After 2 years as a blog, All Things Democrat is returning to its roots and will soon reopen as a new discussion forum.

For those of you who have known this site since the beginning, you’ll recall that we started as a forum, but then became a blog.  Much of the reason for that change was simply to get in on the fun; blogs were hot, forums were not.  However, the primary goal of this site was to be an online community for lefties and others supportive of Dems, and as a blog we weren’t moving toward that goal.  We were just one of a thousand struggling blogs desperately seeking to have a post acknowledged (or sometimes stolen) by the big blogs (kudos to Crooks and Liars for being the exception).  On the other hand, a forum is, by definition, an online community.  I’m glad that we went through the blog experience, but I look forward to being one of a handful of lefty forums focusing on community, instead of competition.

So, please check back at the end of August for the official launch of our new All Things Democrat Forum.

All Things Democrat supports all lefty bloggers, especially new and small blogs.  We have several resources designed to save you time and improve the look and content of your blog:

• The latest news headlines from liberal and progressive sources
• The latest blog headlines from the top lefty blogs
• A database of over 30 freebies to add color and content to your blog

All are available in the Resources tab in the top menu.  Enjoy!

A couple new additions to our blogroll:

• The Rural Bus Route
• Bill’s Political Blog

Caroline Kennedy has been named to head up a three-person VP search team for Democratic presumptive nominee, Barack Obama.

This differs from George Bush’s 2000 VP search team, headed by Dick Cheney, with only Cheney serving as membership, and - surprise! - decided Dick Cheney would be the best candidate for the job!

But does anyone worry with as much as Cheney is smirking and still acting like cock of the walk that you wonder if HE knows something (like what really went on with September 11th and Iraq, to name but a few) you don’t, which is why he’s not worried about having to leave the WH anytime soon.

For those who worried over the very emotional turn W VA Senator Robert Byrd took last week over Ted Kennedy’s brain tumor, there is new cause for concern: Byrd had a “spell” late today and has been hospitalized at least overnight.

At 90, such spells cannot be unexpected. But it’s hard to hear about Kennedy and Byrd both having such a time when America itself suffers so.

Senior Massachusetts Senator Edward Kennedy is now in what may be as long as a six-hour operation to try to remove at least part of the malignant brain tumor found in the man who has been in the Senate for nearly 50 years.

For all of you lefty bloggers out there, the Washington Post online has added a number of useful widgets for bloggers.

I’ve added one to our Headlines page, and as demo and code link in our Freebies page (under Syndicated News Headlines). The widget I’m using here fits most blog sidebars of 160 pixels in width, but be sure to preview the other WaPo widgets before copying the necessary code - many are much wider and may not fit your blog’s sidebar.

Please take a moment to help out our Democratic friend T.J. Templeton, Editor of Project For The Old American Century (an excellent lefty resource, btw). From TJ:

I’m currently running for Iowa State Rep. and my Senator is having an online vote to award money for candidates campaigns. I’ve already cleared the first round. I’m now in the top 20 and am competing with 19 others to win $2,000 for my campaign fund. If I win, I go on to compete with the top 5 for another $5,000. It’s very important that I win this. My opponent is a global warming denier who is heavily funded by out-of-state energy interests. I’m just the editor of a news aggregator website.

If you would please, go here and cast a vote for T.J. Templeton for House. You will also have to pick a Senator. I recommend Gronstal, but you can pick anyone, as long as you vote for me, for House.
http://www.tomharkin.com/action/building-blue

Thanks for your time reading this and thanks for casting a vote for me.

We’re looking for a few good contributors among Democrats who have news and views to share about November’s election and other important issues facing not just the Democratic Party but America as a whole, red, blue, and purple.

Now, like most blogging, there is no pay. But we’d love to have more voices contributing here be you for Hillary, for Barack, or (like me) still white knuckling the decision. While we have some editorial standards we have to meet (I’d be happy to send you a copy), once you submit a few samples and get approved, you can post as little as once a week or just about as often as you like; more freedom than you’d have with your own blog while still contributing to the community consciousness and news dispersal.

Use the Contributors link above or email me at Kate (and you need to parse this to have it work) at allthingsdemocrat.com. Depending on the volume of email, please understand if it may take a day or two to get back to you; I don’t do form letters.

Thanks!

You want to see this (Sunday, 9 PM EDT, HBO).

