Scott Kleeb's opponent for United States Senate in Nebraska certainly thinks so.

He's been pretty clear about it. As reported in the Omaha World Herald:

Democratic U.S. Senate contender Scott Kleeb believes the battle against global warming amounts to a "moral test" for mankind, while Republican Mike Johanns believes Kleeb goes "way too far" on the issue without regard to the economy and science.

Kleeb says the evidence suggests that greenhouse gases are causing the climate to change, while Johanns says it remains "contested science."

Doesn't that make you want to Stand with Scott?

OH-11: First and foremost, we note again with sadness the passing of the late Representative Stephanie Tubbs Jones of Ohio, the chairwoman of the House Ethics Committee.

The Congresswoman was a true trailblazer whose career represented a series of firsts - she was the first African-American woman elected to Congress from the state of Ohio, the first ever to sit on the Ways and Means committee, the first to serve as Cuyahoga County Prosecutor.

Our deepest condolences and best wishes go to her family and friends.

National: Courtesy of Jonathan Godfrey and Marisa McNee comes the latest web resource for following U.S. House races online: House Race Tracker.

The site serves as a resource for polling results, cash-on-hand numbers, TV ads, and PVI. Soon, apparently, they hope to expand to including independent expenditures in House races as well.

Perhaps the most noteworthy aspect of the site is its layout; the entire content of HouseRaceTracker is laid out on the front page in user-friendly chart form.

While there's no real commentary on the site as of now, HouseRaceTracker looks to be a nice one-stop shop for elections junkies. It's well worth visiting, and bookmarking, for anyone interested in House races.

NC-Sen: Now, for the exciting polling news! InsiderAdvantage has polled the North Carolina Senate race, and finds Caribou Liddy Dole deadlocked with Democratic challenger Kay Hagan:

Lot of undecideds in this poll. Here are the most promising indicators: Hagan leads 38% to 27% among independents, and takes a slightly larger share of Republicans than Dole does of Democrats (despite the high percentage of conservative Democrats in North Carolina).

The DSCC and Majority Action have been absolutely hammering Caribou Liddy on the airwaves for the past month or so (including in the DSCC's "Rocking Chairs" ad, one of the very best ads from anyone this cycle).

Meanwhile, Hagan has put up two positive ads to spread her own name recognition.

Pollster's average now shows Dole at 49%, Hagan at 41%, but the last two polls on the race have shown very good movement in Hagan's direction. It appears the race is starting to trend her way.

AK-Sen: Ted Stevens' bid to get home-field advantage in his federal corruption trial failed miserably, with a federal judge ruling against Stevens' bid to get his trial moved from DC to Alaska.

The upshot of this is that Stevens will also not be able to campaign this fall, a rather unfortunate bit of news as he currently trails Democrat Mark Begich by double digits.

He's also begging his colleagues on the Ethics Committee to permit him to set up a legal defense fund:

WASHINGTON -- Sen. Ted Stevens has asked the U.S. Senate Ethics Committee to approve a legal expense fund to help pay the cost of his criminal defense.

Stevens, R-Alaska, joins Rep. Don Young, R-Alaska, who set up such a fund earlier this year to help defray the cost of mounting legal expenses connected to a federal probe into campaign donations and other matters.

The Senate Ethics Committee must approve the legal expense fund, but generally does so for senators if the legal expenses are connected to their role as an officeholder. Stevens was indicted last month on seven felony counts of failing to report more than $250,000 in gifts and home repairs from the now-defunct oil services company Veco Inc.

Individuals and political action committees can contribute up to $10,000 to the Senate fund. Lobbyists, corporations, foreign nationals and labor unions are barred from making contributions. The fund, which would be managed by a trustee, would file quarterly reports detailing the contributors. Stevens is not allowed to solicit contributions and said Wednesday he won't accept donations until the ethics committee has signed off on creating the fund.

Alaska's Senate race is beginning to look a lot like a very good production of Shakespeare's Richard II.

CO-Sen: VoteVets nails Bob Schaffer to the wall:

KY-Sen: Bruce Lunsford is fighting the good fight against Mitch McConnell. Here he calls McConnell a failure, to his face, in their recent debate:

And here is Lunsford's latest ad:

House Races

MO-09: Though we are still saddened over the humiliating primary loss of GOP candidate Brock Olivo, there's reason to believe the field may be clear for good old Brock to return in 2010.

