By Big Tent Democrat

As expected:

Michigan Democrats agreed Friday to push a do-over primary in early June to give them a say in the close presidential race between Sens. Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama.

Amid talks with the two campaigns, the four Michigan Democrats said in a statement they were "focusing on the possibility of a state-run primary in early June which would not use any state funding." Rep. Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick, one of the Democratic participants, said a likely date is June 3.

Update (TL): The Michigan Democrats agreed but the campaigns still need to approve. [More...]

By Big Tent Democrat

Good news:

On this presidential rivals Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton can agree: They sometimes disagree with their trash-talking supporters and will try to cool it. Advisers to the Democratic candidates shed some light Friday on the private chat the two candidates had Thursday on the Senate floor. The talk lasted three or four minutes in full view of reporters watching on the balcony above who could see them talking, but not hear what they said.

More...

By Big Tent Democrat

Chris Bowers could not be more wrong on this:

I have long been opposed to any re-write of FISA granting additional powers to conduct electronic surveillance. FISA's not broke, it doesn't need fixing and it certainly doesn't need weakening at the expense of the Fourth Amendment.

This is a bill, as the Washington Post says, that "would update the 1978 Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act to expand the powers of intelligence agencies and keep pace with ever-changing communications technologies."

The good news, as I see it, is this:

The House's action ensures that Bush will not receive surveillance legislation for several weeks. But some lawmakers from both parties said the impasse is now so deep that the issue may not be resolved until a new president takes office next year.

Bush and Republican lawmakers have shown no desire to move further toward the House Democratic leaders' position, and the Democrats are showing no sign of buckling under the mounting political pressure.

Maybe we won't get a FISA re-write after all.

ABC News has picked up on a matter reported by a Denver local news station last week involving a Colorado federal judge. I've obviously been aware of it since then.

I have many cases in front of this Judge, including some coming up for sentencing.

There will be no posts about this matter here, no comments about it allowed on any thread, including open threads, and no reference to it on TalkLeft. I hope someone e-mails me if I miss one so I can delete it.

Other blogs will discuss it and you can express your opinions there.

Thank you all for understanding. Comments have been disabled for this post.

By Big Tent Democrat

Speaking for me only

This is rich:

In a crowded room in the U.S. Capitol on Tuesday, Florida's Democratic House members met late into the evening but agreed on only two things: Any do-over election is unacceptable, and they're frustrated with Dean. Asked about his leadership before the meeting, Rep. Kathy Castor of Tampa joked, "Who?"

(Emphasis supplied.) The House Dems, whose plan is NO plan and who are actively working to stymie the only viable plan on the table, are mad at Dean? Let me clue them in, Florida Dems are going to be mad at THEM when they found out the real obstacle to solving this problem, the group who is doing nothing to get Florida real representation at the Democratic Convention, and giving Florida Dems their voice back is THEM, the Florida Dem House delegation.

You know the old saying "lead, follow or get out of the way?" Someone needs to remind the Florida Dem House delegation about that one.

Mississippi lawyer Dickie Scruggs, brother-in-law of former Sen. Trent Lott, pleaded guilty today to corruption charges.

Powerful plaintiffs' attorney Richard "Dickie" Scruggs and a co-defendant pleaded guilty Friday to conspiring to bribe a judge for a favorable ruling in a case involving legal fees from a post-Hurricane Katrina lawsuit.

....One of the best-known trial lawyers in the country, Scruggs was indicted along with his son and three associates in November. They were accused of conspiring to pay a Lafayette County Circuit Court judge $50,000 for a favorable ruling in a dispute over $26.5 million in legal fees from a mass settlement of Hurricane Katrina cases.

Scruggs pleaded to a five year count. There are no sentence concessions, each side can argue for the sentence they deem appropriate. The Government may ask for the 5 years. The plea agreement is here (pdf) and factual basis for the plea here (pdf).

The AP says it was a surprise plea. Trial was set at the end of the month. I don't think Scruggs had much choice. [More...]

By Big Tent Democrat

Some good news:

The House Dem leadership's surveillance bill just cleared the House by a vote of 213-197 with 1 vote of present. 12 Dems crossed the aisle to vote against it.

The bill has stricter privacy safeguards than the Senate's version -- and of course does not contain a provision granting retroactive immunity for the telecoms' participation in the administration's warrantless wiretapping program.

Good show.

By Big Tent Democrat

Speaking for me only

The estimable Mark Schmitt (Ezra Klein endorses Schmitt's faulty thinking) questions my argument that Hillary Clinton's candidacy for the nomination requires revotes in Florida and Michigan. While Mark wrongly identifies me as a Clinton supporter (see this for my reasons for supporting Obama), Mark makes an interesting but flawed argument:

Yesterday's Rasmussen poll shows Hillary Clinton leading Barack Obama 51% to 38%.

Clinton now leads by twenty-five percentage points among women and is essentially even among men. She attracts votes from 69% of white women while also leading among voters over 40 and those with incomes under $75,000 a year. Obama leads 79% to 13% among African-American voters.

Also yesterday, Rasmussen did a PA poll that showed McCain ahead by a statistically insignificant margin against both Obama and Hillary. But,

In Pennsylvania, McCain leads both Democrats by double digits among men and trails both by double digits among women. The gap is wider if Clinton is the Democratic nominee.

McCain is viewed favorably by 55% of voters in the state, Obama by 53%, and Clinton by 45%. For Obama, that figure reflects a ten-point decline from last month. In that previous poll, conducted at the height of Obamamania, the Senator from Illinois had a ten-point lead over McCain.

More...

Update: Change of DNC email contact address. I just got an email from the DNC. They are getting the e-mails, particularly from TalkLeft readers. They ask if you want to register your opinion, please use this email address. The address is delegates-at-dnc.org. The DNC says the other email box is overwhelmed by emails, and this will allow better coordination and filtering. The emails will also be accessible to more DNC staffers and constitutent services.

Greg Sergeant at TPM writes an agreement for a re-do primary is imminent in Michigan. No mail-in voting primary, no 50/50.

I also hear the 50/50 won't be accepted and a redo primary is more likely.

Big Tent Democrat will be very happy. And if it's a firehouse primary, he was right weeks ago. Obama previously rejected a firehouse promary.

I'm okay with a re-vote in Michigan. It's not my first choice, but so long as it's not the 50/50 proposal, I can get behind it.

A few times I've mentioned that media commentators at the time said Obama (and Edward's) decision to withdraw their names from the MI ballot was strategic since they were unlikely to win the state and thought it would diminish the value of a Hillary win. Here's a report from the Iowa Independent at the time saying five sources told them it was a consideration, but denied it was the main one.

Update: Obama supporters are holding a meeting tomorrow on how to become a Michigan delegate.

By Big Tent Democrat

Speaking for me only

I favor Barack Obama in this contest because I see no substantive differences on the issues meaningful to me (others see such differences, it is due to their taking meaning in differences I do not find meaning in) and because I find Obama more electable than Clinton (mostly because of how each is perceived and treated by the Media and existing negative baggage (unfair baggage no doubt) for Clinton.) Obama is also an electoral map changer in the West, where Democrats can make real short and medium term gains (as opposed to the South.) The one worry on that front is his weakness with Latinos.

Ron Brownstein reports on these electoral differences: