TPM Election Central has a rather disturbing story online this morning.

Trying to turn a two-day story into a three-day story, the McCain campaign held a conference call on the issue of the Wes Clark comments. In so doing, they committed a real offense--IF the media has the balls to hurt the feelings of their favorite Republican by reporting on it.

Orson Swindle, who first rose to political prominence as one of the chief pooh-bahs of the Perot campaign in 1992, and himself a Vietnam P.O.W. criticized Clark by--you guessed it--demeaning his military service.

The media site TV Newser had an interesting story today about a new attack piece on Keith Olbermann, this one from Jed Babbin from Human Events Magazine.

Most of the article gives us the now-hackneyed right-wing boilerplate against Olbermann--NBC has become a cesspool of secular liberalism because of him, they are so mean to the president, blah blah blah.

But, Babbin then tries to draw a business comparison, and winds up looking like a buffoon in the bargain.

AUTHORS NOTE: I had written this to post it yesterday afternoon. For some reason, it would not let me publish, saying I had already written a diary (it had been deleted). I chose not to edit it, so some of the references ("today", "yesterday") are a bit off. Apologies...

There was another bevy of polls this week, both on the presidential race and downstream, as well. Unfortunately, I do not have all of them at my disposal, as I put them in a notebook which I cannot, at present, find.

Nevertheless, I do have numbers on 22 separate contests, so let's head past the jump for the numerical goodness, which includes two polls just released in the past few hours!

Yep, so at this point the sheer mass of polling data is such that it is time for me to tiptoe back into the water. The fact that school has let out for the summer (though I am teaching summer school) helps out, as well.

So today, the Following the Polls series that I began back in 2006 makes its permanent return. It will start as a weekly series (Friday seems to be the logical day), and then it will become daily once we get past Labor Day.

And, week one of the series sees a big polling week, as there are 35 separate races that were polled this week. Head past the flip for all the numerical goodness.

Rasmussen just released a new poll, and the bad news for the GOP continues virtually unabated:

SUSAN COLLINS (R-INC) 49%, TOM ALLEN (D) 42%

The poll, conducted on Monday of this week, is the latest in a series of polls this week which have been rosy for the Democrats, and (by and large) depressing for the GOP.

TPM Election Central has uplifting news for Democrats, and another dollop of grim electoral news for the GOP.

In a rather extraordinary admission, NRSC head John Ensign has already conceded two Republican-held Senate seats to the Democrats--John Warner's seat in Virginia, and Pete Domenici's seat in New Mexico.

The money quote, and some analysis, on the flip.

Greg Sargent over at TPM Election Central has the scoop on a story that makes Joe Lieberman's recent apostasy on the subject of the presidential race even more disturbing.

Sargent is reporting on the revelation, courtesy of a top staffer on Lieberman's 2006 Senate race, that the Lieberman camp made a very specific and very sincere plea for Obama to endorse Lieberman shortly after Ned Lamont entered the Democratic Primary, and that Obama agreed to come to the aid of his politically embattled colleague.

Given recent events, it makes Lieberman out to be an even bigger backstabbing little weasel than we might have believed.

I never voted for Hillary Clinton. She was my third choice from day one. When John Edwards left the stage in January, I switched over to Obama.

That said, I had no great rancor for Clinton. Indeed, I donated to all three candidates. I have been a pretty vocal Obama guy, but I have not joined in much of the antipathy towards Clinton that has emanated from both this site and elsewhere.

Well, mea culpa, folks. You were right, and I was far too charitable. What we just heard was one of the most graceless, classless moments in American politics.

Boy, oh boy, do I know the peril of what I am about to do here. I imagine that this diary will be in the tubes for about 9.6 seconds before the first "concern troll" tag is latched onto it.

Nope. Not a concern troll...check the record.

But I am someone who think that the Obama campaign is doing something very foolish right now, bordering on the arrogant, which might cost them dearly in about two weeks. Follow me past the jump for what the hell am I referencing.