This is because, according to a recent internal poll, Democrat Judy Baker stands an excellent shot at winning this R+7 seat. From pollster Momentum Analysis:

Baker leads 45% to 36% among women voters, the source of a good bit of her strength.

Most notably, Baker enjoys 30% favorable ratings, against just 13% unfavorable. In fact, she enjoys positive favorable ratings even from Republicans, which is truly impressive.

If the poll is accurate, it's serious trouble for Republican Blaine Luetkemeyer. Apparently, his people know it, too:

"Judy Baker’s poll is like a NASCAR driver bragging about being ahead after the first lap of this weekend’s Sharpie 500, which in case Judy didn’t know is a car race enjoyed by ‘those people’ often derided by liberal Democrats like herself," said Luetkemeyer spokesman Paul Sloca in a statement.

Despite Sloca's hysterics, however, it appears that Judy Baker is in fact quite the NASCAR fan:

State Sen. Chuck Graham and state Rep. Judy Baker announced the plans to designate Route WW from Highway 63 to Olivet Road as "Carl Edwards Drive." Graham said he intended to file legislation in the General Assembly today. If passed, Edwards would join former Kansas City Royals star George Brett and former St. Louis Cardinals star Mark McGwire as the only sports figures to have their names affixed to state highways. "So stay away from steroids and subpoenas from Congress," Graham joked.

Ooooooops.

NH-01: Rep. Carol Shea-Porter is one of the most endangered Democrats in Congress this cycle, but fortunately for her, her Republican opponents, John Stephen and former Rep. Jeb Bradley, seem intent on tearing each other apart in their primary.

Stephen attacking Bradley:

And Bradley attacking Stephen:

Gotta love Republicans eating their own, especially as Shea-Porter is hitting the airwaves with her own ad.

NY-13: Meanwhile, in the district of disgraced Republican Rep. Vito Fossella, the Democratic primary appears to be Mike McMahon's to lose. McMahon faces 2006 candidate Steve Harrison, and leads by more than 45 points:

Given the GOP's well-documented difficulties finding anybody halfway decent to run for the seat, Mike McMahon looks like he's going to Congress.

This is a poll, however, of registered voters and not likely voters. So it is possible, even likely, that the race is a good bit closer than the poll indicates. McMahon surely has a significant lead, though.

In debate jargon, there is a term called a "Turn" where you use an opponents argument against them to effectively prove your point. It's time for Democrats to turn the energy debate in an immediate, simple and effective way.

In light of the handwringing from yesterday's narrowing poll numbers, here's a dose of good news.  Both the presidential and Senate races here in North Carolina are still as tight as can be, according to Insider Advantage.

On the presidential side, McCain has 45 percent to Obama's 43 percent.  As has been the case with virtually every presidential poll from here in the past few months, that's about the only good news in this poll for McCain.  On the Senate side, it's a flat-footed tie--40 percent apiece for Liddy Dole and Kay Hagan (with Dole having a mere 0.1 point lead unrounded).

More analysis after the jump ...

I could write about a lot of stuff tonight.

For almost a decade I have been tracking Jack Abramoff and the Culture of Corruption and since I became uid 9214, I’ve written about that work here on Daily Kos. For years, I have been writing about the many ways that John McCain covered-up the Abramoff Scandal.

I could write about how the Obama campaign is taking that fight to Curveball John:

There is more to that story and more reasons why McCain should worry about Jack, but I doubt it would break through the waves of panic shaking the netroots.

Yikes! The polls have tightened. Well, what did you expect?

Take a deep breath. Get a backbone. FOCUS.

It’s time to call out the summer supporters and sunshine campaigners.

To the jump...

Yesterday I ranked Senate races per Rasmussen polls, based on the latest Louisiana Ras poll. Today, let me do a better version of that post, this time using the Pollster.com polling composites (a more accurate way to gauge the state of these races).

I've ranked them in order of likelihood of switching, including all races within 20 points:

So there are 14 Republican-held seats that are more endangered than Louisiana. New Jersey, always such a tease, is actually close than Louisiana, though Republicans seemed to have wised up to the Garden State's shenanigans. Too bad. The more money they sunk into NJ, the less money they'd have to try and hold those other 14. And there are signs that Oklahoma may be more competitive.

Bottom line? NM, VA, AK, and NH look like solid pickups. Colorado is shoring up, likely (D) in my book. I think we pull off Mississippi, which gets us to six.

