Bench battle resumes over new nominee

President Bush nominated Peter Keisler to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia in June, making him one of the longest pending circuit court nominees. Bush resubmitted Keisler's name to the Senate this year. ...

... Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) last week hinted that Democrats would block Keisler's nomination.

First I just want to remind readers that just a few years ago we were just a bunch of angry citizens pecking at our keyboards. We owe a great deal to the group of pioneers who built up lefty blogosphere from nothing into a vital communications tool for progress. They have done this with little or no compensation.

I want to use the fight for habeas corpus as an example of what a coordinated movement would look like.

cross posted at Daily Kos and GOTV blog

At the request of Virginia's registrars Gov. Kaine has amended the verified voting bill to delay it's enactment until July 1, 2008. This means registrars can continue to buy the DRE machines until that date.

Note, cross posted at Daily Kos and GOTV

If you have ever wondered where the Emily in Emily's list came from, it is an acronym for Early Money Is Like Yeast. The money that comes in early gives a candidate credibility and makes it easier to raise additional funds and attract additional support. Successful fundraising gives a campaign credibility in the eyes of editors and helps generate positive coverage. Ten dollars in March is worth a hundred dollars in October. Therefore small donors are well advised to give early in the season.

This is doubly true in race for Virginia's 34th Senate District. Giving money to Chap Petersen now will be included in his quarterly filing. The current incumbent will have a pile of money, so it is critical that Chap raise as much money as possible for the first filing.

That may be one of my favorite Howard Dean sayings. Here in Virginia we are having new proof of that, our entire General Assembly is up for reelection this year.

cross posted in Daily Kos

Here in Virginia the most determined opposition to paper ballots is coming from the registrars who bought DRE voting machines. Legislators usually defer to registrars because in general they are very knowledgeable about the mechanics of holding elections. In general they are very nice people who care deeply about free and fair elections. The problem that, having bought these machines, they are deeply vested in their decision. They are putting tremendous pressure on legislators and only a massive demonstration of support by constituents will be sufficient to counter their pressure.

Cross published in Daily Kos

The Virginia Senate Privileges and Elections Committee just reported SB 840, a bill that requires voter-verified audit trails, or paper ballots for the English speakers reading this. The full Senate will vote on this in a matter of days, so it is critical that Virginians contact their state Senator without delay.