Philly mayor John Street easily won re-election today:

It was the electronic bug found hidden in the ceiling of the mayor's office on Oct. 7 that overshadowed the campaign's final month and brought national attention to the race for mayor in the nation's fifth-largest city.

The continuing federal probe bolstered Street in surprising ways, as many voters in a 4-1 Democratic city listened to the Democratic Party's assertion that the federal probe was a GOP dirty trick.

Street's supporters contended it was evidence of a possibly racially inspired GOP plot to oust a Democratic mayor. Katz saw it as a logical result of a culture of corruption that he contended existed in City Hall.

Bump and Update: Here's the transcript of the debate. Some early news of the debate shows much criticism of Howard Dean for his confederate flag remark.

Sharpton called the Confederate flag "America's swastika," accused Dean of misquoting King and said of Dean's flag comment, "I think it is insensitive and you ought to apologize for it. You are not a bigot but you appear to be too arrogant to say 'I'm wrong.'"

When Dean again tried to defend himself, Sharpton dismissed him, saying he sounded more like "Stonewall Jackson than Jesse Jackson" and accusing Dean of stereotyping southern whites by suggesting they all display the Confederate flag on their pickups.

***************
Original Post 11/4 3pm

Eight of the nine Democratic presidential nomination contenders will debate tonight on CNN at 7 pm ET--sponsored by Rock The Vote.

Who's missing? Dick Gephardt, who would rather campaign in Iowa.

What's different about this debate? Young voters will ask the questions.

Just goes to show Dick Gephardt really is your father's oldsmobile.

Arnold Schwarzenegger will be sworn in as Governor on Nov. 17. He's named Bonnie Reiss — a Democrat and outspoken environmentalist — as his senior advisor.

Al Sharpton will serve as host of Saturday Night Live on Dec. 6.

Florida's Senator Bob Graham has announced he will not seek re-election. Graham dropped out of the Democratic presidential nomination race last month. We had hoped he would run again for Senator. Except for his support of the death penalty, he's been a good, liberal senator for Florida.

This compounds problems for the Dems on the national scale as it opens up another seat in the 2004 elections:

CNN noted that Graham and three other Senate Democrats from the South -- John Edwards of North Carolina, Zell Miller of Georgia and Ernest Hollings of South Carolina -- have all decided to leave next year, forcing the party to defend four open seats in a region that is becoming increasingly Republican.

We offer two helpful ideas for the Dems: Rock the Vote (get the younger voters currently feeling apathetic or turned off to politics registered) and push the felony disenfranchisement bills so that ex-offenders can vote. Both of these groups would likely tilt towards the Dems.

James Ridgeway of the Village Voice analyzes the Democratic candidates positions on the death penalty. Three are opposed in all instances: Dennis Kucinich, Al Sharpton, and Carol Moseley Braun. Here are the positions of the remaining six, from least worst to worst (in our view):

Clark and Kerry support the death penalty in some instances but voice the strongest doubts.

Wesley Clark:

He would support mandatory review of all death penalty sentences. "I'll tell you, I'm uneasy about the death penalty," Clark said answering a question recently in Arkansas. "A government like the United States has the right to, in extraordinary cases, take the life of a criminal, but I don't like the way the death penalty has been applied in America," Clark said. "I think it's been applied in an unfair and discriminatory fashion and I think we need to go back and use modern technology and unpack all those cases on death row."

John Kerry:

John Kerry says he favors life imprisonment over the death penalty, though he advocates the execution of terrorists. Interviewed on Meet the Press last February, Kerry told host Tim Russert that he advocates a moratorium on the death penalty, but that in the end it's up to the states to decide: "It’s fought state for state by state prosecutors. That’s where it’s done. And I would honor, obviously, the laws of those states, and that’s the way we should proceed."

Democratic presidential candidate hopeful Al Sharpton let loose on rival Howard Dean today, charging:

Howard Dean's opposition to affirmative action, his current support for the death penalty and historic support of the NRA's [National Rifle Association's] agenda amounts to an anti-black agenda that will not sell in communities of color in this country."

"Any so-called African American leader that would endorse Dean despite his anti-black record is mortgaging the future of our struggle for civil rights and social justice," Sharpton said.

We have to say we think Sharpton is exaggerating. He has a long-standing rivalry with Rev. Jesse Jackson, whose son, Rep. Jesse Jackson, Jr., endorsed Dean yesterday.

Democratic presidential candidate hopeful Al Sharpton let loose on rival Howard Dean today, charging:

Howard Dean's opposition to affirmative action, his current support for the death penalty and historic support of the NRA's [National Rifle Association's] agenda amounts to an anti-black agenda that will not sell in communities of color in this country."