If the elections were today, I think that's where things would settle. Can we get four more from that list in the next 2 1/2 months to get to a Lieberman-proof 60? I'm increasingly optimistic. It's not just the favorable political climate, but also this:

That's the Senate party committees cash on hand at the end of July. Democrats quite simply have the cash to create mass havoc behind enemy lines. Republicans barely have enough to keep the lights on at party HQ, much less actually play defense. While Republicans spent $2.8 million in July, Democrats have been barraging Republicans with over $8.5 million in ads and other spending.

The DSCC artillery assault has already begun, and Republicans have half the cash the Dems have to respond.

Stevens' gamble for an early trial suffered its first setback, when a judge refused a motion to move the trial to Alaska.

Sen. Ted Stevens cannot move his corruption trial from Washington to his home state of Alaska, a federal judge ruled Wednesday in a decision that could hamstring the powerful Republican's re-election bid [...]

Stevens, 84, had hoped to stand trial by day and campaign on nights and weekends. In a state where he is known as ''Uncle Ted,'' he could have faced a more sympathetic jury. Stevens was named the Alaskan of the Century in 2000, the Anchorage airport bears his name, and he has brought billions in federal aid to the frontier state.

Wednesday's ruling puts a damper on his campaign plans. Stevens asked for, and received, an unusually speedy trial that he hopes will clear his name before voters go to the polls. But with the trial in Washington, Democrats will have the state largely to themselves while Stevens is tethered to a defense table in the weeks leading up to the November election.

There's still about three weeks for Stevens to withdraw from the race. He'd have to do it after next Tuesday's primary, or one of his no-name primary challengers might end up being the nominee. But if he does it between next Wednesday and September 17-ish (give or take a day), state Republicans can replace him with however they want.

But the defense also rejected an offer by the judge to hold trial only four days a week so Stevens could spend more time in Alaska. The deal would've delayed the verdict, and the overriding Stevens bet seem to be that acquittal will boost his electoral prospects. So given that they've decided for early decision over more time at home, it suggests that Stevens intends to stick it out to the bitter end.

And if he's convicted? Who cares? It wouldn't be any worse than the big, double-digit deficit he currently faces against O2B Democrat Mark Begich.

On the web:

Mark Begich for Senate
Orange to Blue ActBlue Page

NC-Sen: Another day, another steaming stack of stupid emanating from the smiling empty seat that is the very senior Senator from the great state of North Carolina.

Which is to say, Elizabeth Hanford Dole.

Responding to criticism from her rather perceptive Democratic opponent, Kay Hagan, that Sen. Dole spends remarkably little time in the state she purports to represent, Liddy had this to offer.

After her speech, Dole said she’s spent lots of time in North Carolina lately.

"Lately", eh? Senator, it would have been nice if you'd paid a modicum of attention to the state at, you know, some point in the last 35 years, when not running for the Senate.

But one can't have everything, I suppose.

Dole said she also supports drilling in the Alaska National Wildlife Reserve, where drilling would have a small footprint that wouldn’t harm much wildlife.

"Even the caribou like to snuggle up to the pipeline," she said.

Indeed. Every caribou I have interviewed in the past six months has expressed his support for banging a big fat honking pipeline through his home, so as to give him warmth and comfort as he sleeps.

Would there was oil in New York City, so that I, too, could snuggle up next to a pipeline as I lay me down to sleep. I think some pipeline would look great in my apartment. Really tie the room together, you know.

The overall goal must be to cut reliance on foreign oil imported from nations run by the likes of Hugo Chavez and Vladimir Putin, she said.

"A lot of that comes from people who don’t necessarily like us," Dole said.

Gee, it might help if our foreign policy had not been an outright fiasco of late, Liddy. And whose fault is that, anyway?

Amid Liddy's laments about gas price, by the way, she has given a boatload in tax breaks to Big Oil. Naturally, MoveOn is all over this:

AK-Sen: A hearing was held this morning in federal court in Washington, DC, to determine whether indicted Senator Ted Stevens would get to move his trial back to his home turf of Alaska.

Meanwhile, the Anchorage Daily News notes the role of new media in affecting public opinion on the Stevens scandal, to the point where new media are a screening point for potential jurors in the Stevens case:

Several joint questions seek to find out if potential jurors are political active or read about politics, especially the insider Capitol Hill publications. Do they listen to talk radio, read political blogs or go to Internet forums? The government, in particular, wants to know if they read the conservative Drudge Report or the liberal Huffington Post online.

