We assume Kitty will be following this little workshop with one called “Plotting Your Revenge,” but we are eternal optimists. MORE »

The noxious J.D. Hayworth — Republican, Arizona-American, More Jewish Than Jews — has finally conceded to Harry Mitchell, who’s already in town for Orientation Week. MORE »

Representative JD Hayworth (R-AZ), the only member of Congress whose face is pulled tauter than Nancy Pelosi’s, recently won himself a heap of publicity by praising Henry Ford’s “Americanization” theory (”Americanization” in this context means “kick the Jews out”). Now, according to a press release from his opponent Harry something, Hayworth’s staff joins in the fun: MORE »

• Delayed discovery of three detainee suicides at Guantanamo Bay raises questions concerning whether regulations for supervision of prisoners were followed. Army general compares the suicides to the 9/11 attacks. [NYT; WP]

• Race between House immigration hawk J.D. Hayworth (R-AZ) and Democratic challenger Harry Mitchell is shaping up as a referendum on immigration policy. [WP]
• Immigration issue also complicates Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s re-election bid in California. [WSJ]
• Iran offers initial reaction to Western nuclear proposal; deems some parts acceptable, but offers no specifics. [WP]
• Democrats’ chances of scoring wins in governors’ races may be slipping. [USAT]
• Prominent Democrats schmooze with bloggers at Yearly Kos, reflecting growing clout of netroots. [Time; LAT]

  MORE »

You: Arizonia congressman J.D. Hayworth.
Your goal: Get reelected. MORE »

Sorry for the hiatus, folks. But between the dodgy servers and pictures of Katherine Harris’s breasts did you even notice? If I had to sum up yesterday’s chatfest with one word, it would be this: amneleaksty. Immigration and Fitzgerald investigation dominated — which makes sense when you realize that Fitzgerald’s grandparents were probably immigrants.

Hot topics:
• Immigration bill: “bureaucracy of rubber stamps” or “lack[ing] compassion”?
• Leak investigation: Specter says the President needs to come clean, Kerry says “This was not a declassification to educate America, this was a declassification to mislead America.”
• Nuking Iran. Scary!

Quotes to live by:
• Stephanopoulos wonders “how do you solve this Rubik’s cube” of the budget?
• Dionne asks “What did the president forget and when did he forget it?”
• George Will gets legalistic: The President “was trying to discredit, punish, or seek revenge against a critic… where in the federal statues does it say that is forbidden?”
• And in case you’re wondering why he lost: Russert introduces Kerry thusly as the man who won “48.3 percent” of the popular vote.

Kerry: “I thought it was 49.2″
Tim: “48.3 — But who’s counting?”

After the jump: The most optimistic man in America, the calm and cool Joe Wilson (really), and a testy Schieffer.

MORE »

• Source of NYT story on NSA eavesdropping steps forward and says spying is widespread: “We need to clean up the intelligence community. We’ve had abuses, and they need to be addressed.” [ABC News]
• Abramoff scandal probe centers on Sens. Conrad Burns (R-Mont.), Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.), Harry Reid, (D-Nev.) and Reps. J.D. Hayworth (R-Ariz.) and Bob Ney (R-Ohio), sources say. [WT]
• NSA begins internal investigation into eavesdropping; probe will not determine legality of program. [WP, NYT]
• Bush attacks Democrats “who claim that we acted in Iraq because of oil, or because of Israel, or because we misled the American people.” [NYT, USAT]
• Reps. John Boehner and Roy Blunt are both tied closely to lobbyists; Boehner is criticized for last month’s vote on immigration bill. [NYT, WT]
• Howard Dean sees Abramoff scandal as a “Republican finance scandal.” [WT]
• House Republicans may ban travel paid by lobbyists. [NYT, WSJ]
• Approval of Bush rests at 46%; support of eavesdropping is divided along partisan lines. [WP]