Hello all. Last Sunday I wrote the first of what I hope is a weekly diary about distance running, called Get Off The Couch!, that Dairy was mostly to introduce myself and talk about why I started running. Then, this past Monday I wrote Fitness Monday #5, which focused on what you needed to begin running with some tips and pointers.

There is a great book by Gail Waesche Kislevitz entitled First Marathons, which is a collection of 'First Marathon' stories from various people, from the unprepared one time marathoners, to elite athelets. The book is inspiring, entertaining, and humorous.

After my first marathon in December of 2006, I wrote a summary for my friends - what follows is that summary with only editing for clarity.

Morning all. I've been thinking about having a weekly diary on DailyKos about my running experiences and attempt to encourage other's to get off the couch and out the door. When I saw the Fitness Monday Diary last week, I chimed in, and was invited by anotherdemocrat to write the next one. When I started writing this diary, I realized that I had quite a bit to say to introduce myself, so I thought I would split things up. The first diary, to introduce myself, I posted yesterday here. This diary is more specifically about getting started with running.

In today's diary I will offer some advice on why to run, how to get started, what you need, and how to stick with it.

Morning all. I've been thinking about having a weekly diary on DailyKos about my running experiences and attempt to encourage other's to get off the couch and out the door. When I saw the Fitness Monday Diary last week, I chimed in, and was invited by anotherdemocrat to write the next one. When I started writing that diary, I realized that I had quite a bit to say to introduce myself, so I thought I would split things up. One diary, this one, to introduce myself, and then a diary that is more specifically about actual training that I will post tomorrow.

I plan on posting (most) every Sunday, focusing on my own training experiences - my ups and downs along the road. I'll be more than happy to answer any questions, and if you have your own experiences to share, please comment as well. If you want to know more about me and the miles I'm covering, you can visit my training journal here.

First, the disclaimer - I am an undecided MO democratic voter, I do not know who I'll vote for on Feb 5th, I like both candidates, I think both would make great Presidents, but neither stand out for me at this moment. There is no doubt that Obama is closing the gap in many polls, but has he closed enough to 'win' Mega Super Duper Tuesday Extreme?

My gut tells me no, however, my gut was wrong in 2000 and in 2004, when I honestly thought that not only would 'my' choice win, but would be sworn in as President - though my gut was pretty solid in 2006 (see my predicitons here). However, even if Obama does not 'win' this Tuesday, it doesn't mean the game is over, he still has time to catch Clinton, many primaries to go. If Obama does win, his momentum might be hard for Clinton to stop.

more after the jump...

as mentioned over at ABC New Blogs, Reid is looking for Clinton and Obama to show up and do their job.

"I probably can't get them back here 'til Monday, but I do need them back," Reid said of Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., and Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., the two Democrats vying for their party's presidential nomination. Other Democrats, notably Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass, hit the campaign trail as a surrogate for Obama.

I've commented on this before, as a previous Edwards leaning voter, I have been waiting to see some leadership from either Obama and Clinton. How they are doing their current job to me is a strong indication on how they will perform if elected. There are important votes coming up in the Sentate, on the FISA bill and amendments, and on other items. It's not that he only needs their votes, he needs their leadership.

Hello all. With the push towards monster super duper tuesday extreme, I have a feeling that the name calling and negative vibe that has been present around here is only going to get worse. I for one have more or less swore off any pro or anti candidate dairy, simply because I know that the comments will only slide into the name calling and finger pointing.

So the purpose of this diary is simple. Post POSITIVE info and news about the candidates, the Democratic party, and us. For example, Obama and Clinton look to be ready to help block a bad FISA bill, to join Edwards on this matter. That's great news, for everyone!

disclaimer, since it seems like anyone posting with anything but positive news for Obama is immediately labled as Pro-Clinton or Pro-Edwards, along with the standard name calling that passes as witty these days - I am NOT a Clinton supporter, I am leaning towards Edwards and may or may not vote for him on mega super duper tuesday extreme in MO ... either Obama or Clinton could have won my vote this past Thursday by doing their JOB and  showing up for the Senate Vote on FISA, but they didn't.

Also - this is a diary to point out just how silly all the SURGING diaries are. Is Clinton really SURGING!!!! Well, sure, if you look at a poll many people like to quote...  the Daily Presidential Tracking Polling History at Rasmussen.

http://www.rasmussenreports.com/...

Yesterday, this poll had Obama at 33, Clinton at 36, a three point lead, today, it is Obama 31, Clinton 40, a nine point lead. CLINTON'S LEAD HAS TRIPPLED IN ONE DAY!!!!

So, this week on Thursday the FISA debate kicks back off, there is no doubt that something will get passed, but will it include retroactive immunity for the phone companies, as Bush wants, or will it not?

Obama and Clinton, how about you two stop fighting each other long enough to fight for the citizens of the United States? Is that too much to ask?

Show what leadership really looks like, and if needed help fillabuster any bill that includes immunity for the phone companies. The reasons to be against the immunity have been discussed here enough, so I won't bother repeating them here.

