The topic below was originally posted in my blog the Intrepid Liberal Journal.

Martin Luther King Jr.'s birthday this week had me thinking about other pioneers with grace, wisdom and decency. One figure worth remembering is Barbara Jordan. It happens January 17th was the 11th anniversary of her death at the age of 59. Jordan was a rare figure who combined gravitas with humility. She broke down barriers to walk the corridors of power but never forgot where she came from.

Educated in the public schools of Houston, Jordan graduated from Phillis Wheatley High School in 1952. Upon earning her B.A. in political science and history from Texas Southern University in 1956 she graduated from Boston University Law School in 1959. Think about that for moment - a black woman from Texas earned a law degree in 1959.

The 110th congress has yet to convene but Speaker-to-be Nancy Pelosi has already lowered the hammer, given the opposition their walking papers, and outlined the plan to pound through the Democrats '100 Hour' agenda.

Speaker Pelosi said House Republicans will "be given only one chance to amend or debate a plan to curb oil and gas subsidies and other Democratic priorities." Legislation "cutting subsidies to oil and gas producers is one of Democrats' top six priorities for their first 100 hours in power. Pelosi said Thursday that the oil and gas legislation along with bills cutting student loan interest rates and requiring the government to negotiate prescription drug prices for Medicare would not go through the normal legislative process."

And for those of you who might find outrage in Speaker Pelosi's decision to forego 'normal legislative process' I can only say that Republicans set the precedent for creative use of majority power to castrate the minority opposition. So if you don't like it, too damn bad. Now is not the time to roll over to the deposed dictators and share warm fuzzies.

By Marcy Bloom
 

Today, the lame duck House of Representatives will vote on a scientifically biased and deceptive bill that is yet one more attempt to drive women away from making the choice of abortion in an atmosphere of compassion and respect. Instead of real information and support, the inaccurately named "Unborn Child Pain Awareness Act" forces doctors and health care providers to give women seeking an abortion at 20 weeks or more of pregnancy inflammatory and manipulative misinformation written by anti-choice legislators. The express intent of this last-ditch restrictive attempt by the current Congress is clearly to extend the concept of rights to the fetus, to frighten women, and to distort information that might truly be helpful in allowing women to make the best decisions possible when faced with an unplanned pregnancy.

Okay, so Pelosi put herself in the line of fire when she decided to make very public her campaign to make John Murtha her second in charge.

Some say her act was a sign of courage. She took a solid position on what she thought was best and she stuck with it through to the very end -- no apologies, no excuses. That's what leaders do. Of course they can't win every battle.

Others, including the mainstream media and conservative bloggers, have pointed out that Hoyer's win was a 'devastating' defeat for Pelosi -- one that might set the stage for Democratic infighting or serve as a hobbling message to Speaker Pelosi. Clearly this is the easiest tack for media outlets to take. It's simply more exciting to the average reader to hear about such drama. That Pelosi has 'great leadership skills' would seem far less interesting for the majority of the consuming public.

So off they ago...

The AP notes Pelosi's own election is being largely "overshadowed by Murtha's defeat,"

The USA Today says "the next speaker of the House lost her first test Thursday."

Dana Milbank writes in the Washington Post that Pelosi "experienced her first smackdown." It "should have been a coronation," but "instead, her party...plunged into fratricide."

The Los Angeles Times wrote "Pelosi's Early Setback Has Her Party On Alert," and says Democrats "gave Pelosi a brusque lesson in the limits of her power." Hoyer "didn't merely defeat Murtha, Pelosi's strong preference, but trounced him."

On the CBS Evening News, Bob Schieffer said the Murtha-Hoyer debate "has raised real questions about [Pelosi's] judgment."

The Washington Post says the vote "was viewed by many in the party as a repudiation of Pelosi's strong-arm tactics."

The Baltimore Sun reports California Rep. Maxine Waters, "a Hoyer supporter, said Pelosi's campaign...had raised serious questions within the party. 'What most people didn't understand was the why's of it all,' Waters said."

And the New York Times notes "some supporters of Mr. Murtha...were disgruntled and said they were trying to identify lawmakers who had broken pledges to support him. 'We won't trust them on issues like this the next time,' said Representative James P. Moran, a Murtha ally from Virginia who said Mr. Murtha had been betrayed."

Perhaps next time, Speaker Pelosi will deal with such internal matters more subtly and behind closed doors as much as possible. After all, she had relatively little to gain and much to lose from making this such an unnecessarily public debate.