Apparently, even Bush's Justice Department thinks reading Daily Kos is OK.

NH-Sen: Jeanne Shaheen is cooking with gas, as she seeks to unseat incumbent Republican John Sununu. Per Rasmussen:

Ras' 3-poll average puts the race at 51-41, while Pollster's average has it at Shaheen 52.6%, Sununu 42%.

Shaheen's double-digit lead has remained remarkably consistent this cycle, and she has proven to be a formidable candidate.

House Races

OH-15: Here's the first ad of this cycle from Democratic candidate Mary Jo Kilroy, as she seeks to take the open seat she nearly won in 2006 against incumbent Deborah Pryce.

MN-03: The Minnesota blogs have named this "Ashwin Madia Blog Day", in honor of a fine progressive candidate (and Netroots Nation attendee) in Minnesota's Third District.

If you'd like to learn more about Madia's candidacy on Madia Day, check out MN Blue or MN Publius.

WY-AL: As we noted last night, Wyoming's Republican State Treasurer Cynthia Lummis has won her primary in the state's at-large district.

The Hotline thought her primary opponent, Mark Gordon, was the more formidable of the two:

The party's been searching for a way to stem the growing Dem tide in the region, and a return to its libertarian roots may be the answer. In addition, his profile as a rancher seems to be a better match against '06 nominee Gary Trauner (D) than ex-Treas. Cynthia Lummis (R), with her years of gov't service, can provide.

The most recent Research 2000 poll for Daily Kos shows Trauner leading Lummis, 44% to 41%.

NH-01: Carol Shea-Porter is up on TV:

WI-08: Meanwhile, Republican John Gard is still feeding the debunked myth (perhaps we should just start calling it an outright lie) that China is drilling off the coast of Cuba).

NY-25, NY-26, NY-29: Today is the pre-primary filing deadline for New York House candidates. We have no more than three terrific New Yorkers on the Orange to Blue list, and here's a golden opportunity to help them finish the pre-primary period with a bang. They are Jon Powers in NY-26, Eric Massa in NY-29, and Dan Maffei in NY-25.

Please head to the Orange to Blue ActBlue Page and give them a little (or a lot!) of love, as they head towards election day.

On the web:
Orange to Blue ActBlue Page

I know I'm not a famous blogger here at Daily Kos and my comments tend to garner only a smattering of recommends.  This diary is probably going to come across as whiney and I know that many readers DO give money to progressive candidates so I am not intentionally criticizing those people nor do I mean to criticize those who don't have money to spare but who dedicate themselves to electing Democrats thru activism.

I have been reading and posting here since about 2005.  I am not a wealthy person & the past year has been difficult for me.  but when the Front pagers & other posters here at Kos put out a call for contributions to their candidates, I try to help out.  Sometimes the amounts are small, but I do what I can because we need more progressives in Congress.

Yesterday, I decided to put out my own request for contributions for a progressive US Senate candidate, Jeff Merkley (OR-Sen), in what is considered one of the top Senate races in the country.  I offered & am offering to match contributions totalling up to $1,000 to people who contribute thru my Actblue page:  http://www.actblue.com/... .  Guess how many people stepped up to the plate?

Dear Kossacks,

The politics season is truly upon us when we begin hearing that Republicans are push-polling.  Remember that push-polls are different that testing messages.  Message tests tend to be long polls, sometimes with nasty questions.  They are designed to judge your reactions.  Push polls are short and obviously far from factual.  They are intended to push people buttons on wedge issues or push vile rumors into circulation.

Tonight, we have the first evidence that the Norm Coleman campaign has started push polling ...

Are you interested in putting more *progressives* in the US Senate in the upcoming election?  Would you like to double your impact thru a matching contribution?  If so, read on!

For the past 12 years, Oregonians have been cursed with a do-nothing Republican Senator who currently polls at under 50% approval.  His name is Gordon Smith and his list of legislative accomplishments in the US Senate is as meager as his committment to George bush is great.

Following the Democratic landslide of '06, Smith furiously tried to create the appearance of distance between himself and the Bush administration without actually distancing himself in a meaningful way.  He's a pretend 'independent' Republican Senator who 'independently' votes with George Bush approx. 90% of the time.  He's sort of like a dumber, more inactive and almost-as-insulting-to-your-intelligence version of Norm Coleman.

