The Obama'08 website proclaims,

This year, we are proud to be the first major political party to open its platform process to all Americans. And we want you to contribute your ideas and input. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to have a real impact and help set the agenda for the next four years and beyond.

These platform events had been announced earlier this month:

From Saturday, July 19th to Sunday, July 27th, everyday people all across America will hold Platform Meetings in their homes, or in their local churches and even coffee shops, to help build the Democratic Party's platform for change from the bottom up.

   Attend a Platform Meeting and tell us what matters to you, so we can incorporate your ideas into the party's platform. A few participants may even be invited to appear and testify at the National Hearing.

The website provided a guide for hosts.

Normally what happens with a lame duck president is that his interests, and those of his party, begin to diverge during his last session of Congress, because he's not running for office again, and they are. Democratic strategy for the current session of congress counted on this phenomenon, and the leadership has expressed frustration that it has not been happening to the degree that they expected. Well, I will present data to show that it is happening, although whether the shift has been less than normal I am not in a position to assess.

An index on what is happening is conveniently provided by Progressive Punch (PP)I will focus on their ratings of Senators, where the current fable is that in order to get anything done, one needs 60 votes. PP not only provides a progressive ranking of each member for the current congress [PROGRESSIVE '07-'08 SCORES(%), but also their PROGRESSIVE LIFETIME SCORES(%). Consequently, the difference between these two scores provides an index of a "progressive shift." In Congress as a whole, the shift has been about 4%-- perhaps not as much as many might have expected as the result of the Democrats gaining control of the Senate. It may reflect the slimness of the Democratic control.

A right-wing law firm with very deep pockets are working with GOP reps to steal the election by destroying California's winner-take-all system of electoral votes--they would instead be divided per results in each congressional district.  This gives the GOP presidential ticket at least 20 electoral votes (because of safe GOP districts) that it wouldn't get UNDER ANY RULES IN ANY OTHER LARGE STATE.

I was thinking this evening about the very compressed primary season next winter. The primaries will come fast and furious, and the candidates will have little time for personal contact with voters. Normally, what this would mean is big $$$ for massive television campaigns, and I am sure that we'll see that.

However, there is another possibility, and some of the middle tier candidates might take advantage of it, if they are smart: The toobz. Howard Dean emerged in front of the pack in 2004 because he learned more quickly than anyone else at the time how to harness the Internet. We know all of the candidates will try to harness the Internet, but which one will be the most successful, and how will he or she do it?

I'm joining this party late, but appreciate its tone and content.

I was a frequent participant here in 2006, establishing a blogspot and writing occasional diaries as well as contributing occasional comments. At that time, the strength of MyDD was in the analysis of the election, in all its particularities. (That's not really what I did in my diaries, however.)

Once the election was over, my attention shifted to things that MyDD wasn't doing. And so it was that I wandered over to FireDogLake (http://www.firedoglake.com), just in time for their live-blog of the Libby trial, which has really put FDL on the map.

I have two suggestions for where to go from here.

Serendipity today has led me to realize why it is that recovery efforts in New Orleans have been lagging so severely. This  started with a CNN special on Anderson Cooper 360 Wednesday, February 07, 2007, Insurance companies fight paying billions in claims. Then I saw The Gulf Coast: Road To Renewal on PBS.

The PBS program begins with this premise:

More than seven months after Hurricane Katrina struck New Orleans and the Gulf Coast, the region is hardly back to normal. Fewer than half of New Orleans residents have returned since the storm, and 9.9% of Mississippi residents remain unemployed -- more than double the national average.

The program then tries to take a hopeful note, but it only served to remind me of all the programs that have been aired about FEMA delays, claim denials, and pittances paid. The forehead-slapping moment had arrived.

There is a nice report on NPR this morning about how George Washington treated enemy prisoners that stands in brutal and stark contrast with Butcher Bush. If you missed it, you can find it at

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story .php?storyId=7466065

In brief, Washington decided to make it a policy to treat enemy prisoners well, and made friends out of enemies. He did this against the norms of his day.

Program intro in the extended entry below.

CSPAN is re-broadcasting Gerald Ford's testimony before the House Judiciary Committee on 10/17/74 about his pardon of President Nixon. This timing is eerie, coming as it does as debate across the country is heating up about possible impeachment proceedings against Cheney and Bush.

This is sure to have an effect, in one way or another, on the roll-out to whatever is coming, as it serves as a refresher course about Watergate. For example, it serves as a reminder of the big hit Ford took in his popularity ratings, which plunged after he announced the pardon of Nixon. If Cheney is impeached, does it increase or decrease the chance that Bush will pardon Cheney? If Bush is impeached, does it increase or decrease the chance that his successor will pardon him?

I think that this retrospective is hopeful and positive, because it draws attention away from the Clinton impeachment (a bad and inappropriate parallel), towards the impending impeachment of Nixon, which is the appropriate parallel.

Bob in HI