An update to my post last night: Senator Edward (Ted) Kennedy (D-MA) has been diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor (as if a benign one can’t do enough damage). He’s a fighter. Perhaps he’ll live to fight again, I hope.

I think I can speak for most (all) who visit here when I extend my best wishes to Senator Ted Kennedy and family as the Democrat who has served in the Senate since 1962 (wow) undergoes tests for what some outlets are referring to as a probable stroke.

Like the Kennedys or not, this family has given back much, and not just in assassinated sons. Some of the very best social programs born during the 60s and 70s had a Kennedy on the board if not spearheading the effort altogether. I was very, very little when the whole ‘69 car crash around Martha’s Vineyard happened, but I vaguely recall the way people alternately called for his head or insisted no Kennedy clan member would ever have to be held accountable. Many made terrible remarks about how great a shame it was John and Bobby were shot while leaving “the lesser brother” alive (another brother, Joe, died in WWII).

Regardless of whatever Ted did or didn’t do then at Chappaquiddic, he’s generally been a man of some conscience and compassion, while having enough weight (literally and figuratively) to sustain the slings and arrows. For those who thought the death of his campaign worker in the crash should get Kennedy kicked from the Senate, I wonder if you may feel, as I now do, that on the great cosmic scales, Ted’s balanced out a few big, bad (and in one case, deadly) mistakes with many good works.

Let’s hope Ted returns to health and to the Senate floor. We need him now as much as ever.

A heads up from Carolyn Kay at Make Them Accountable on this piece from Politico labeled as “Has Sanity Struck?“:

Obama: No victory declaration TuesdayMILWAUKIE, Ore. - Concerned about appearing presumptuous or antagonistic towards Hillary Rodham Clinton, Barack Obama will not declare victory in the Democratic nomination fight Tuesday in the event he wins enough pledged delegates to claim a majority.

Former Democratic rival for the presidential primary for 2008, Bill Richardson, who happens to be the country’s sole Hispanic governor currently, has just come out endorsing Barack Obama. As a superdelegate himself as governor, Richardson’s endorsement is seen as a real blow to Hillary Clinton, in whose administration Richardson served numerous roles, including as Energy Secretary.

One consideration is that Richardson’s endorsement may lead the way for other high profile Hispanics to jump in behind the Illinois senator, which is one area in which Obama is seen as a weaker competitor (Hispanics remember Bill Clinton more fondly as a whole, they say). However, I’m not sure how many in the Hispanic community (like there’s just one, yeah-right-sure) see Richardson as Hispanic; I’ve heard just the opposite cited by many, in fact.

Second, one of my complaints about Hillary (and I’m still torn between her and Obama as my candidate of choice with John Edwards no longer in the race) is that so many of the old Clinton guard is there, like Madelaine Albright, former Secretary of State. I don’t need to replay January 1993-January 2001; I need to go forward. We’re not the same country we were in 1993 so we don’t need the same team.

Third, I don’t think Richardson’s endorsement by itself necessarily means a tremendous lot. He’s not a major player on many fronts and many don’t remember him at all. Just as his candidacy wasn’t much, his post-candidacy endorsement probably isn’t wildly bank-able.

Fourth, I’m so tired of hearing Hillary doesn’t stand a chance, that many want Obama as the Dem contender because he might lose more easily to McCain. First, this underestimates Hillary; second, it underestimates Obama; and finally, it underestimates us as voters.

In fact, the only thing I’m more weary of than “Hillary doesn’t stand a chance” and “If Obama wins the Dem nomination, then McCain will win in November” is the nastiness going on between the two Dem camps and their contenders. I expect this awful behavior from Repugs; I want something better from the rest of us.

The novelist held a much different view for the year 2001 than did the Bushies.

Clarke is dead.

Personally, I’d suggest taking the time to register to vote or any other of a whole host of responsible and helpful things that need doing.

Attention Lefty Blogmasters!

I’ve added two new items to the Freebies page that can be easily added to your lefty blog or site:

• US Deaths in Iraq 2
• Iraq Body Count 2

There’s a demo of each to preview and a link to the code that you’ll need to insert into your blog or site.

The rats are starting to sink faster.