According to the final poll by Public Policy Polling (PPP), Barack Obama is set to cruise to victory in tomorrow's Oregon primary. According to the PPP Survey, conducted over the weekend, Obama leads Clinton by nineteen points (58-39).

A key distinction between this poll and earlier polls (Suffolk, for example): PPP shows Obama winning handily among those Oregonians that have already voted. PPP has it at 60-39 among those who have already mailed in their ballots. Both Suffolk and SUSA had it in single digits.

Don't know quite what to think about this one. CNN is reporting that while speaking at the NRA this morning, former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee responded to a loud noise offstage by making a joke about Barack Obama trying to evade a gunman.

I shit thee not.

I know a lot of progressives are appropriately angry at the outrageous rhetoric unleashed by President Bush at the Knesset earlier today.

For example, we know that Joe Biden is somewhat displeased by it.

My friends (yes, I used this intentionally)...I believe we are looking at this the wrong way. I think we should be CHEERING this latest tantrum by the President. Hell, I think the FEC should consider it a f***ing in-kind contribution to the Obama campaign.

Watching Countdown just now, Keith Olbermann asked a key question to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, his guest at the top of the hour.

He pointed out that Reid had said in the past that apostate "Independent Democrat" Joe Lieberman is still a valued member of the caucus, because he "is with us on all but a few issues." Olbermann reminded him that now there is a new issue on which Lieberman and the Democratic caucus diverge:

Who should be the next President of the United States??

And...in response, Harry Reid....punted.

Sunday mornings are always a good time for a little levity. Bear witness, and smile a little bit, as you watch the good folks at the NRCC (the GOP House campaign committee) officially go bonkers:

This should come as a warning shot to Democrats," the NRCC said in a post-election press release. "The elitist behavior of the Democratic front-runner and the liberal and extremist positions that he and his fellow Democrats in Congress have staked their claim to, do not appear to be as salient as they once hoped."

Hat tip to CQ and TPMElectionCentral. Now, you know I did not make this up. I could not possibly create something THAT delusional.

The flat and immediate denial of any action against Senator Lieberman is nothing short of appalling, and it calls into great doubt the leadership of the Democratic Party in the Senate (doubt that has been commonly held here since this Congress was installed in January '07).

Senator Durbin, according to the frontpage diary by Kos, made a statement that needs to be closely scrutinized, for it reveals him either to be (a) disingenuous or (b) a complete fool.

Consider the following:

Rasmussen, who seems to be competing with SurveyUSA in the battle to be the most prolific pollster of the 2008 cycle, is out this morning with a pair of Senate polls which paint a very intriguing picture of what might be a painful 2008 cycle for the GOP.

In a diary earlier this week, I looked at the perilous situation for the Republican Party in the House. With these two polls and a host of other recent surveys, it becomes readily apparent that the Senate is an equally target-rich environment for the Democratic Party.

Numbers and analysis past the jump....

The conventional wisdom (which, as Molly Ivins dutifully pointed out, is often wrong) is that the Democrats will pad their respective majorities in the Congress this year, but that said gains are likely to be marginal.

Looking at the landscape, there are signs that (just as in 2006) the Democratic wave might be considerably larger than initially anticipated. I base this on three factors--fundraising, candidate recruitment, and polling data.

Follow me beyond the fold for the information...

I know diaries that poke at the facade that is the Fox News Network are the home territory of the incredibly talented King OneEye around these parts, but I saw this on the TVNewswer blog this morning, and I felt compelled to offer some commentary.

Apparently, Fox News Channel anchor and resident journalist Brit Hume was interviewed by the magazine published by the University of Virginia (an alumni magazine, I am assuming). Aside from offering a vignette about how he became enthralled with journalism, he also offered what has to be now described as the typical FNC arrogant story line when confronted with a question about the perception (er..reality) of Fox News Channel catering to a right wing political point of view.