Dallas County broke the '06 total vote yesterday, with over 57,000 early votes (not counting the mail ballots). We've looked at about 55,000 of those, and as best we can tell, virtually half have no '02, '04 or '06 primary history. Less than 3,000 have previous R primary history over the same period.

Harris County -- the third largest county in the United States-- is on pace to shatter the total vote from 2004 just with early voters. Harris County is working to turn blue in November, much like Dallas did in '06 and Travis did in '04, and this record turnout is sure to help that.

Attention, Parents: Larry Craig is Seeking Interns

The Idaho Republican has just announced he's taking applications for summer internships in his Capitol Hill office, which has been the brunt of gossip and many a colorful "wide stance" jokes ever since last summer, when Craig was busted in a Minneapolis-St. Paul airport men's room sex sting.

"Interns have the chance to be an essential part of a working congressional office," Craig said in a press release issued Tuesday. "They participate in the legislative process as well as ensure that constituent services run smoothly. For those interested in politics, it is an incredible opportunity to get a behind-the-scenes look at how our government functions while serving the people of Idaho."

Senate advances bill to cut Iraq funding

In an about-face, Senate Republicans on Tuesday agreed with Democrats to advance an anti-war bill because they said the debate would give them time to hail progress in Iraq.

The change of heart came after months of blocking similar measures. But unlike most of last year, security conditions in Iraq have improved, and Republicans say they now feel they have the upper hand on the debate.

"We welcome a discussion about Iraq," Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell declared.

"This legislation would substitute the political judgment of legislators for the considered professional military judgment of our military commanders," the administration said in a statement.

Rep. Renzi indicted over Arizona land deal

The indictment charges Renzi, a three-term congressman, and business associate James Sandlin, 56, of Texas, with 27 counts of wire fraud, extortion, money laundering and conspiracies from real-estate transactions involving the two men.

Other counts charge that Renzi and another business associate, Andrew Beardall, 36, of Maryland, violated federal insurance laws by embezzling more than $400,000 in insurance premiums from a trust account of the Patriot Insurance Agency Inc. to fund Renzi's congressional campaign in 2001 and 2002. The Renzi family owns the Santa Cruz County business .

"Among the allegations contained in the indictment (Renzi) misused his public office by forcing a land sale that would financially benefit himself and a business associate, and in so doing, he betrayed the trust of the citizens of Arizona," said U.S. Attorney Diane Humetewa of Arizona.

Helpline for Hillary Clinton on beating Obama

Hillary Clinton's increasingly desperate campaign team held a phone-in yesterday for supporters to offer their advice on how to defeat Barack Obama.

The "helpline to Hillary" came as the former First Lady prepared for a televised debate with her rival for the Democratic nomination in Austin last night, where she needed a strong performance to revive her bid for the White House.

With his opponent on the ropes and short of ideas, Mr Obama yesterday completed his 11th straight primary victory, winning the votes of overseas Democrats.

Remember the Democratic presidential debate when Sen. Barack Obama said he would have to see former President Bill Clinton dance before he could decide if he was a "brother?" Wonder what he would make of President Bush who swayed his presidential hips to the African rhythms in Liberia, his final stop in his six-nation trip in on that continent.

(click the picture or link to watch the vid)

Check out First Lady Laura in the background. She's got the same moves as the president, just what you'd expect from an old married couple.

Republican presidential candidate John McCain said President Bush should veto a measure that would bar the CIA from using waterboarding and other harsh interrogation methods on terror suspects.

McCain voted against the bill, which would restrict the CIA to using only the 19 interrogation techniques listed in the Army field manual.

His vote was controversial because the manual prohibits waterboarding -- a simulated drowning technique that McCain also opposes -- yet McCain doesn't want the CIA bound by the manual and its prohibitions.

McCain spokeswoman Jill Hazelbaker noted that McCain believes that waterboarding is already banned by the Detainee Treatment Act of 2005, which includes an amendment he wrote barring inhumane treatment of prisoners. The act prohibited cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment for all detainees in U.S. custody, including CIA prisoners.

A female lobbyist had been turning up with him at fund-raisers, visiting his offices and accompanying him on a client's corporate jet. Convinced the relationship had become romantic, some of his top advisers intervened to protect the candidate from himself - instructing staff members to block the woman's access, privately warning her away and repeatedly confronting him, several people involved in the campaign said on the condition of anonymity.

When news organizations reported that Mr. McCain had written letters to government regulators on behalf of the lobbyist's client, the former campaign associates said, some aides feared for a time that attention would fall on her involvement.

Mr. McCain, 71, and the lobbyist, Vicki Iseman, 40, both say they never had a romantic relationship. But to his advisers, even the appearance of a close bond with a lobbyist whose clients often had business before the Senate committee Mr. McCain led threatened the story of redemption and rectitude that defined his political identity.

(snip)

"I would very much like to think that I have never been a man whose favor can be bought,"