Republicans are asking defeated Maryland senatorial candidate Michael Steele to replace outgoing RNC Chairman Ken Mehlman.
He’d be a good choice: a popular, smart moderate from a blue state who, by virtue of his skin color, would lend built-in credibility to Republican efforts to continue Mehlman’s strategy of reaching out to blacks. And it would give [...]

It depends who you ask.
Some disgruntled Democrats want to replace him with Harold Ford, arguing that Dean did poorly at fundraising, and that his “50 state” strategy cost them several additional seats.
Elsewhere, though, he’s being hailed as a genius. Not only did the Democrats not need his help to win, but his efforts to build [...]

I am, of course, pleased by New Jersey’s top court recognizing what I consider the obvious: that same-sex couples deserve the same legal and tax benefits as heterosexuals.
But what really interests me is not the whole debate over whether same-sex unions should be allowed; it’s that the debate provides a near-perfect example of how a [...]

“The idea of trying to cast blame on President Clinton is just wrong for many, many reasons, not the least of which is I don’t think he deserves it…I don’t think President Bush deserves it. The people who deserve blame for Sept. 11, I think we should remind ourselves, are the terrorists -the Islamic fanatics-who [...]

We live in a world that likes to focus on flash…the best news is breaking news that portrays the latest tragedy…whether that be a plane crash, a shooting, or any of a number of calamities. At the same time, slower burning, less inflammatory catastrophes unfold at a reliably steady pace each day. The question is [...]

There is a new site out there ala Red State for Centrist and “Goldwater Republicans.” It’s called GOP Progress and it launched today. The editor, Liz Mair, says this is a gathering place for mainstream Republicans:
WWW.GOPPROGRESS.COM is an interactive blog site created to give moderate and small “l� libertarian Republicans a forum for [...]

If this is true, it’s a great idea. Right in time for the summer driving season and…yes…the fall elections.
From Raw Story:
Democrats are set to introduce a measure that would create a “federal gas tax holiday” by eliminating the federal tax on gas and diesel for sixty days, RAW STORY has learned.
The measure, proposed by Sen. [...]

Gas is getting up there. Way up there. And that has some leading Republicans abandoning their “free market” ideology in favor questioning why the gas companies’ profits are going through the roof at the same time prices are too. After all, shouldn’t they be feeling the pinch too?
From the Wash Post:
House Speaker J. Dennis [...]

Hello. I’m the new member of the Donklephant family. The name is Dennis Sanders, and I’m the guy behind a blog called NeoMugwump. I’m one of those rare, and it seems, increasingly endangered species called a moderate Republican. I tend to be a social liberal, which is an anathema in the [...]

Now this is a good idea. Don’t form your own centrist party. Create a coalition of willing centrists to affect change within both parties so they’ll be pulled more towards the middle.
More from Austin Centrist:
A bunch of Centrist Bloggers are talking about forming a National Centrist PAC. The aim would be to help elect candidates [...]

I really think this is a good move by Bush, because it’ll help our response time to disasters and speed up recovery efforts. And honestly, who doesn’t want that?
From Wash Post:
Homeland Security spokesman Russ Knocke said the move complements a recent White House “lessons learned” report about integrating such groups in disaster response and “also [...]

Good for Wikipedia.
Majikthise has the whole sordid tale.

Sick of bickering and bitterness? Here’s a gem of good news to relieve the day’s ugliness. When Hurricane Katrina wiped out a swath of the Mississippi gulf coast, it took hundreds of lives and mansions and shacks alike were blown to splinters.
Many local people from up here in southeastern Pennsylvania, where I live, went down [...]

That’s what Homeland Security Secretary, Michael Chertoff, is saying.
Thousands of “Mexicans who are caught entering the United States illegally are returned immediately to Mexico. But other parts of the system have nearly collapsed under the weight of numbers. The problem is especially severe for non-Mexicans apprehended at the southwest border,” Chertoff explained.
“Today, a non-Mexican illegal [...]

Got an idea that you think would make the world a better place? Well, I recently ran across a BlogAd for a website that will pay 21 people a lot of money for truly worldchanging ideas. It’s called SinceSlicedBread, and it’s the real deal.
Here’s more info.
We’re looking for fresh, new ideas for a better America. [...]

Remember people, these photos are going to come out sooner or later. I say sooner is better because it’ll get the inevitable out of the way.
From the Wash Post.
NEW YORK, Sept. 29 — A federal judge ordered the release Thursday of dozens more pictures of prisoners being abused at Abu Ghraib, rejecting government arguments that [...]

Good riddance to a bad idea. Not the museum itself, but the location.
Here’s the ground zero for the “take back Ground Zero” movement.
Jeff Jarvis has done yeoman work in this cause. He deserves to celebrate.
Rudi was against it. So was Hillary. Talk about an issue that brought people together.

Butterflies and Wheels over the years has collected a stack of articles and links on the topic of reforming Islam (or secularizing it) and reclaiming it from the fundamentalists. They’ve gone the next step here and collected them all on one page. Useful!

This one slipped past me, but I think it’s good news.
WASHINGTON - The architect of the memorial to a plane downed in western Pennsylvania on Sept. 11, 2001, said Wednesday he would work to satisfy critics who complained that it honors terrorists with its crescent-shaped design.
Designer Paul Murdoch said he is “somewhat optimistic” that [...]

There is an old saying, “As Maine goes, so goes the nation.” Which could mean bad news for abstinence-only advocates. Maine has become the third state to refuse federal abstinence education funds.
Good.
Under newly tightened federal rules, “This money has to be part of an abstinence-only program,” and that would prevent the [...]