I think I'm going to be sick.

Today, both Devilstower and Larry O'Donnell let rip with a scathing criticism of a potential Jack Murtha House majority leadership position -- seemingly in reaction to a Washington Post Article endorsing Hoyer as House majority leader in lieu of the ethically 'questionable' Murtha.

I would like to reiterate the absolute importance of Pelosi's and the Democrats' exclusion of such questionable figures from leadership positions. Murtha has no business representing Democrats -- a party that has rightly adopted a "culture of integrity" -- one that intends to "Drain the swamp" of congressional corruption.

Pelosi should know better.

Democrats "won control of the House early Wednesday after a dozen years of Republican rule in a resounding repudiation of a war, a president and a scandal-scarred Congress. ... By early Wednesday, Democrats had won 227 seats, enough for control, and were leading for another 6, which would give them 233. Republicans, who hold 229 seats in the current House, won 186 and were leading in another 16, which would give them 202."

Further, "By early this morning, Democrats had picked up more than two dozen Republican-held House seats without losing any of their own, putting Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) into position to become the nation's first female speaker."

More importantly, the Democrats' "victory in the House - overcoming a legendarily efficient White House political machine - represented a dramatic turnaround in the fortunes of the party and signaled a sea change in the political dynamics in Washington after a dozen years in which Republicans controlled Congress for all but a brief period."

Right now (8:15 ET) the first results are still trickling in, but at this point it can be summed up as: Democrats are not winning in Florida 13.

Why mention that race?  Because it's the only key district reporting any significant % of the vote where Democrats aren't winning.

There's been an effort to tone down the expectations over the last couple of weeks, but that noise in the distance just may be a tsunami.

From Pollster.com

New York 26 -- Leans Dem
(Avg of Last 5 Polls)
Jack Davis (D) -- 49
Tom Reynolds (R)* -- 43
_

The first thing people in NY's 26th district should remember when entering election booths next week is that Republican Rep. Tom Reynolds subordinated the need to protect America's children in favor of ensuring a safe GOP seat in Florida's 16th district.

Reynolds' Pedophile Protection Policy was in full swing when he persuaded GOP Rep. Mark Foley to run yet again for his Florida congressional seat despite the fact that Reynolds and other Republican leaders had been made aware of Foley's 'inappropriate' e-mails to a teenage congressional page by the page's congressional sponsor, Rep. Rodney Alexander (R-La.).

The second thing you should know is that this is not the only time that Tom Reynolds has abused his privileged position as the congressional representative for Western NY.

New York 29 -- Strong Dem
(Avg of Last 3 Polls)
Eric Massa (D) -- 48
Randy Kuhl (R)* -- 41
_

The last two polls for NY's 29th District have shown Eric Massa leading his Republican opponent by less than the polls' margins of error. That has all changed with the latest poll results.

Now Massa leads Kuhl by 12 points according to a new poll conducted by the independent organization Majority Watch.

The poll shows Massa with 52% of likely voters preferring him compared to only 40% selecting Kuhl. In addition, voters in the northern half of the 29th district (Rochester suburbs and parts of Ontario County) favor Massa by 26%. In the GOP-leaning Southern tier, Kuhl still maintains his advantage, but only by a single point.

This surge comes after both candidates have "dramatically increased their media presence on both radio and television and have participated in a series of five public debates":

"We knew from earlier polling that name recognition was our biggest challenge," said Massa's Campaign Manager, Mike Nolan. Previous data had indicated that voters familiar with both Massa and Kuhl preferred the challenger by a margin of 2 to 1. "The voters are tired of Randy Kuhl," continued Nolan. "Once they get a chance to hear from Eric Massa they overwhelmingly support him."

Rep Tom Reynolds (R-NY): I did what most people would do in a work place. I heard something, I took it to my supervisor.

Jon Stewart: "I took it to my supervisor?" Tom Reynolds...Congressman? or Assistant Manager at Applebees?

 -- The Daily Show as Jon Stewart lambastes Rep Reynolds for his cowardice in the GOP-Pedophile Scandal

Will we soon be saying 'Buh-Bye!' to The head of the NRCC? Let's take a look...

Prior to incumbent Republican Rep Tom Reynolds' forfeiture of integrity - brought upon by his protective stance over disgraced Republican pedophile Mark Foley, Reynolds held a slim lead over his opponent, Democrat Jack Davis.

