Former Lamont staffer Tim Tagaris sends this along: The campaign of Sen. Joe Lieberman, I/D-Conn., agreed to pay a $50,000 civil penalty after the Federal Election Commission concluded that the campaign repeatedly flouted the law in disbursing cash payments to volunteers during Lieberman's bruising Democratic primary against businessman Ned Lamont in 2006. The FEC opened an investigation in late 2006 after Lamont's campaign lodged a complaint alleging that Lieberman was using a

I don't know who leaked the fact that Harry Reid contacted Blagojevich to oppose a roster of African American candidates as "unelectable," but Blago's office confirmed it and it makes Reid look just plain awful. As Nate says, "The fact of the matter is that Illinoisans have gotten to see an awful lot of Tammy Duckworth, and they simply don't like her all that much."

While our Blue America czar Howie Klein is away, I thought we could surprise him with a thank you post for all he has done over the last few years. Howie and many other folks have organized us to nominate, publicize, and support dozens of progressive candidates. Many of these outstanding candidates are now serving in the U.S. Congress.

You have to wonder why Ms. Kennedy is wasting her time with Al Sharpton and the Mayors of upstate cities. If she wants to parachute into national office from NY, Chuck Schumer is the guy she should be talking to.

California voting is open until 8pm pacific time. You absolutely must go vote right now if you have not. The exit polling for Proposition 8 is very, very tight.

We were way down in the polls and I was busy leaving messages on answering machines when a young volunteer came bounding into my rabbit warren and announced breathlessly, "Paul Newman is on the line." A little skeptical, I shot back that I was on the line with Vladimir Putin so hold all calls, but our savvy volunteer suggested that this was a call worth taking.

Ned Lamont visited the Big Tent today. He's kinda like Mick Jagger for bloggers. With the serious possibility that Joe Lieberman will be McCain's VP choice, it was great to see Ned and celebrate the fact that together,  two years ago, we kicked Joe out of the Democratic party.

We'll have video up tomorrow. But everyone else is just catching up to what we knew two years ago.  

We were f*&#ing right.

John McCain's "final countdown" actually gets a journalist to notice who the presumptuous one may actually be.

Live interview with newly elected Representative Donna Edwards of Maryland's fourth Congressional district.

Some of you may remember how Tim Walz, a schoolteacher from rural Minnesota, pulled off the Mother of All Upsets back in 2006 when he defeated longtime Congressman Gil Gutknecht in Minnesota's historically hyper-Republican First District. Well, the Republicans are spoiling for a fight, but somehow I suspect Tim's not too worried.