Well, I for one am sick of the primaries. Don't get me wrong, I actually like watching the debates, and I like seeing how the candidates react to each other and how they try to spell out what they would do for the country and how they will do it. What I am sick of is the fighting, and I don't mean the candidates tossing mud back and forth, I'm talking about the people on Kos and elsewhere who support these candidates.

First and foremost, if you're on Kos, most likely you are a Democrat. I like to keep up on what others think about the election, about the debates, the primaries, and so forth. But when I dive into the comments, both here and on TPM Election Central, I sometimes find it hard to believe we're all Democrats. The Obama supporters blame Clinton for starting the fighting, saying it's typical Clinton politics and they WON'T vote for Clinton, that she's playing typical dirty politics. The Clinton supporters say that if Obama can't handle Clinton, how is he going to handle the republicans. The Edwards supporters keeps saying "What about us!?! He's the most electable!!! Your candidates can't win!". I am sick of the name calling ON ALL SIDES, the repeating of misinformation ON ALL SIDES.

One of the things about this election that I was interested in were the raw number of votes towards Republican candidates and Democratic candidates for the House of Representatives. In some ways it should show how the political landscape looks on a small scale.

Since I currently live in MO (St Louis country) I'm most interested in MO. Looking at the vote numbers, one thing to say is WOW - McCaskill really kicked booty. In MO, as reported currently, of 2,050,305 votes, Ds got 47.05% while Rs got 50.29% (2.65% other), a margin of 3.24% for Republicans. McCaskill won with 49.44% of the vote compared to Talent's 47.44% ... a 2% margin of victory. That's a swing of over 5%... very nice!

More details below ...

Shocked! I'm just speachless!!! uh, or something...

The story is here among other places.

When in doubt, bash the gays...

"For decades, activist judges have tried to redefine America by court order," Bush said Monday. "Just this last week in New Jersey, another activist court issued a ruling that raises doubt about the institution of marriage. We believe marriage is a union between a man and a woman, and should be defended."

yes, it's just like those activist judges to actually think All men are created equal means that everyone has right to equal rights under the law. AMAZING!!!

More...

In the latest Rasmussen poll, Talent currently has a 1 point lead, 43% to 42%....

Just days after Missouri's major candidates for U.S. Senate clashed on national television, a Rasmussen Reports poll of the race shows Republican Senator Jim Talent with a wafer-thin lead of 43% to 42%. If undecided voters leaning toward a candidate are also counted, Talent leads 45% to 44%.

A new poll is out for the Missouri Senate race showing McCaskill and Talent statistically even, with McCaskill at 47% and Talent at 46%. This is troubling more because of the trend away from McCaskill. I don't need to remind people just how important Missouri is for this November - we must pick up Missouri if we have any chance to take back the Senate.

The Maryland-based firm's latest poll of 800 likely voters, conducted Monday through Thursday, found that 47 percent

The story is in the St Louis Post Dispatch Sunday paper, and online here... the start of the article says a lot ...

U.S. Sen. Jim Talent's deluge of ad spending apparently has paid off.

The latest Research 2000 poll for the Post-Dispatch and KMOV-TV (Channel 4) found that Talent, R-Mo., has chipped away the edge held by his Democratic rival, state Auditor Claire McCaskill.

Rasmussen has released new polling data showing McCaskill leading Talent 45% to 42%. Good news right? Well, perhaps not as good news as it looks on the surface.

Talent has launched an ad campaign and can expect some bounce from that until McCaskill gets her ads up and running. There lies the problem, as I mentioned here, Talent leads in the money race by a large margin, with Talent's Cash on Hand at $7.1 Million to $2.8 Million for McCaskill.

Missouri is a perenial purple state - but the last few election cycles have favored republicans when it comes to state wide elections. Bush won the state in 2000 (51% to 47%) and 2004 (53% to 46%), and republicans have won senate races in 2002 (Talent over Carnahan 50% to 49%) and 2004 (Bond over Farmer 56% to 43%) and the Governor race in 2004 (Blunt over McCaskill 51% to 48%). Even with Missouri having buyers remorse on Bush (36% Approve to 61% Disapprove) and Blunt (38% Approve, 58% Disapprove), recent history is not kind to democrats in state wide races.

I am a bit disheartened to find that in one of the closest races for Senate this year - one that could be a great pickup for the democrats, Claire McCaskill continues to fall farther behind Jim Talent in the race for cash.

From an AP story in many places... here for example...

WASHINGTON (AP) - Republican Sen. Jim Talent has expanded his lead over Democratic rival Claire McCaskill in the race for campaign cash, pulling in $2.2 million from April through June, finance reports show.

McCaskill raised about $1.45 million over the same period, according to documents filed Saturday with the Federal Election Commission.

Talent now has about $7.1 million to spend on television ads and other campaign expenses leading up to the November election. McCaskill has about $2.8 million.