Recently, the Obama campaign arrived in Ohio and staffers set up shop for the upcoming primary.  Last night was the first organizational meeting for campaign volunteers and I have to say, I have a GREAT feeling about this race.  The level of excitement and enthusiasm was incredible.  Never have I seen so many people fired up about an election in this part of the state and even long time activists in the area said this was unprecedented.  Literally HUNDREDS of volunteers showed up on only 24 hours notice to show their willingness to lend a hand.

So it finally comes down to this... After years of pushing the boundaries of executive power and claims of the "unitary executive" overriding the very foundations of the rule of law in this country for the sake of "national security," Bush White House officials are reduced to defending their policies with one amazing statement:

"Not everything we've done has been illegal."  

Simply stunning.  The tacit admission of the illlegality in Bush's policies should be blood in the water to a Congress controlled by Democrats and circling a president with a mere 26% approval rating.  The public should be outraged that an official would make such an admission without immediately expressing deep regret and shame and tendering his immediate resignation.

Sadly, it appears we can't count on Congress to make the stand.

I had the pleasure to spend time with James Carville and Mary Matalin last night at a benefit for the Red Cross here in Cincinnati and I thought I would pass along my impressions of the night to everyone here.

The night had three components:  A VIP reception, speeches by each of them to the general audience, and a cocktail hour at a local bar following the speech.

A friend of mine called me earlier in the week and offered me a VIP ticket to all of these events.  I couldn't pass an offer like that up and quickly accepted.  Who wouldn't want to meet these people in person?  This is what I discovered:

As you all know, Paul Hackett will be formally announcing his candidacy for the U.S. Senate today at noon.

What do you all say we show some love and flood his ActBlue donation page in the hours following the announcement?  It seems like a perfect way to give this campaign some major momentum going into the primary.  Currently, Brown has a sizable lead in the war chest, but we can change that very quickly.

Here's to a clean primary, a hard fought election, and a new Democratic Senator from Ohio!

Go donate!!!

I'll update with the press conference transcript after it is released.