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Here's an idea. Let's make pols wear the logos of their corporate sponsors - like NASCAR drivers.

Things change. Like my continuing wish that Barack Obama turns outs to be a Stealth Liberal. In Citizens United vs. Federal Elections Commission, Obama may surprise us with liberal stealth, but he's facing a stealth hard-liner in Chief Justice John Roberts.

Members of Congress who noted "no" on health care reform legislation late Saturday night have received $2.3 million more in campaign donations from health insurance interests than those who voted in favor of the legislation to overhaul of the nation's health care system, according to an analysis released by a coalition of campaign reform groups.

The US Supreme Court will soon announce a major decision on our lightly controlled system of campaign funding. Will it retain some limitations on corporate influence or will the court blow the lid off and cause a perpetual flood of unrestricted corporate contributions? An additional outcome may surprise and shock the public. If the Supreme Court overturns the lower court’s decision, foreign nationals, corporations, and governments with partial ownership of U.S. corporations will, in effect, end up contributing to and influencing U.S. candidates in federal elections.

I took a look at and commented on the major issue and candidate's websites in King County (Washington) during this November's election. I was specifically looking for how these websites made it easy (or didn't) for fans of the candidate or issue to engage their fans to help spread the word. I'd love to know if you agree.

Young people prefer progressive ideas, the reject the traditional party structure and tend to identify as more independent. They have much more progressive values. McDonnell's campaign focused on things like infrastructure, energy, and education. He did youth outreach. I don't know if Deeds did, but the consistent narrative around the Deeds campaign was that he wasn't really for anything. The additional narrative I hear is that VA isn't that democratic. This doesn't mean young voters have gone GOP, it means that when you put forth the effort to get young voters, you speak to their issues, and you get out the vote you get a good result.

Watching election returns last night proved to be a very interesting evening. What became consistent was the impact of the lack of outreach on the youth segment of the electorate and the diminished rate of enthusiasm. In Virginia “Only 1,973,868 of a total 4,955,755 voters participated in the gubernatorial race — “a miniscule number when you consider there were 3.7 million voters in the 2008 election,” said Isaac Wood, assistant communications director at the University Center for Politics… He added that generally one-third of Virginia voters in presidential elections choose not to participate in gubernatorial elections, and that, as such, yesterday’s voter turnout was even lower than usual.” One difference this year than in 2008 was young voters had a candidate at the top of the ticket who actively sought their vote. This isn’t generally the standard in other elections, despite our efforts to teach candidates otherwise. Outreach is so important, asking young people for their vote is key, and peer to peer outreach is a must. All of these things happened nation wide in 2008, in large part because the Obama campaign placed a high importance on getting out the vote for young people.

Well, today is election day and there are several important races destined to be determined. I have read several articles in various blogs and newspapers, raising the question of "where are the Millennials and will they vote?" I fear "disengaged" youth will be to blamed for election day turnout (or lack there of). But what people have yet to learn is how to engage the youth in a empowering and meaningful way, Obama did it successfully, but others have not yet gotten the message. Paradoxically, members of Generation We are not quick to claim for themselves the mantle of being particularly active or politically engaged, even though they are, in fact, among the most involved young people in history. In our focus groups, many Millennials criticized their own generation as being “apathetic” or “materialistic.” There are a number of possible explanations for this paradox.

By now, many folks around the country have heard of my current representative in the Oklahoma legislature, Rep. Sally Kern. Why have so many people heard of a state legislator from suburban Oklahoma City? Probably because she has spent much of her five years in the legislature pushing a narrow social agenda, using her political position to preach a narrow-minded vision of religion that sees the movement of LGBT individuals seeking equal treatment under the laws of our great country as a bigger threat than terrorism. (For example, see this and that).

When we started getting data back regarding precisely how many people we registered actually voted, we were pretty thrilled to learn that about three quarters of youth indeed pulled the lever on Nov. 3rd 2008. We were even more excited when an independent organization studied the voter registration work of 25 different organizations, and HeadCount had some of the best stats in all the key measurements. Pretty impressive for an organization that receives little funding and relies almost entirely on volunteers.

