I just received an Email from my Rep about his vote on the FISA Bill. I was going to post his whole email but it's to long for the intro.  My responses will be below the fold.

Obama has picked up a new superdelegate from my homestate.

Washington Post, 11/7/06:

The popular senator from Illinois, who has barnstormed the country on behalf of Democratic gubernatorial and congressional candidates, is one of the A-list political celebrities of the 2006 campaign season...  Obama may be the biggest attraction [of them all]. Despite his brief two years on the national stage, Obama has generated rapturous enthusiasm among Democrats, and he has said he is considering a presidential run. His success on the campaign trail in recent weeks has added to his cachet.

Obama campaigning for Claire McCaskill in Missouri:

Last evening I had a chance to attend an event put on by the Young Voters PAC in a bar on Capitol Hill.  The organizer is run by Jane Fleming Kleeb, wife of 2006 Nebraska Congressional candidate Scott Kleeb.   It was an accessible event, with a minimum buy-in of $50, and the hook was the celebrity bartenders.   A complete list of those who were going to fill that role can be seen here.  I was unable to stay for the entire event, as I had to attend a meeting of a non-profit board on which I served.   But I want to briefly describe the good work this organization does, and the people I did see while I was there.

So please keep reading.   This will be relatively short.

It's always interesting to see in the aftermath, what kind of bullshit the Democratic leadership will spew to try to spin their selling out America as a "win". With that sentiment in mind, I received my first email today from Rep. Harry Mitchell, AZ's 5th district. Harry won the seat through a lot of hard work and money on our part. This is one of two seats we snatched from Republicans in 2006. So we can be clear on Harry's votes, here is the rundown:

*He voted for the blank check on the Rule vote.
*For the first vote on the supplemental.
*For the second vote.

Well, at least he was consistent in selling us out.

His letter follows:

As you may or may not know, the pride of AZ-05, aka Foghorn Leghorn, also known as J.D. Hayworth, has not yet conceded the race to former Tempe Mayor Harry Mitchell.  

Many Arizonans dropped off their early ballots at the polls on election day.  There were also the usual number of provisional ballots, and by some counts, as many as 200,000 ballots statewide remained in need of counting after the numbers came out at the end of election night.

Numbers have been coming out on a daily basis as election officials work through the pile of paper.

More below.......

And with good reason, Mitchell has not declared victory.
Many of you have been trumpeting our success in the Arizona 5th as part of our defeat of some of the most vile Republicans in congress and as a sign of the sensibilities of voters. Unfortuntately, we haven't won yet.
The full story on the flip.

It looks like there are 250k ballots out in Maricopa County and about 35k in AZ-05 Hayworth. Hayworth will need close to 69% of those ballots to go to him to overcome the defecit that he has to Harry Mitchell.

We are all holding our breathe. Please god please get Foghorn Leghorn out of office!

www.harrymitchellforcongress.com

Though I've been a registered voter in Maryland since moving here for graduate school in 2004, I've always been an Arizonan at heart. I lived in the state for 23 years and always felt most at home in the ponderosa pine forests of Coconino County (hence my moniker, Pine).

Tonight, I'm proud to be an Arizonan because of imminent progressive victories in two very significant races: AZ Congressional District 5, and Proposition 107, the "Protect Marriage Now" initiative. If the current results hold, Arizona is poised to become the first state ever to reject a constitutional ban on gay marriage.

Today, while at work, I got an email from the Mitchell camp. Apparently someone is calling Mitchell supporters late at night telling them to vote for Mitchell. Late enough, I guess, to anger a few people .. and possibly discourage people from voting for Mitchell.

Well, the email said it is not coming from the Mitchell camp! But http://www.tpmmuckraker.com/... shows the GOP have been doing this in several districts.

Looks like the stink finger points to J.D. Hayworth! Luckily, we only have to put up with his loud mouth for one more day!

Go Harry GO!!!!!!!

Oh, also this evening, I got a robocall telling me to call Ms. Pederson (or maybe Peterson, they sound similar). Jim  Pederson is the Dem. candidate in AZ running against Jon Kyl if you didn't know. The recording rattled off a 1 888 number and then repeated it. I tried *69, but got no where. Anyone else get this? Could Kyl be pulling the same tricks?

I had some time today to tear myself away from work to attend the GOTV rally here in Tempe. I have to say, just a few days ago Bill Clinton made a surprise stop and I was out of town. So if you were there, and have photos, please post them.

Anyhow, today's rally was supposed to be at ASU, but when I arrived at the location, there was a sign saying it was moved to a park a little outside of campus. This was last minute, and I'm not certain why.

On a wonderfully nice afternoon (full sun, mid-80s .. which is typical, sorry rest of the country) in early fall the AZ Dem. candidates for House, Senate and Govenor, along with the state seats arrived. Here are some photos from before, during and after the event.

Congressional Quarterly just
moved my race in AZ-01, along with AZ-05, from 'Leans R' to 'No Clear Favorite'.

Here at the Ellen Simon campaign this is no great surprise; we've known we were this competitive with Renzi all along, and I'm sure Harry Mitchell feels the same way about Hayworth. But it's always nice to have a little confirmation.

As always, read my other diaries on the race for more.

I love this news. I love looking at that map and seeing big spots of blue and yellow all over my home state. I love that Giffords is leading that idiot Graf by big numbers in AZ-8 and will be our third Democratic representative in Arizona. the two new tossups, there is a possibility of a 4-4 split, or if everything is right and good in the world on Tuesday, a 5-3 Democratic majority in Congress for Arizona.

Bill Clinton just spoke at ASU campus in support of democratic candidates Harry Mitchell, Jim Pedersen , also governor Janet Napolitano. Excellent speech, a good line on Iraq ("Stop and Think is not cut-and-run"), and good advice to the activists about pushing on moderate Republicans to vote Democratic in this election.

Yesterday I commented in one of the "Woe is us" Kerry diaries that it might be a good idea for all the negative nellies here to just think and post positive comments and thoughts from here through November 7.  In that vein, I am presenting to you my "fab five"; the 5 Republican incumbents that I would most like to see go down in flames next Tuesday...  

Okay, so Nicolas Cage is not as young as he was twenty years ago.  Who is?  But in twenty years' time Arizona has gone from Republican stronghold to Democratic wave.  Bill Clinton will be in Phoenix and Tucson today as part of that wave - offering his support to U.S. Senate candidate Jim Pederson and other Arizona Democrats like Gabrielle Giffords and Harry Mitchell.  And, although Clinton won't be in Ellen Simon's district, she is poised to unseat yet another Republican.

Maybe folks at DailyKos don't know it, but there's a Democratic tidal wave in the making in Arizona.  Al Gore and Barack Obama sure do.  They visited during the past week in a triple-barrel GOTV barrage.  Popular Gov. Janet Napolitano leads her Republican opponent by 40 points.  40 points in formerly Republican Arizona!  The Dems are looking to pick up three House seats in Arizona.  That's rights - not Connecticut (Although that would be nice, too.) - Arizona!

I apologize that this will not be the most substantive diary, but I wanted to get this out there to everyone who lives in AZ. BIll Clinton is, as of Nov 1, campaigning tonight in Tucson on behalf of the Democratic party. But in a surprise move, he has announced that he will come to Tempe, AZ, home of  Arizona State and the fifth congressional district to campaign.
Everything you need is below the fold!

Short and sweet. I've for a short while now been thinking this seat could be the surprise Democratic pick-up of the cycle.