's blog today that discussed an upcoming ballot initiative in Johnson County, Kansas that would move county judges from being appointed by a panel to being elected by the public.

The instigator of the ballot initiative is of course another wing-nut who thinks that by making judges become elected he would score a bunch of conservative judges - ignoring the fact that this will definitely not be the case, especially among the members of the Johnson County Bar Association.

The piece links to a 2007 AP story on Tim Golba as well as info on the specific bill.

"Tim Golba of Lenexa, who led the petition drive, said he wants fair judges but also believes they should be held accountable by the public for their decisions and have to explain their positions on such things as abortion or school finance.

"The way the system is right now, it leaves the people in the dark," Golba said. "If we are a government of the people, by the people, for the people, then I think the people ought to have a say-so in that part of our government."

In the most exciting news I've seen on election coverage, the Washington Post declares Young Voters to be one of the winners of last night's election.

"No age group has been more ridiculed for their lack of participation than those under 30. But in Indiana that age group comprised 16 percent of the overall vote while those 65 or older comprised 15 percent. Under 30s went for Obama 61 percent to 39 percent, a margin that all but neutralized Clinton's 44 percent margin among older Hoosiers."

And those were the ones who were able to vote! The US Supreme Court decided to uphold Indiana's Voter ID law they "rejected arguments that Indiana’s law imposes unjustified burdens on people who are old, poor or members of minority groups and less likely to have driver’s licenses or other acceptable forms of identification."

According to a release from the Student PIRGs a number of Indiana voters were INCORRECTLY turned away from the polls today and given MISINFORMATION about the validity of their identification preventing them from casting a ballot they legally should have been able to cast.

Let me remind you - that when the US Supreme Court made its decision they decided...

"In a 6-to-3 ruling in one of the most awaited election-law cases in years, the court rejected arguments that Indiana’s law imposes unjustified burdens on people who are old, poor or members of minority groups and less likely to have driver’s licenses or other acceptable forms of identification. Because Indiana’s law is considered the strictest in the country, similar laws in the other 20 or so states that have photo-identification rules would appear to have a good chance of surviving scrutiny."

Open hearts, open minds, open doors addresses a pastor's perspective on the events that took place last week at the national United Methodist Convention where clergy ascended on the alter covering it with a black cloth.

According to the UMC

In an act of witness in front of delegates to the 2008 United Methodist General Conference, more than 200 people declared that the denomination's policies and practices against homosexuality are "sinful" and that "sexuality is a gift from God."

Demos is hosting a great conference this week that will address some of the economic concerns that new workers are facing in this unpredictable, unstable, and darn near frighting economy.

A Better Deal: Reclaiming Economic Security for a New Generation will be May 8-9th, 2008, at The Liaison Capitol Hill in Washington DC. While this is a schlep for many folks there are scholarships and stipends available for need based folks interested in this topic. It would be wonderful if I could attend but ... alas... I cannot. The good news is that Mike Connery at Future Majority will be live blogging the conference and I'm sure there will be helpful multimedia available after the fact.

Former Congressman Jim Slattery is making his way through the state of Kansas today officially announcing his candidacy for the US Senate against Pat Roberts.

Slattery for Senate has launched an unbelievable website, beautifully designed and complete with an amazing video showcasing his history of leadership and his life as a Kansan. I've spent the past year poking a lot of fun at websites in Kansas and the extent to which people seem so far removed from the web 2.0 explosion that seems to have captured everyone in the country except for Kansas. Slattery's team clearly gets technology. Perhaps that is because he's a full 200 years younger than his opponent. Or maybe its because Joe Trippi is consulting.

Either way, Slatts is armed with a well made website, a good chunk of money raised in just 12 days, and a score of Kansans who are grateful to see someone with his caliber at the top of the ticket.