"Any so-called African American leader that would endorse Dean despite his anti-black record is mortgaging the future of our struggle for civil rights and social justice," Sharpton said.

We have to say we think Sharpton is exaggerating. He has a long-standing rivalry with Rev. Jesse Jackson, whose son, Rep. Jesse Jackson, Jr., endorsed Dean yesterday.

Presidential contender Dennis Kucinich has been endorsed by the New Hampshire Green Party.

Ed Garvey, the Democratic nominee for Wisconsin governor in 1998, and a Madison lawyer, throws his support behind Kucinich today in the Madison Capital Times. He says Kucinich stands for true Democratic principles.

Kucinich has the most progressive stand on issues. His views seem to match our's more than those of the other candidates. We'd like to see him do well in the primaries because it would signal a public inclination to retreat from the agenda and influence of the conservative right and the centrists. But we remain of the opinion that we have to support a candidate with a true chance of beating Bush. In our view, that's not Kucinich. Yet, we admire Kucinich for his position on issues and for his dedication to the campaign and getting his message out. It can't be easy to get out there on the campaign trail when the press continually dismisses your chances of success. We hope Kucinich stays in the race until the very end and we'll do our part in publishing his views.

Update: Berry's World thinks the Kucinich endorsement is ominous.

Considering that the conventional wisdom is that Rep. Kucinich has no chance to grab the Democratic nomination, is it out of line to think that he might run as the Green Party candidate in the general election, thus splitting the progressive vote and handing President Bush the election?

Presidential contender Dennis Kucinich has been endorsed by the New Hampshire Green Party.

Ed Garvey, the Democratic nominee for Wisconsin governor in 1998, and a Madison lawyer, throws his support behind Kucinich today in the Madison Capital Times. He says Kucinich stands for true Democratic principles.

Kucinich has the most progressive stand on issues. His views seem to match our's more than those of the other candidates. We'd like to see him do well in the primaries because it would signal a public inclination to retreat from the agenda and influence of the conservative right and the centrists. But we remain of the opinion that we have to support a candidate with a true chance of beating Bush. In our view, that's not Kucinich. Yet, we admire Kucinich for his position on issues and for his dedication to the campaign and getting his message out. It can't be easy to get out there on the campaign trail when the press continually dismisses your chances of success. We hope Kucinich stays in the race until the very end and we'll do our part in publishing his views.

Update: Berry's World thinks the Kucinich endorsement is ominous.

Considering that the conventional wisdom is that Rep. Kucinich has no chance to grab the Democratic nomination, is it out of line to think that he might run as the Green Party candidate in the general election, thus splitting the progressive vote and handing President Bush the election?

Rock the Vote is sponsoring an online contest. Enter the names of people you think aren't registered to vote or who need to update their voter registration information and you can win : A trip (for 2) to Boston and a ticket to the America Rocks the Vote Presidential Forum, 2 tickets to the Rock the Vote Awards in Los Angeles on February 7, 2004, a year’s supply of Ben and Jerry’s Ice Cream (52 Free Pint coupons), a year’s supply of dnL, the powerful rush of green from 7 UP (52 Free 12-pack coupons) and a dnL travel bag, and a Motorola T720 mobile phone. Details here.

Rock the Vote is sponsoring an online contest. Enter the names of people you think aren't registered to vote or who need to update their voter registration information and you can win : A trip (for 2) to Boston and a ticket to the America Rocks the Vote Presidential Forum, 2 tickets to the Rock the Vote Awards in Los Angeles on February 7, 2004, a year’s supply of Ben and Jerry’s Ice Cream (52 Free Pint coupons), a year’s supply of dnL, the powerful rush of green from 7 UP (52 Free 12-pack coupons) and a dnL travel bag, and a Motorola T720 mobile phone. Details here.

A new USA Today/Gallup poll shows support for President Bush continues to drop. You can view the actual results here.

In a nutshell, 57% of independents disapprove of the way Bush is handling the war in Iraq. Back in April, he had a 73% approval rating from independents. Now that approval is at 39%. In addition,

Independents are less inclined to vote for Bush next year than to vote for a Democrat; 35% of registered independent voters choose Bush and 42% choose an unnamed Democrat. Among all registered voters, Bush leads the unnamed Democrat 46%-43%, which is within the 4-point error margin.

Support for the war also is declining:

Fifty-seven percent say the United States should withdraw some or all of its troops from Iraq. That is up considerably from two months ago, when 46% wanted to withdraw some or all of the troops. Seventy percent of Democrats, 58% of independents and 43% of Republicans want a partial or full withdrawal of troops from Iraq. Democratic support for the war has fallen more sharply than independent support — from 54% in April to 24% now.