I've been going back and forth with a close family member on the election. I knew she was anti-war, but wanted to be sure that translated into anti-Republican.  She's one of these people who finds all discussions of politics somehow distasteful.

After sending a few e-mails today, I received this very passionate, and very promising, e-mail in return.  I still don't know where she'll fall out on the local races (unfortunately), but on the national races, for this person, this is huge.  We're talking about someone who still considers herself, technically, a "republican."  Hopefully, she's not alone.

A few months ago, I was asked, in SW Florida. why Democrats are different than Republicans.  The person who asked was an anti-Bush Republican looking for a reason to cross the bridge.  But she didn't want to hear more of, "why they suck."  With that inspiration, I wrote an article, subsequently published in the local paper, entitled, "What I believe," by a Democrat.  More below.

Ok, first, I know this is not a substantive diary, but there haven't been any open threads in ages, and I don't want this get buried.

I just received an e-mail from someone at Emily's list who's working with Darcy Burner , and they need some help in the final days to make sure she can win the 8th Congressional District seat in Washington.  They'll pay for airfare and provide lodging.  Seriously.  A weekend in Washington, and all you have to do is canvas and phone bank during the day (and what else would a Kossack be doing the weekend before the election anyway?).

It appears that the chimperor may not be as experienced with loose microphones as he is wearing wires.  Apparently, at lunch at the G8 Summit in St. Peterburg today, Bush didn't realize the mike was still on, while he and Tony Blair chatted away.  

Some of the statements have been fairly widely reported already, some not so much.  Highlights below:

From the New York Times, and AP - House Republican leaders on Wednesday postponed a vote on renewing the 1965 Voting Rights Act after GOP lawmakers complained it unfairly singles out nine Southern states for federal oversight, according to their joint statement.

More under the fold.

This is my second-ever diary.  You probably missed the first one, about Dean's perception of us as a bunch of kids, since it went down the "recent diaries" list at shocking speed.  Hopefully this one does better.

Every once in a while someone on DailyKos asks how we can help Democrats who have a good shot at taking a Republican seat.  How do we find them?  Is there someone who has a list of these candidates?  How can you distinguish between the many lists out there?  Who has time to do the research?

I just sent this letter to the DNC.  As I said in it, I am a long time supporter of Howard Dean, but he just got us so wrong in his speech at YearlyKos, that I felt someone should tell him, so I just did.

The letter is below.