Under The Radar...kind of

Today's big political news should be Barack Obama's decisive Wyoming caucus win yesterday. http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0308/8917.html But, let's face it, the win was expected, it nets him only 2 delegates (though a few more will come his way after the Wyoming convention) and there are two more significant stories flying under the radar, kind of.

First, a Democrat won Dennis Hastert's congressional seat in a special election necessitated by Hastert's premature resignation. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23540209/ Bill Foster will serve out Hastert's remaining term which ends this year. A new election will be held in November for a full two year term. This outcome is significant because the Illinois district in question has been a GOP bastion forever. It could be a grim harbinger of things to come for the Repubs in the fall.

Second, there may be a solution in sight for the Florida Democratic delegate mess. According to Newsweek http://www.newsweek.com/id/119901, Sen. Bill Nelson, (a Clinton supporter) has proposed a mail-in do-over vote that would be funded by 'soft money'--that is, money legally raised outside the federal election guidelines. Details are being hashed out, but this could be a reasonable solution provided that: each candidate gets at least one full week to campaign and the ballots are counted expeditously. The process would cost only about $5 million and would send a positive message to the country about how Democrats view the sacrosanct nature of each vote. I would also add that the state of Florida should have to pay something, as they were the ones who flouted the agreed-upon rules of the DNC primary window.

So that's it. I'm taking a little break before the Dem's primary in Mississippi. Tell me if you approve of Sen. Nelson's idea or talk about anything else that's on your mind. Click 'comments' below, bypass the Google sign up and hit the nickname or anonymous button.