I started drafting a long diary for Daily Kos making my case for why the time is right to push for statehood for the District of Columbia.  But first, I wanted to air it out here.

Ok, so now it's Cardin v. Steele in MD and Whitehouse v. Chafee in RI.  Both Steele and Chafee have crossover appeal.  Don't underestimate the work that Steele has been doing to appeal to Democrats and independents.  Don't be fooled by the large Democratic registration advantage and disaffection with Bush in both of those states.  This is where the campaigns should listen to the advice of Stoller and Bowers.  Both Senate seats depend fundamentally on the campaign strategies and are ours to lose.