Darius Shahinfar running in the open NY-21 congressional district has brought on Joe Trippi & Associates to his team.  The details were released moments ago.

And if you have never had a chance to learn about Darius, after the break is a video clip of him on Iraq and supporting the

Responsible Plan to End the War.

The Slattery for Senate campaign is up with another spot on T.V.  "Young" began airing this week as well across Kansas and its a lot of fun with the flipping cube.

I am a little late to the game with posting this, but I wanted to make sure everyone caught Jim Slattery's new ad that he went up with today called "Apollo."

It appears as though Senator Roberts and his campaign have a hard time admitting when they are wrong, but then have no problem leaving the rest of us confused when they correct themselves but make it seem like it was no big deal.  Take for example the fact that Roberts has now made changes to their ad but at first, tried to blame the Kansas Democratic Party for merely pointing out their sloppy operation.

Last week, Senator Pat Roberts started running a negative ad campaign against Jim Slattery and the primary election isn't even over.  But it just so happens that in late 2007, Senator Roberts made the claim that he was not going to campaign against whomever became his opponent, but rather he would campaign for the office.

Well, it didn't take supporters of Jim Slattery long to call him out on his lie with this video:

It appears as though OH-7 Republican Steve Austria didn't get the memo as today he is having NRCC Chairman, Tom Cole come in to campaign with him.  Someone may want to clue Steve in that Cole hasn't really been bringing the magic to his candidates.

Sharen Neuhardt's campaign took this as an opportunity to point out that today is the kick-off of Austria's "Failed Policies, Failed Politics" campaign.

Here is a quip from Neuhardt campaign manager, Jim Alexee:

This morning the Dayton Daily News posted a column about how many seats Republicans could lose in Ohio this year.

There are a number of candidates that the insiders are watching, but Dave Wasserman of The Cook Political Report is already recognizing a "sleeper."

David Wasserman of the Cook Political Report, however, calls the third open seat in Ohio — the 7th Congressional District, currently occupied by Rep. David Hobson, R-Springfield, a possible "sleeper."

He wonders if apathy toward state Sen. Steve Austria, R-Beavercreek, combined with national Democrats' fundraising advantage, could help political novice Sharen Neuhardt of Yellow Springs.

"I think there's every chance that Democrats are polling the district to see if they may have a shot," he said, adding that part of the district includes Franklin County, a county where Democrats are expected to do "very well" this year.

UPDATE:  We now have a Friends of Zimbabwe Facebook group as well.

With all that is going on in the U.S. and our own presidential race, it is easy to be consumed, overwhelmed and often blind to what is going on in the rest of the world with regards to the democratic process.  

If you have not been paying attention to the current state of affairs in Zimbabwe, I encouraged you to find out as much as you can because the people of this nation are being starved and oppressed and they need a voice.

A new website has been set up called Friends of Zimbabwe with the mission of providing aid and safety to voters in the upcoming June 27 presidential run-off.  

Lets suppose you didn’t catch last nights edition of The Daily Show. So since you missed it, you will want to check out this gem about the Phase II Iraq War Pre-Intelligence report:

You'll love the line Senator Roberts makes about his track shoes.  Well, with Jim Slattery hot on his heels, Roberts may want to get those old track shoes out and start running.

With a lot of attention that will be played on Ohio in the presidential and some of the congressional races, it is nice to see that there is a "diamond in the rough" with Sharen Neuhardt in the OH 7.

In a poll released by the campaign, Sharen finds herself trailing by only 6 points in the trial heat.

I just wanted to say thanks to all of those who followed the Democratic primary for the PA-05 through DailyKos.  And congratulations to Commissioner McCracken on his win.

In case any of you missed it in the newspaper, Bill Cahir has already agreed to host a fundraiser for Commissioner McCracken.  It was an honor to work for Bill.  His commitment to country and community made working this campaign than much easier to do.

Thank you all again and good luck in the General election.

