Today's rally in Los Angeles with Oprah Winfrey, Michele Obama, and Caroline Kennedy should be a historic moment in what has been a historic year. It will be broadcast live on CSPAN, beginning at 11:30 a.m. PST, 1:30 p.m. CST, and 2:30 p.m. EST.

NOTE: This is when the doors open and the event starts, CSPAN might lag behind in actual coverage, but they have been promoting that they will cover it live!

I was reading Emily's List today where their official press release said that they helped Hillary Clinton become the first woman in U.S. history to win a primary.

Unfortunately, they were wrong.

Great FlickR slide show, UTube Videos, Video clips, blogging on Obama's
site
http://my.barackobama.com/...

Coverage is supposed to start at 3:05 CST. But BookTV promos are still going. We'll see.
This morning's Des Moines Register said 23,000 tickets have been given away.
I can't wait to see it.
It should be a fascinating event.

I get a little worried with all of the attention of the POTUS race, that the netroots won't be as focused on Congress as it was in '06.
Specifically, the Senate.

A couple of nights ago, I did a diary on the top three president candidates and gauged their support by age and gender.
Result:
Edwards won the over 50 demographics both genders.
Obama won the under 50 men, and Edwards and Obama were competitive with the under 50 women.

This begs the question, if DKos skews geographically blue or red, and what are the implications? Okay, maybe it doesn't beg the question, but I was wondering that anyway.

And it's too hot to mow the yard, so ...tell me where you're from.
I won't ask who you're for at this point because I want to get fairly detailed geography, and that would make the poll too long.

I really want to know.
Last night I posted a demographic tracking poll, of sorts, on
DKos and more than 300 people participated.
Edwards and Obama were the clear winners.

So, supporters of each,
which person has the better health care plan and why?

As a Democrat, I am pleased to see the passion being expressed about the top three candidates, and as a researcher, I'd like to know more about who's supporting each.

I'd give you each a virtual piece of pie -- any flavor, if you'd take the following poll.

Karl Rove, the former White House aide, made the rounds of weekend talk shows last weekend declaring, among other things, that Sen. Hillary Clinton was a "fatally flawed" candidate for president because she had (he repeated several times) the highest unfavorable ratings of any frontrunner in the history of polling going into the party primaries.

It seemed plausible, and none of the many hosts challenged him on it. There was just one problem: It wasn’t exactly true.

For many of us, the kids start school (from K to grad-school) this week, and
the nature and tenor of the days change. But for one last, quiet Sunday it's still summer.

Ever since radio could be beamed into homes across the Bible belt, religious zealots have used the media of the day to shape their vision.
(you know, keep women, blacks, and gays down; support wars of aggression, and don't ever give a woman the freedom to choose what to do with her own body)

I'm for any Dem for president. (please HRC bashers, don't jump in yet.)
But this article about Barack Obama's response to the closed pickle factory bothered me.

http://www.denverpost.com/...

Deconstructing the House vote against the surge in Iraq, there were 17 Republican CongressMEN who supported the resolution to oppose the surge in Iraq.

But no Republican women.

It's scary. Stepford Congresswomen.

It's telling how the centrist segment of the Republican party has been purged.
Historically, female representatives have taken less hawkish positions, but there's no room apparently for moderate women in the Grand Old Party.

Okay, all you Hillary haters out there, here's your chance to do something constructive, rather just vent your spleen.

If you could have any living woman in the country run for president now--instead of Hillary--who would it be? For reality's sake,let's
limit it to elected officials. Sorry, Oprah.

This may seem like an exercise in futility, but it's not.
Don't you think members of the much-touted HRC election machine
read and parse every word of Daily Kos every day?

In Iowa today Hillary Clinton has said that while many of the policies of the Clinton administration were good for the country, that one of them, "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" should be eliminated, and that everyone should be allowed to serve without conditions of their status. Link
http://www.usatoday.com/...

I know that Hillary, like many other weak-kneed Congresspeople in the Daschle/Gephardt, post-9/11 era voted for the travesty that is Iraq, but look at everything else she is saying.

Hillary has indeed made history by announcing her candidacy, but another woman--Nancy Pelosi-- has made history by delivering on promises made to the American people.

The 100 Hours Strategy in the House has been achieved, and miracle of miracles, many of these bills brought Republicans on board, and moderate Republicans have actually come out of hiding and spoke in terms of progressive, populist domestic agenda items to help their constituents.

Yes, there have been a few diaries about this, but none to really imagine the impact. A year ago, who would have thought that the Democrats would have both houses, a woman speaker, and a slew of progressive, populist bills passing the house in the first 100 hours--and that Republicans in fairly significant numbers would be joining them?

Now the cynics among you will rush to your keyboards to type, "yeah, but the Senate will water it down and maybe even amendment it to death." Possibly, but the paradigm has changed.

This is purely anecdotal, but it seems like every time I see someone on DKos, proclaim their disdain for Hillary Clinton, it seems like nine times out of 10, their diary name skews male.

The same for the talking heads on TV, white men seem to really resent her.
There's a sort of locker room, rolling of the eyes every time her name is mentioned among the "boys" of broadcast.

The manual recount is underway in the NC-8, Larry Kissell, Robin Hayes race.
I'm sure you all recall, that last week Hayes was only leading Kissell by 329.

Is there anyone on the ground there who can tell us more?

Here's a link to the AP story that's running in local media:
http://www.starnewsonline.com/...

Don't get me wrong.
I love the holidays.
Being from the South and a recovering Baptist, I'll even say the word,
"Christmas".

But, this year, with a lot of friends and family being stretched by debt and
disasters, I'm trying to think how to make the most of it.

I'd like to give insights instead of electronics.
Inspiration instead of appliances.
That sort of thing, Unwrap the rest of the diary below . . .