Rasmussen. 8/14. Likely voters. MoE 4.5% (7/9 results)

Landrieu has been up on the air the last several weeks, pounding the crap out of Kennedy, and the results are pretty obvious. Remember, this is the GOP's only chance to pick up a Senate seat this year. And their one and only chance is currently a 16-point deficit. Yup, it's one of those years for those guys.

I mean, this is where this race ranks, per Rasmussen's latest polling:

Rasmussen hasn't polled the Idaho or Oklahoma Senate races, or we probably would've seen both those states tighter than Louisiana. But per Rasmussen polling alone, there are 13 Senate races tighter than the Louisiana one. (South Dakota, their other supposed target, puts Republicans at a 25-point disadvantage against Democratic incumbent Tim Johnson.)

NC-Sen: Kay Hagan is out with her second TV ad of the cycle:

Hagan is trying to close a relatively narrow gap between herself and incumbent Sen. Elizabeth Dole. Polling was tight prior to Dole's June ad blitz, and has seemed to trend slightly up for Hagan in recent weeks as she herself has hit the airwaves. Another positive bio ad such as this one should help the state Senator improve her statewide profile as the general election heats up.

CO-Sen: The DSCC can't get enough of "big oil" ads, it seems. Here's their latest, against Colorado Senate candidate Bob Schaffer:

Meanwhile, the infamous Freedom's Watch is taking to the airwaves themselves, attacking Schaffer's Democratic opponent, Rep. Mark Udall.

Freedom’s Watch, a conservative advocacy group, launched ads Tuesday in Colorado hitting the Democratic Senate nominee, Rep. Mark Udall, for missing a key vote last month on energy policy to attend a fundraiser back home.

The 30-second ad, with amusing graphics and whimsical music, shows gasoline prices rising as a narrator refers to the Congressman as "Skip Udall."

Tim Pearson, deputy communications director for Freedom’s Watch, said the ad buy was "substantial," though he declined to provide specifics. It is airing in the Denver, Colorado Springs and Grand Junction media markets.

The IE buys are only going to get bigger and more frequent over the next few months, on both sides.

AK-Sen: Guess what! Ted Stevens thinks he's above the law!

In this case, he's apparently above the laws he himself helped to pass:

In 1989, Congress amended the Ethics In Government Act of 1978 to require members of Congress to file financial disclosure reports including income and honoraria exceeding $200. The bill gave the Attorney General the authority to take action against anyone who falsifies the financial disclosure report. Stevens joined the rest of the Senate in a voice vote in favor of the legislation.

Either he's forgotten about this law he supported...or he just doesn't care, now that it's applied to him. As he is trying to get his case thrown out of court:

Last week, lawyers for Senator Ted Stevens filed several motions asserting that Senators are above the law and deserve special treatment. Specifically, the defense explained that since the Department of Justice is part of the executive branch, they cannot investigate Stevens or interview his staff since they are part of the legislative branch. Stevens’ attorneys went as far to say that only Congress can discipline a Senator who violates the law by lying on the financial disclosure forms. However, Stevens voted for the legislation which established the financial disclosure forms. In essence, Stevens’ defense is that legislation he supported is now unconstitutional, and therefore the case should be dismissed.

This is not altogether surprising really. If Stevens had any respect for the rule of law, he wouldn't be in this nasty situation to begin with.

ME-Sen: Down East has a new article on the state of the Maine Senate race. In general, it's a sober analysis of what looks to be a pretty tough, though viable, race for Democratic Rep. Tom Allen, who faces off against incumbent Sen. Susan Collins.

Allen starts at a disadvantage in name recognition, polling and money (though the DSCC has committed a great deal of money to this race, which should even the financial playing field somewhat). That said, Allen is quoted one major advantage: his ground game.

The grassroots is the only area where Allen has an undisputed edge in this race. The Democratic Party has 29 offices open across the state, with more opening every week, and has a dedicated and energized volunteer base, due in part to the excitement caused by Barack Obama's presidential campaign. The Republican Party has just four offices and many fewer volunteers.

The Democrats are working on registering thousands of new voters and making sure they get to the polls, an effort that could shift the political landscape in the Senate race. However, with less competitive races in Maine for president and for the other congressional seats, which democrats will likely win, Maine's ticket-splitting voters may choose to make Collins the one Republican they support. In the latest poll, 29% of Democratic voters abandoned Allen.