Daren

Earlier this evening, Bill ended his five day tour by greeting voters at the Penn State Creamery.  He started the day early however at Cool Beans in Bellefonte and then made stops at Brody's Cafe in Centre Hall, the American Diner in Philipsburg, canvassing in State College, shift change with the Communication Workers of America and then back to canvassing.  We even through in an extra stop in on Curtain Ave. at Penn State.  We just pulled the Cahir-avan up along the side of the street, hopped out and caught hundreds of students as they were coming and going to class.  A lot of them are excited because Bill is the only Penn State grad running in the race.

We'll have more photos and have been adding more all the time from the tour.

We just got back from the road and our tours' fourth day.  Traveling home in the rain on our RV was a little slow tonight, but we made it back to Bellefonte safely.  

Today included canvassing in State College for Bill, a house party in Johnsonburg and another in Emporium with supporters that included Cameron County Democratic Party Chair, Zach Hause, State Committee Member Mike Fragale and County Commissioner Phil Jones among others.  The Emporium event was held at the Pizza Palace Plus which is an award winning pizza shop.  You have to go if you are in town.  It is a must.  We will have photos on our tour page soon as usual.

The Cahir-avan was out and about today again as we set up a tailgate reception at the Penn State Blue and White game.  Over 73,000 people attended today's event.  Bill, staff and volunteers were out canvassing all the other tailgaters as well because you can just sit there and wait for voters to come to you . . . you have to go out and speak to them.  We had plenty of folks from all over the district attend our tailgate and it gave us a nice social setting to talk about the race.  

Some photos are up from the tour and we'll have more uploaded soon.  

Now, I realize that we are getting into the silly season of the campaign where the desperate try to sling shots as best they can.  But the Cahir campaign is not going to get bogged down in that mess.  The fact that a candidate would hide behind a blog post to do his dirty work and not have the courage enough to do it themselves is very telling.

Oh well.  On to the next stop of the tour.  And off to all the events we have in the next two days.  

Good morning from Marienville.  I apologize for not posting sooner but internet access in the Forest County is lacking but is made up for by the amazing countryside.  Some photos from Day One in State College/Penn State, Clarion will be up soon.  We also made a late night stop just outside of Tionesta and I hope to have those photos up soon.

As I write this, Bill and our traveling crew are sitting in the Microtel in Marienville, getting our last minute reading of today's news finished, some coffee and then back on the RV to the Route 66 Dinor for the first stop of the day.

Please be sure to visit our It Starts Here tour page so you can see where we will be in these last four days.

Today its Marienville,Sheffield, Kane, Ridgway and Johnsonburg.

Enjoy your day.

Starting today, there are five days left before Election Day and what better way to get out the vote than to hope in our RV called the "Cahir-avan" and start a tour of the district.  We call it the It Starts Here Tour.  We chose the name because it is Bill's firm belief that if we are ever going to change the direction of our country, we have to do it in districts like the PA-05 - - It Starts Here!  It is easy to advance progressive values in urban and suburban areas, but if you are ever really going to change the hearts and minds of those who have been duped by this current White House, you have to start in rural America.

Right now we have 28 stops and events on the books now and more will be added.  No one is going to out work Bill in these final days.

And if you want to follow along or stop out to see us if you are in the district, please visit our tour map.

Yesterday as Bill was making his trek back home after the No I-80 Tolls Tour, he did an interview with Kaffeine Buzz, a site dedicated to pop culture, music and world issues and of course, politics.

It is a fairly lengthy interview and Sarah Jaffe of the KB did a thorough job in reporting.

So as you are sitting down for your first or second cup of coffee, give the Kaffeine Buzz a read.

And if you are at Penn State this evening, the students for Obama, students for Clinton and College Democrats are hosting Bill at a young voters meeting.  I think it is very commendable of supporters from both presidential camps on campus to come together in hosting this event for Bill.  It really says a lot about today's young Americans.

All 147 miles are done from exit 192 to 45, east to west, Bill traveled the section of I-80 that is within the PA-05 and made several stops to highlight the negative economic impact that tolls would cause.  Today, in day two, Bill made stops in Clearfield and Clarion today to discuss the 360 jobs lost at FCI Electronics and how having a toll on I-80 would just add more costs and fees for young Americans trying to get an eduction at Clarion University.

Here is some coverage we received already from Gant Daily in Clearfield.