A poll released back on September 28th, by Survey USA, shows Tom Reynolds leading Jack Davis by a margin of 45% to 43% with the Green party candidate receiving 8% support and 4% undecided. Note: the Green Party has since been stricken from the ballot.

Along comes a spider (Foley)...

And Voila! Now, a Dem poll has come along (conducted October 3-4) that shows Davis leading Reynolds by Eight points, 50% to 42%.

Even better, a new (nonpartisan) Survey USA poll showed Davis leading Reynolds by Five points. That's a 50% to 45%. That's a seven-point pickup for Davis since their last poll only one week ago.

So is it Reynolds' Foley-bumbling that put him in the red?

Could be. But notice that the USA Today polls have Reynolds' totals unchanged from one poll to the next. Davis, on the other hand, has shown a seven-point increase over the course of the week - almost exactly the amount that chose the Green candidate prior to the party's removal from the ballot.

To me, that seems to imply that the effects, if any, of the Reynolds-Pedophile scandal have yet to filter down to the likely voters. That could mean that there are further gains to be had by Davis AND that Reynolds is in DEEP TROUBLE.

As a result of recent ugly revelations reverberating through the offices of NRCC Chairman Tom Reynolds (R-NY-26) and the rest of the Republican House leadership, Tom Reynolds' Chief of Staff, Kirk Fordham has been forced to resign.

According to a senior Republican official in Washington, Fordham, in the spring of 2006, promised both Rep. John Shimkus, the chairman of the page board as well as a staff member in Speaker Dennis Hastert's office, that he would make sure Foley kept his nose clean. Fordham had spent ten years as Foley's chief of staff and is one of his closest friends. He was acting here in two capacities: as a representative of Reynolds, the chair of the campaign committee, and as a friend to Foley.

His assurances were enough to prevent Hastert's staff from recommending any further action. Shimkus decided not to inform the full page board in part because of Fordham's intercession, according to these sources.

But as you might suspect, the BUCK DOES NOT STOP THERE... Developing...

[Originally Posted Yesterday at DailyKos.]

Today in Congress there was an event that, in a smaller way, mirrored what's going on in the world today: a desire to "take things to the next level."

I suppose it was inevitable that such a mindset would become prevalent in our politics. I just didn't think it would be a Democrat who'd give voice to it.

That "voice" comes from this story via ThinkProgress: apparently, Democratic Congressman Lincoln Davis doesn't think the constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage go far enough.

Update [2006-4-12 2:7:52 by sdf]:

More numbers in at 11:00pm PDT (now 66%), with just a slight uptick for Busby:

FRANCINE BUSBY       45963       43.28%

BRIAN P. BILBRAY       16268       15.32%

ERIC ROACH       15197       14.31%

Update [2006-4-12 1:38:33 by sdf]:

At 10:30 PDT, with 22% tallied, they are relatively steady at:

FRANCINE BUSBY       33399       42.88%

BRIAN P. BILBRAY       11826       15.18%

ERIC ROACH       10848       13.93%

(Original post follows)

Results are beginning to stream in from the special election in California's 50th District to replace disgraced Republican criminal congressman Duke Cunningham.  (We should have a special script key for the phrase "disgraced Republican criminal congressman.")

Democrat Fran Busby has led in polls in this heavily Republican district, but in this heavily contested special election (with 18 candidates in the contest) a majority is needed to avoid a runoff scheduled for June 6th.  (See Chris Bowers's earlier thorough rundown for more details.)

As of 10:05 PDT, with 7% tallied, the results are

FRANCINE BUSBY (D)       29037       42.19%
BRIAN P. BILBRAY (R)       10043       14.59%
ERIC ROACH (R)       9652       14.02%

With everyone else below 10%

More updates will hopefully follow.

-- Stu

A few days ago I shared my thoughts on the Democrats in power and how their Superhero Conundrum is hurting their message and eroding their support.

Today I want to talk about why they have to get a little more competitive and nasty, even though they might not be inclined to do so.

Much has been made about what the Democrats have done and what they need to do. At times, their actions and/or inactions have been confusing (to say the least).

Support censuring Bill Clinton, but wishy-washy on censuring George W. Bush. Call Bush on misleading the public, but don't provide a clear alternative. Have staffers to take the phone calls and emails of their fellow Democrats and progressives, but repeatedly fail to act on the suggestions given.