Two Washington watchdog groups are calling out a California Republican House member for his amendment to consumer protection legislation as a "direct conflict of interest."

On the heals of the Young Invincibles conference and on the morning of the Better Deal conference, Politico has a bright shiny piece about young voters for the Virginia and New Jersey races coming up in the next month. Democrats, it seems, are concerned about young people who are characteristically less unexuberant about these upcoming elections. They remark that this could mean a bad election for those candidates hoping to "ride the wave" of an Obama victory from last November.

Much of the important and little-heralded work now being done to document this national disgrace is undertaken by nonprofit organizations that have long endeavored to rouse the public and the media to this legal graft. Most recently, the Sunlight Foundation teamed with the Center for Responsive Politics on a groundbreaking study related to health care overhaul. It shows outside lobbyists (lawyers, consultants and others who do not directly work for a company or trade group) donating to the same lawmakers as clients who have an interest in health care reform. The contributions by the lobbyists enhance the political power of the business organizations—which already are contributing through political action committees, or through executives who organize campaign fundraisers. ... ... “When a lobbyist walks in the door, it’s not just one $500 contribution,” says Larry Makinson, senior fellow at the Sunlight Foundation and chief researcher on the study. “It’s all the money their clients can bring.” ...

Guest blogger Morley Winograd, author of Millennial Makeover, writes "The latest unemployment numbers and poll results have led most observers to predict a major setback for Democrats in the 2010 Congressional elections. But a year is a lifetime in politics and much can change between now and then to influence next year’s vote. As Ron Brownstein recently pointed out, the demographic makeup of the electorate is likely to be a key factor in whether or not the Democrats can maintain their current majority margins in 2010. While traditionally Democrats have focused on turning out African-American and Hispanic voters to offset Republican strength among white male voters that equation is no longer the only calculation Democratic strategists need to make."

The latest unemployment numbers and poll results have led most observers to predict a major setback for Democrats in the 2010 Congressional elections. But a year is a lifetime in politics and much can change between now and then to influence next year's vote. As Ron Brownstein recently pointed out, the demographic makeup of the electorate is likely to be a key factor in whether or not the Democrats can maintain their current majority margins in 2010. While traditionally Democrats have focused on turning out African-American and Hispanic voters to offset Republican strength among white male voters that equation is no longer the only calculation Democratic strategists need to make.

"Rep. Roy Blunt’s Congressional Web site notes that 'while Washington politicians claim they can spend your money better than you can, the federal government continues to fritter away billions of your dollars each year in the form of waste, abuse, mismanagement, and in some cases: outright fraud.' Sounds good. And yet in 2007, Blunt, a Missouri Republican, was the lone member of the Congressional leadership to participate in a controversial method of providing earmarks to those represented by former-staffers-turned lobbyists."

In total, 49 individuals currently have presidential candidate fund-raising committees open through the Federal Election Commission. (Note: Some presidential committees previously active this year and listed on the Federal Election Commission website are now officially terminated). Some have old debts to pay, some are new to the game and gearing up for the 2012 election. Of the 49 individuals with open presidential committees, 22 reported raising some money this year. That includes six Democrats, six Republicans and 10 minor party candidates. And in the case of eight of these 22 people, 95 percent of those funds came from the candidate's own pocket.Here's a list of the 22 individuals with open presidential fund-raising committees who reported raising money in the first six months of 2009: ....

Reforms preserved a major loophole: leadership PACs like Chambliss' Republican Majority Fund, which have far looser rules and get far less scrutiny than campaign committees. At first, only a few rising stars in Congress had them. Now, 70 percent of the members do. So do a dozen former members.

Rose was seen as the more difficult candidate to beat particularly given Moore's stance in support of the public option. In a personal email Rose sent to friends and supporters, newspaper editor and GOP opponent to Rep. Dennis Moore has pulled out of the race for health reasons. In the email Rose says: "As you may know, I have suffered from Crohn's Disease for more than 40 years. It has been dormant for the past ten. In the past 10 days, however, under the extraordinary stress of the campaign, I have had a major flare-up."