With only an announcement former Rep. Jim Slattery is just within reach of Sen. Pat Roberts with tons of time to make up the rest.

According to a recently released Rasmussen Poll

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.

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 the Tim Golba as well as info on the specific bill.

Crossposted from WiretapMag

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."

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...

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 Kansas today officially announcing his candidacy for the US Senate against Pat Roberts (R).

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

The US Supreme Court just voted to disproportionately disenfranchises our rights to cast a ballot. Remember that whole thing about democracy and everyone having the right to vote - HA! I bet you thought that was real, right??

UPDATE 2: Rock the Vote recently released statement calling it "supremely wrong."

UPDATE 1: Politico has also reported on the topic

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Liz Rincon is the state director for the Pennsylvania League of Young Voters, and while she hasn't been on the ground organizing for more than several months she's done a lot.

"This was never supposed to happen. I think everyone was unprepared for this because Pennsylvania has never mattered before!" she said over the phone between spirits of answering questions to shouting voices in the background.

Ahhh tax day. The wonderful day where we all get to hear republicans justify tax breaks to the top 1% of the income bracket.

Kansas State Treasurer and Republican candidate for Congress Lynn Jenkins (CPA) has spent the last several months trying to make her American Century scandal go away... and with good reason. That's some pretty sketchy hijinks if you ask me.

In her op-ed to the Kansas City Star, Jenkins CPA wrote (I would link but archived articles at the star older than a week old must be purchased for $2.95 proving once and for all that the Star is all about money ... not so much about news... but I digress)

Campaigns and Elections Magazine is about as wonky as you get outside of polling data, and aside from it being fairly establishment they do tend to talk about some outside the box ideas. I think I've seen them acknowledge young voters three times in my 2 year subscription I bought. Last month's issue headlined their issue with a picture of what looked like a Millennial in a South Park t-shirt, listening to an iPod, and whistling as he walked down the street carrying a copy of The Fountainhead.

The great people at WesPAC and BraveNewFilms are drawing attention to a very important bill that is scheduled to appear today on the House floor.

A new TIME Spring supplement Style and Design addresses the influence the Millennial Generation has over products and even purchase power they have in influencing their Baby Boomer parents.

The first piece, a feature article, claims that Millennials seek the luxury and name brand products their parents do but they want them without the financial stability their parents have worked their lives to build.

A new fun viral video takes the Kansas GOP and national republicans to task for some of the failures we are seeing and urges folks to register to vote.