Senator and former Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry will endorse Barack Obama for President.

The endorsement is considered "a slap at" John Edwards. Edwards beat Kerry in the 2004 South Carolina primary. Edwards' reaction?

"Our country and our party are stronger because of John's service, and I respect his decision. When we were running against each other and on the same ticket, John and I agreed on many issues."

How much effect will the endorsement have?

Since losing the 2004 race, Kerry has kept a national network of supporters intact. He has an e-mail network of 3 million supporters, according to aides. He also has traveled extensively raising millions of dollars for Democratic candidates nationwide.

Nick Yarris, released from jail four years ago after spending 22 years in prison having been sentenced to death for a murder he didn't commit, has settled his wrongful conviction case against Delaware County, PA for $4 million.

The settlement was the result of a malicious-prosecution lawsuit Yarris filed in 2004 against Delaware County and the law enforcement officials who investigated and prosecuted him, and it came as the case was moving closer to trial in U.S. District Court.

[His lawyer John] Beavers said county representatives agreed to inform the family of murder victim Linda Mae Craig that "no probable cause existed to believe Nick Yarris had anything to do with her death."

Yarris now lives in London where he is a stay at home dad to his 21 month old daughter.[More...]

Nevada will hold caucuses on January 19. The Republican caucuses are non-binding so no one is paying attention. But the Democratic race is heating up. Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama increased volunteers and campaign workers in the state right after Iowa. Obama currently has more field offices open than Hillary.

In North Las Vegas on Wednesday, an Obama field office was buzzing with activities and people came in from the streets looking for yard signs and T-shirts. (“Tell Mama Vote Obama” remained on the wall, and there was not a sign for the taking.)

“Senator Obama has invested heavily into this state,” said Shannon Gilson, a spokeswoman for his campaign here. “We aren’t taking anything for granted.”

As I noted yesterday, Obama has garnered the endorsement of two influential unions while Clinton picked up the support of the state's Democratic Congresswoman.

Nevada will be the first western state to vote. Traditionally Republican, except for Clark County which includes Las Vegas, the demographics have been changing. From the NY Times article linked above:[More...]

Bump and Update: The New York Times reports that the Justices seemed inclined to uphold voter ID laws.

Original Post (1/9/08):
Supreme Court Hears Arguments in Voter ID Card Cases

The Supreme Court today will hear oral arguments in the Indiana voter identification card cases.

The justices will hear diametrically opposite depictions of Indiana's toughest-in-the-nation voter identification law, which requires every voter to present a photo ID card.

Democrats and civil rights groups charge that the law is a Republican ploy to prevent thousands of poor, elderly and minority citizens from casting ballots. Republicans say that it won't prevent any qualified person from voting. Instead, they say, it guards against vote fraud and heightens public confidence in the integrity of elections.

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The intro is a little dumb but so is the debate about whether a woman is tough enough to be President. And once the music starts (at 1:00 in) this is a great performance by Bette Midler, with Mick Jagger as her sidekick.

Tim Johnson Endorses Obama:

South Dakota Senator Tim Johnson is endorsing a colleague for the Democratic presidential nomination.

Johnson says he's backing Barack Obama because he's bi-partisan and wants to bridge differences between the two parties.

(Emphasis supplied.) Um, that endorsement makes me less likely to support Obama. Obama already is having trouble with Dem partisans. This language from Johnson is not helpful.

With all the talk about the polls, the media and the campaign strategists, there's one group who may be more responsible for the votes in Iowa and New Hampshire than all of them -- the volunteers who were "in the field" as they say, going door to door and more, as part of the "GOTV" (get out the vote) effort.

Check out this diary by BdB over at MyDD. It's very well written, totally engrossing and provides another dimension to the election coverage. It's also extemely gracious. It ends with:

One final thing, all of the Edwards and Obama volunteers we met were incredibly nice to us, even after Clinton looked to be winning. I hope they found us nice back.

Sully is in full rampage Clinton Derangement Syndrome mode:

"I was laughing because you know in that debate, obviously Sen. Edwards and Sen. Obama were kind of in the buddy system on the stage. And I was thinking whoever's up against the Republican nominee in the election debates come the fall is not gonna have a buddy to fall back on. You know, you're all by yourself. When you're president, you're there all by yourself," - Senator Clinton on her two rivals for the nomination. Notice another subtle use of the gender card. We really are headed back to the 1990s.

(Emphasis supplied.) Say what? The buddy system is only used by males?

The buddy system is a procedure in which two people, the buddies, operate together as a single unit so that they are able to monitor and help each other. . . . The buddy system is used in: The US Army. Scuba diving, where it is called buddy diving. . . . Firefighting, where it is called the two-in, two-out principle.

So is Sully thinking of a world where women are not part of the army or go scuba diving or can be firefighters? And he wonders why people think he hates women.

Update: Keith Olbermann now says Richardson has confirmed he's dropping out to NBC News.

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The AP reports that New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson will announce the end to his presidential campaign tomorrow.

Richardson had one of the most wide-ranging resumes of any candidate ever to run for the presidency, bringing experience from his time in Congress, President Clinton's Cabinet, in the New Mexico statehouse as well as his unique role as a freelance diplomat. As a Hispanic, he added to the unprecedented diversity in the Democratic field that also included a black and a woman.

Keith Olbermann on MSNBC says NBC spoke to his campaign which denies it. According to Olbermann, Richardson may just be suspending his campaign.

Rudy Giuliani's immigration reform plan contains a requirement that immigrants learn to read, write and speak English before being allowed to become citizens.

Think Progress reports today he released a new campaign ad in Florida ...in Spanish.

A federal judge in Washington has refused to order an investigation into the destruction of CIA interrogation tapes showing coercive techniques.

A federal judge yesterday declined to order a special review of the CIA's destruction of interrogation videotapes, saying that there is no evidence the Bush administration defied court orders and that Justice Department prosecutors should be allowed to proceed with their own investigation into the matter.

U.S. District Judge Henry H. Kennedy Jr. said in a three-page ruling in Washington that a group of inmates held at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, "offer nothing to support their assertion that a judicial inquiry" is necessary into the tape destruction. He said neither of the detainees whose interrogations were taped and later destroyed has an apparent connection to the prisoners who were demanding the review.

The Justice Department says it's investigating the destruction of the tapes of interrogations of two detainees, as has the House Intelligence Committee. But, the star witness for the House investigation is refusing to testify without immunity.

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I am one of the few people who, before the New Hampshire results, expressly stated a belief in the continued existence of the Wilder Effect (named after Douglas Wilder's wide poll lead evaporated on election day (see also Tom Bradley in California and David Dinkins in New york for other examples) - where certain white voters telling pollsters they will vote for a black candidate when they will not. I believe Barack Obama is an African American candidate where this is much less likely to be the case. I think what happened in New Hampshire was clear - women flocked to Hillary in response to the disgraceful misogynistic coverage she was getting from the Media. I do not believe the Wilder Effect had anything to do with it.

But some pollsters, in understandable CYA mode given the fact that their imprecision was exposed for all the world to see, and strangely to me, some Obama supporters, are eagerly forwarding this explanation.

Why strange for Obama supporters? Because if they believe Obama is susceptible to the Wilder Effeect, they are undercutting his electability argument. What would Obama supporters have us do now? Discount 5-7 percent from all poll findings for Obama? Because if that is the case, then he is clearly the least electable candidate. I can not imagine that is what they would want. But that is the logical conclusion to draw.

I reject the Wilder Effect explanation for New Hampshire and believe that we need not discount Obama's poll numbers. I believe he is every bit as electable as Hillary Clinton.