I thought that I would most likely be writing this diary a week from today, but the announcement that Edwards has withdrawn moves up the timeline.

I'm one of the last remaining Kossacks to continue to vote "No Freakin' Clue" in the DailyKos straw polls. I've been evenly split between Obama and Edwards for most of the campaign, with Hillary only a tiny fraction behind for my vote.

John Edwards has now withdrawn, but that there's no reason why his ideals need to die with him. If John wants to bring change and progressive ideals to Washington, he absolutely can still do so. He can run against Elizabeth Dole for the U.S. Senate from North Carolina.

Joe Lieberman was on Tucker Carlson on MSNBC about an hour ago, and Lieberman closed with a sentence that sent chills down my spine:

If John McCain wins Florida tonight, I'm sure that he will get the nomination, and if he gets the nomination, I'm sure that he will be elected.

Now maybe my tinfoil hat is fitted just a bit too tightly today, but to me, Lieberman seemed to say this with an air of "I know something that you all don't know." And while this is a thought that seems too repulsive to comprehend, maybe this is a consideration that ought to be capturing the attention and energy of progressive Democrats everywhere:

Could we be facing a scenario that could actually give us a President Joe Lieberman?

Last fall, I made my first donation to a political campaign. Never in my life had I anticipated doing this, but I became convinced of the absolute imperative of returning Congress to Democratic hands, the Howard Dean 50-state strategy for doing so, and the value of small-money contributions in making it happen.

And so, I sent my first political donation ever of $20.06 to Victoria Wulsin (OH-02), a candidate exemplary on her own merit - and a contribution to Ms. Wulsin was also a contribution against Jean Schmidt, one of the most repulsive members of Congress. Later my second contribution went to John Laesch, another excellent candidate in his own right – who also happened to be running against the vile Dennis Hastert.

But like many in the blogosphere, what I want to happen most in politics right now is for Al Gore to run for President. I have long since pledged to myself to work night and day campaigning for Mr. Gore if he decides to enter the race. And over the weekend, I’ve made a resolution to take the ante up one step further. If Al Gore runs for President, then I’m "all-in" – I will donate the maximum contribution of $2,300 to his campaign.

Jonathan Alter, from Newsweek, offers an interesting frame to the stem cell research debate in an MSNBC article today. He begins by explaining that some Republicans found the Michael J. Fox advertisement to be in "poor taste," but then explains:

The problem with the "poor taste" defense is that for anyone who has suffered from diseases that could some day be cured by such research--the ones you might expect to be appalled--the ad is not in the slightest bit offensive. It's dead-on. Literally. It's the "pro-cure" spot those of us suffering from serious diseases have been waiting for--the one that might hasten the political change that could give us more life.

(boldtype mine)

It was a single phrase in that paragraph that grabbed my attention like a ton of bricks...

"PRO-CURE"

Two diaries (this one and this one) have made the Recommended List today, asking Kos to expand the Netroots Candidate List.

I suspect that Kos (and Bowers, and Stoller, and DavidNYC) may have his/their reasons for wanting to limit the Netroots Candidates in number. I suspect that it probably has something to do with wanting to focus the contributions of the Netroots around a few candidates carefully chosen for maximum impact - so that on November 8, they can cite a few carefully chosen candidates where the Netroots made a difference. I can understand that.

This, of course, shouldn't stop us from contributing to whomever the hell we want to. I invite you all to visit my ActBlue page and join me on the flip.

Per the Associated Press:
http://hosted.ap.org/...

BAGHDAD, Iraq (AP) -- Iraqi and coalition forces have arrested the second most senior figure in al-Qaida in Iraq, Iraq's national security adviser announced on Sunday, saying the group now suffered from a "serious leadership crisis."

Hamed Jumaa Farid al-Saeedi, known as Abu Humam or Abu Rana, was captured north of Baghdad a few days ago "along with another group of his aides and followers," Mouwafak al-Rubaie said.

Well, I don't know about you, but I'm certainly relieved. I'm almost as relieved this time as I was the last time they captured a Super Important Al Qaeda Dude.

Let's look back.

Democratic candidate Stephanie Studebaker has dropped out of the Congressional race in OH-03 after her arrest, with her husband, this weekend on domestic violence charges. This has already been diaried here, and here, and here. It's truly a very unfortunate situation, and let's hope that her family is able to sort things out with her family.

Speculation regarding her replacement by the Dayton Daily News has immediately centered on Rhine McLin, mayor of Dayton; Montgomery County Democratic Chairman Dennis Lieberman; and Montgomery County Commissioner Debbie Lieberman. McLin and Dennis Lieberman have promptly ruled out a run. Charles Sanders and David Fierst lost the primary to Studebaker in May, and are likely ineligible to run under Ohio's "sore loser" provision. The Dayton Daily News article is here:

http://www.daytondailynews.com/...

The Buckeye State Blog has a list of candidates as well.

But let's face it - someone has to bring this up. Could Paul Hackett be our candidate in OH-03?

It is October 30, 2006 - eight days before Election Day, and polls show Democrats with narrow leads, all within the margin of error, in the Senate races in Pennsylvania, Ohio, Missouri, Montana, and Rhode Island. Democratic candidates are behind, but also within the margin of error and closing fast, in Arizona, Nevada, Tennessee, and Virginia. Control of the Senate clearly hangs in the balance.

And in Connecticut, Ned Lamont and Joe Lieberman have continued their campaigns throughout the fall. Nearly every Democrat in the party has long since come out in support of Mr. Lamont. Yet despite this, Mr. Lieberman has pressed forward, supported to a substantial degree by contributions from both prominent and small-donor Republicans - this, despite his continuing contention that he is running as an "Independent Democrat" and would caucus as such. Polls show Mr. Lamont ahead but not comfortably enough - and much like in August, what will happen on Election Day is anyone's guess.

On the Monday morning of October 30, Joe Lieberman calls a press conference for "An Important Announcement."

Two suspects were arrested on Tuesday in Marietta, Ohio, on felony terrorism charges. This comes from the Marietta Times this morning, and just briefly was mentioned on MSNBC.

http://www.mariettatimes.com/...

Articles included below the jump.

Okay, everybody...

With the disclaimer that I'm very far from being an expert...

Here are some of the dynamics in play as we look to the battle royale between Ned and Joe shaking down in November, as I see it.