From here on out in the Democratic Presidential primary, what I would like to see is the political equivalent of an ongoing infomercial. There is no reason for the Clinton campaign to go along with it, particularly, since it benefits only the Democratic Party and not her personally.

But, in my fantasy world, I envision a scenario where Clinton plays "devil's advocate," raising Republican policy arguments, framed in a way that makes them look slightly ridiculous and then Obama responds in a way that makes them look entirely ridiculous.

In addition, this continued talk about Florida and Michigan morphs into a resolution that doesn't lead to a destructive convention fight, but rather shows the two states that the Democrats care about them, thought they were important, and reached a compromise that included their delegates.

Basically, the two campaigns would conspire to retain the organizational and media benefits of an ongoing primary, exciting Democrats in the remaining states and depriving McCain of any media oxygen, without further bloodying each other up in any serious way.  

In 2006, Indiana contributed substantially to the new Democratic majority in the House. Specifically, Indiana's 2nd, 8th, and 9th Districts turned from R to D. This year, a new district might be in play. In Indiana's 4th District, Democratic candidate Nels Ackerson has raised $134,000 for his first quarter, this is a new Indiana record for Congressional challengers.

This is probably the most significant challenge faced by incumbent Republican Steve Buyer since his election in 1993.

As a voter in the 4th District, my impression is that nobody is wild about Buyer. There is a fair amount of Republican brand-loyalty, but that is fading here as it is everywhere else. There simply has not been an adequately funded Democratic challenger in quite some time. Apparently that is going to change this cycle.

Sylvia Smith gives us some information about what was up with those "polls" commissioned by the NRCC for Mark Souder. It seems likely that the polls weren't commissioned to obtain information for the Souder campaign or the National Republican Congressional Committee. Instead, according to a Hayhurst campaign volunteer who received one of the telephone calls, the "polls" are really just push polls that misrepresent Hayhursts positions. For example, the Souder-poll tells call recipients that Hayhurst "supports amnesty for all illegal immigrants."

According to a recent poll commissioned by the Evansville Courier Press, John Hostettler trails challenger Brad Ellsworth by 15%. More surprising than the margin is the low, low support Hostettler apparently has -- The poll showed Ellsworth with 47.4% support -- decent, but not a huge number. However, the poll showed Hostettler with 31.8%. This is among respondents who were comprised of 32.7% Republicans, 33.5% Democrats, and the remainder unaffiliated with either major party.

This poll smells like an outlier merely because of the huge margin and large percentage of undecideds. Guess we'll wait and see.

Indiana held its primary elections last night. The biggest story from a Hoosier's perspective is that long-time Indiana Senate President pro tem, Bob Garton, was ousted by his primary challenger -- a darling of the religious right. But, more than that, there seemed to be a "throw the bums out" sentiment in the electorate that mostly manifested itself in the form of Republican challengers ousting Republican incumbents for various state offices. Democratic office holders didn't seem to have as much of a problem.

Nationally of more interest is probably Indiana's Congressional matchups, at least 3 of which seem to hold the potential for Democrats to displace Republican incumbents. Information on the Congressional matchups in the extended entry.