Considering his poor showing, I can’t imagine why he didn’t drop out well before Super Tuesday. If you can only win in states where Mormon is practiced as a way of life (and I have nothing against Mormonism except that it’s yet another practice that devalues women, blacks, anyone not white male)…

But Mitt’s failings have nothing to do with his religion, although I’m sure there are those who opposed him principly because of it: he was the architect of Boston’s disastrous megolithic Big Dig that made him and pals even more rich and the people of the city poorer, to name just one. Then there were his statements that “people want change except for any change of direction in Washington.”

God help us if Romney thinks most are looking for status quo in Washington among Republicans OR Democrats. But the stench does continue with McCain and Huckabee, men who don’t believe in evolution because… well, it’s clear they never evolved. Me? I’m hoping God smites ‘em.

Monkeyfister lets us know how dire the situation is in the deep South after Tuesday’s rare winter tornados and how we can help.

Mind you, projecting winners, as the media does it, is downright scary (but then, so is MSNBC still letting Chris Matthews anywhere near a microphone for these predictions), but so far according to CNN and MSNBC:

Democrat Clinton takes:

Arkansas
Connecticut
Delaware
Massachusetts (earlier called for Obama)
New Jersey
New York
Oklahoma
Tennessee

Democrat Obama takes:

Alabama
Georgia
Illinois
Kansas (projected)
North Dakota
Utah (some still say Utah’s in play)

Republican John McCain takes:

Connecticut
Delaware
Illinois
New Jersey
New York
Oklahoma

Republican Mitt Romney (and if this isn’t pitiful and predicted, what is?):

Massachusetts,
Utah

Republican Mike Huckabee:

Arkansas
Georgia
West Virginia

But with California, especially, still to count….

And here’s an interesting sidenote: right now, in Utah’s Democratic votes, regardless of the current predictions, John Edwards leads (I think those with brains may be frightened of some of the long time residents).

Happy Birthday to me, and over 2 weeks early! That’s right, Rudy Giuliani, the wooden-toothed professional crooner of 9/11 and all-round smug failure is prepared to pull out of the presidential race this very morning before the last Republican debate before Super Bowl Sunday and Super Tuesday. I think that somehow makes today the Ascension of Mary and places Mardi Gras firmly on the biggest primary day of the year, guaranteeing a slight booze shift to the polls and complete confusion amongst the pundits. Again. But I digress.

What could possibly make this better? Irony, of course! Rudy Giuliani will be making this announcement from the Reagan Library (where the debate will later take place), the living symbol of the dry-hump chew toy darling of the Republican Party, in order to endorse Grandpappy McCain, the only Republican running for president who - according to pundits and the talk radio faction and many Repubs - is not a Reagan Republican. Ooh, snap!

But why McCain? I can’t wait for Rudy’s blah-blah explanation but would like to take a pass on hearing Chris Matthews spout “Maverick” yet again. John McCain is not Tom Cruise or James Garner or Mel Gibson; it’s John McCain, not John McClane, Chrissy. Yippee-ki-yay, motherf–but I digress.

McCain’s playing the game, and he’s playing it well, despite his detractors on flip-flopping, inconsistency, and age. He’s got Giuliani’s support now and there are hints that he’s going to help fluff Huckabee through Super Tuesday to keep the votes away from Romney and cinch up the nomination. Can we smell a McCain Huckabee ticket? Someone light some incense; I think I’m gonna be sick.

While I’ve posted long and often that I hate to see candidates have to drop out early “just because” the big players with the corporate money and bigger connections, not to mention the ridiculously early primary season this year, can outrun their wallets, I must admit I never felt very strongly about former Clintonite Richardson’s campaign.

For me, the memory of what they did to the Chinese-born scientist, Wen Ho Lee, making him into some surreal scapegoat when Richardson was Secretary of Energy as we were getting both the Republicans’ blowing hot over “Chinese spies” and “Asian illegal contributions to Clinton campaigns” at the same time we realized that our nuclear and energy labs have about as much security as a 75 year old drunken barfly’s wallet. Trying to dismiss all the negatives on the back of one man who served the department a long time and, from most reports, quite well, seemed criminal to me. And Richardson could have stopped it.

It’s hard for me to love someone who had the power to right a wrong and instead, just blasted the company line instead.

Now, that does NOT mean that Richardson doesn’t have other positive qualities. But that whole Lee mess still sticks in my throat.

Check out the latest addition to the Classifieds…

Dem merchandise by DressDonkey.  H-u-g-e selection!