It's likely that there will be at least a decent number of ticket splitters this fall in Maine, but

House Races

FL-24: Republican Rep. Tom Feeney must be awfully nervous about his electoral prospects against former Democratic state Rep. Suzanne Kosmas.

Because Feeney has paid for robocalls across the district in support of Kosmas' primary opponent, fellow Democrat and 2006 loser Clint Curtis.

The third-term lawmaker from Oviedo -– who defeated Curtis in 2006 -– has paid for "tens of thousands" of robo-calls to Democratic voters on behalf of Curtis, who is running again for the House District 24 seat, this time as an underdog in the Democratic primary against former state lawmaker Suzanne Kosmas.

In calls to Central Florida residents, a volunteer for the Feeney campaign lauds Curtis and calls him the "only Democrat taking on Tom Feeney that has consistently opposed the war in Iraq." At the end of the call, the female volunteer said the calls were "paid for by Tom Feeney for Congress."

This isn't the first time that Feeney has tried to help a challenger. In a release sent a few weeks ago, Feeney touted independent candidate Gaurav Bhola as "the only candidate talking sense" at a candidate debate that Feeney never attended.

A clip of the robo call was provided by the Kosmas campaign. Paul Dunn, her campaign manager, called it one of Feeney’s "dirty tricks" and said it was proof that Feeney fears Kosmas, who has more money on hand than the incumbent.

Yes, I think it's safe to say that Feeney's running scared. Given that he's mucking about in Democratic primaries, you know.

Fortunately, given Curtis' bankroll of $7,000, it's highly unlikely Feeney will get his wish.

TX-07: Democrat Michael Skelly's newest ad:

OH-02: Daredevil Jean Schmidt's latest scandal: she and her sisters own a multi-million dollar property in Cincinnati, via their late father's real estate company, on which they pay all of $95 per year in property taxes.

For how come? Because they grow a few thousand dollars' worth of soybeans on the property. The property isn't primarily used as farmland...but naming it as such saves them a boatload, it seems:

The Schmidt campaign vehemently denies any wrongdoing (they do pretty much everything vehemently, in fact), and legally, they're almost certainly covered. Still, as the video notes, it sure doesn't look good.

NY-26: Finally, the first ad from Orange to Blue candidate Jon Powers:

On the web:
Orange to Blue ActBlue Page

Cross-posted from DMIBlog

Today the Drum Major Institute (DMI -- where I'm director of research) released its first annual Survey on the Middle Class and Public Policy.  The nationwide poll, conducted by Global Strategy Group, aimed to learn how those Americans who see themselves as middle class (the vast majority of us, it turns out) think about the direction of the country, public policy ideas that could improve the nation, and their relationship with their own elected representatives. What we found were middle-class households filled with "fearful families": Americans worried about the present, pessimistic about the future, but not nearly so divided on issues of public policy as the typical media reports of a country divided by red and blue might lead us to believe. In fact, there’s broad bipartisan support for a range of progressive policies.

In the really green part of Oregon, Gordon Smith has a long tradition of presenting himself as the moderate, anti-drilling, good guy. In fact, one of his infamous ads in which he tries to pretend he's been endorsed by Obama, trumpets

"Who says Gordon Smith helped lead the fight for better gas mileage and a cleaner environment? Barack Obama!"

Clean environment? Tell that to the Oregon Department of Environmental Equality, not to mention the folks in Weston, OR.

For the second time in about a year, wastewater from the frozen-foods plant owned and operated in Eastern Oregon by the family of U.S. Sen Gordon Smith (R-Ore.) overflowed into a nearby creek in violation of state environmental regulations....

Smith Frozen Foods has a long history of wastewater violations.... According to the Oregon Department of Environmental Quality, an employee of Smith Frozen Foods contacted the state agency on July 29 (while the plant was processing corn) to report an overflow from the company's wastewater lagoon that "resulted in a milky discharge to Pine Creek."

...[T]he incident is considered a serious "Class 1" violation, meaning it "can harm aquatic life, contaminate drinking waters, and impair recreational, commercial and agricultural uses of water."...

On July 30, 2007, at the height of last year's corn season, Smith Frozen Foods had a similar violation. That violation resulted in a $3,000 fine — a small sum compared with the $25,000 DEQ fine in 1992 for another infraction. Between those two events, Smith Frozen Foods has been cited or fined by the DEQ more than a handful times.

