http://www.johnkerry.com/action/marchmadness/

Well I guess door to door Voter IDs in Baghdad are out of the question...

A lot of people tend to forget the elections for New Hampshire's House of Representatives since there are so many of them.

Indeed, if Congress had our approximate representation (1 representative for approximately every 3,000 people), there would be about 100,000 Congressmen in Washington if we round off to the landmark 300 millionth American estimated by the US Census recently.

Only a few stadiums(let alone buildings) could hold that many people, indeed, it's about as large as Manchester.

While trying to think of the US fitting the entire city of Manchester into a room, let alone have it govern the country is mindboggling, it's something we Granite Staters should be proud of because we have that level of democracy here in our state, we're closer to direct democracy at all levels than anywhere else on Earth.

Yet, this year was even more special as we all know. The House went to Democratic control for the first time since 1922 as the Democrats gained over 80 seats in the national anti-GOP tsunami. However, that's just the tip of the iceberg....

Howard's going north of the border, here's the link to the AP story in the Telegraph.

Sick of Diebold taking away your vote? Why stop there, why not get rid of the congressman voting for you in Washington all the time? That's what Daniel Rosen wants to do. Rosen, a musician in Lake Tahoe, Nevada, is running for Congress...sort of.

To be honest, he's actually running for Congress so what would be his vote will be replaced by a simple majority in a program he's calling "Nevada Vote Direct"; A "middle (congress)man", if you will.

If he would be a guide as to the what all the legislation coming out of Washington meant, provided a quorum and perhaps a supermajority to replace the simple majority, I think Rosen's onto something, if he's a little bit ahead of his time. Still, if only the voting machine companies could follow the example of this quote from his website....

At Nevada Vote Direct, we will always strive to employ the state-of-the-art when it comes to security. To achieve that end, and to ensure confidence, our software code is open to inspection at any time, by anybody.

From Electoral-Vote.com

In NH-01, incumbent Republican Jeb Bradley is ahead of insurgent Democrat Carol Shea-Porter 49% to 37%. That is quite believable, although it does show a strong gain for Shea-Porter.

"It's Not the People Who Vote that Count; It's the People Who Count the Votes"-Josef Stalin"

We're lucky enough to have the best Secretary of State in the country here in New Hampshire.

Before you take it for granted, take a look at the worst one in the country in Ohio. There are many uncertain things in this world, but one thing that we can count on is that Bill would at least have the decency to stop being the SOS if he were to chair a political campaign or run for office himself.

The stress of campaign season got you down?
Borrow some bi-partisan advice from the grand master of truthiness.

Interesting story at Slate Magazine here.

About how Governor Lynch is the polar opposite to our polarizing president.

Are you as tired as I am of hearing "Stay the Course" or "Cut and Run" from your Republican friends?

Are you as tired as I am of not hearing a good counter soundbite from the upper echelons of the left wing, unless "Give Us Money" counts?

Well, wait no more, my Liberal and Progressive friends! Your meme has arrived

"Get The Job Done"....

The next time your conservative comrade asks you

"So, do you want us to retreat from Iraq, or do you want us to stay the course?"

just tell them...

"No, I want to get the job done so Iraq is safe and secure and we can focus on the true battlefields of the War on Terror. When I start a job, I don't leave it half finished."

Try it! It's worked for me so far in my heavily Republican area.

Excluding some military contractors, most people i've met on the left and the right want the US military to leave Iraq, the question is what the criteria would be and how we'd get there.

Let's focus on that and take the right wing soundbites for eternal warfare out of the equation.

From the Nashua Telegraph

“It’s not a big deal, His vote will get lost.”

-Sandra Ziehm, Nashua Republican Committee Chairwoman

("Alciere wins race, just not the one he was running for", Nashua Telegraph, September 14th, 2006)

Andrew Sylvia
603-440-8236
andrewsylvia@century21.com

My name is Andy Sylvia, and i'm running for State Representative in Hillsborough 19, a district consisting of the town of Merrimack.

I'm the Town Chair of the Merrimack Democratic Committee, a Member of the Merrimack Ethics Committee, and quite possibly the first politician with Asperger's Syndrome since Thomas Jefferson.

My platform in Merrimack is based on changing state politics from partisan based to solution based courses of action. Finding out what works the best rather than what works for a few.

I am proud to be a Progressive, and I consider my political beliefs similiar to a large tree: the roots are broad and solid, but the branches continue to grow and extend outward to all points.

Platform
People: In my opinion, elected officials are not the captains of our society, that role belongs to the consensus of the public at large. Instead, to me, elected officials are navigators; helping the public chart a course and putting wind in their sails to get there.