After one of those fines in the early 1990s, Smith received $766,000 in state and federal grants to bring his plant into compliance with environmental regs. And then he had the gall to run his first, losing campaign against Wyden on "the principles of less government and unfettered free enterprise."

The most recent spill (there have been six or seven in the past 15 years) is hardly the same scope as the massive fish kill of 2002 that Smith helped engineer with Dick Cheney and Karl Rove, an environmental and economic disaster that killed over 60,000 fish, including naturally raised Chinook and endangered Coho salmon.

But it does put the lie to Smith's claim that he's a friend to the environment. And it's one of the reasons Oregon's environmental and conservation communities are lining up behind Jeff Merkley.

Thanks to technology, we're making history, again, tonight here in Idaho.

Beginning at 9:30pm ET tonight, Independent Rex Rammell and I will be having the first debate of the general election campaign for U.S. Senate here in Idaho -- and for the first time in Idaho history, we'll be broadcasting the debate on the internet and taking questions live from folks like you watching it online, right here at DailyKos and across the internet.

Tonight's forum is a new kind of debate that uses the power of technology to put the debate in your hands. So please, join us below the fold to watch the debate and ask your questions in real-time starting at 9:30pm ET!

UPDATE (8:45pm MT): I've now updated the diary with a copy of the video from tonight's debate.  Thanks so much for everyone from DailyKos who tuned in and participated!

Last week, the DSCC released a poll showing Democratic Senate candidate Jim Martin, riding the wave of a convincing primary runoff victory, trailing Republican Sen. Saxby Chambliss by only six points.

The smallest margin recorded in any poll, prior to the DSCC's stunner, had been the 11-point Chambliss lead which Rasmussen demonstrated in July.

Rasmussen's latest, however, confirms the DSCC poll, and suggests that Georgia's Senate race is highly competitive right now.

Rasmussen. 8/14. Likely voters. MoE 4.5% (7/17 results)

With leaners included, Chambliss leads 50% to 44%.

As this is independent confirmation of the DSCC's previous poll, it can probably be taken more or less at face value. It reflects a pretty healthy primary bump for Martin, one which may well fade a little as Chambliss uses his formidable war chest to go on the air.

But if Martin - the beneficiary of healthy name recognition from his 2006 bid for lieutenant governor - can stay relatively competitive financially, and avoid being drowned on the airwaves, he has an outside shot at winning this race. Martin's success will also depend in part on Democratic efforts to register hundreds of thousands of new voters in Georgia. The Obama campaign has made this a priority, and in a close race, it could prove to be a boon to Martin's candidacy.

We're quite fortunate to have a candidate like Jim Martin in the race. He's essentially turned a no-hope race into a serious challenge, and is a candidate progressives can be proud of. Georgia's Senate race was barely on the radar just a few months ago, but it has become one of the top sleeper races this cycle.

With this poll added to the pile, Pollster's average now indicates an eight-point race, with Chambliss averaging 50% to Martin's 42.3%

Georgia's Senate race can now be considered "Likely Republican". Chambliss has a big money advantage (though Martin's own fundraising has been fairly good in a fairly short time, and the DSCC has a good bit of money themselves). Given Chambliss' money, Georgia's red tilt, and Chambliss' lead, he has to be favored.

But Chambliss has a legitimately tough race on his hands, and that should warm the hearts of Democrats across the nation.

On the web:
Jim Martin for U.S. Senate

Ivan Moore for the Anchorage Press and KTUU. 8/9-12. Likely voters. MoE 4.4% for overall sample, ~6.2 for primary samples. (7/30-31 results)

Stevens is surging back! Kidding. Begich has locked in support, while Stevens rebounds slightly (or maybe it's just float in the MoE).

In the House:

The good news is that Berkowitz is competitive with Parnell, but the really good news we're all hoping for is a Young victory in the GOP primary next Tuesday. Luckily, with the fragmented multi-candidate field, Young doesn't have to reach 50 percent. But with the massive MoE for these primary sub-samples, the GOP House primary is scary tight.

But the overall picture looks fantastic for Alaska Democrats, and with scandal depressing GOP fundraising in the state, the future is only slated to get better.

On the web:
Orange to Blue ActBlue page
Mark Begich for Senate
Ethan Berkowitz for Congress