On March 31, the quarter ends, and the Kerry campaign must report its fundraising totals to the FEC. Those numbers will be scrutinized by opponents and the press, and Kerry must have a strong finish to the First Quarter of 2004 to show he is a serious threat to Bush.

They must reach their goal of $200,000 in the door by midnight, March 31. Please chip in.

Update: TalkLeft readers have contributed $925 this quarter --can we make it $1,000?

Bush's criticism of John Kerry for quoting the scriptures was "predictably shrill and ridiculous." So says Kevin at Lean Left , who has an eloquent post on this. A snippet:

As usual, when faced with a criticism, the Bush Administration runs from the substance and attempts to smear the critic. Anyone who says their favorite political philosopher is Jesus Christ had best be prepared to defend his actions in the light of Jesus' teachings.

And that, of course, is the real rub. For far too long, the right wing has gulled the media and the country into thinking that its religion was the only acceptable face of Christianity. It has used the respect for all religions on the left as evidence of the left's irreligiosity. That has never been the case. The teachings of Jesus Christ are at the core of how millions define their support for liberal causes, myself included. John Kerry, with one small statement, has reminded the nation of that fact. Millions of us are liberal because of our religion. Millions of us are not represented by Opus Dei, Pat Robertson, Jerry Falwell, James Dobson, or any of the other right wing talking heads the media turns to when it wants to "discuss" religion in this country. Antonin Scalia does not speak for all Catholics. And Kerry's statement is also a very Catholic statement.

Daily Kos was at the Democrat's Unity Dinner in DC this past week. So was Atrios, and Kos has pictures of the uber-anonymous blogger. Kos says Atrios was seated front and center while he was put in Siberia. We think it might have something to do with the fact that Atrios readers have contributed over $100,000. to Kerry so far. What a coup. Kos has a lot of pictures up, and very interesting commentary, so go over and read for yourselves.

by TChris

President Bush's call for a constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage appears to be a non-starter as some Republicans in Congress resist his invitation to divide the country further over an issue that is better left to the states.

In the Senate, at least one-third of the 51 Republicans have withheld support from the proposed amendment. Some assert that Congress should wait until federal courts or state legislatures grapple with gay marriages. Others believe the measure discriminates against gays and lesbians. Many say amending the Constitution should be a last resort.

Only one Senate Democrat supports the amendment (Zell Miller, a Democrat in name only who supports the reelection of President Bush), while the sole Independent in the Senate opposes it. All Senate Republicans and sixteen Democrats would need to vote in favor of the amendment, as would two-thirds of the House, before the amendment could move forward.

Perhaps to the President's surprise, that level of support just isn't in the cards.

by TChris

Civil rights groups are frustrated that the Democratic party has not worked harder in Florida to restore the voting rights of residents who have felony convictions.

The law [disenfranchising felons] has been on the books since 1868, when Florida gave blacks the right to vote as a condition of the state's being readmitted to the Union after the Civil War. A new State Constitution drafted that year expanded the number of crimes that required disenfranchisement, a change that critics say was meant to affect blacks disproportionately.

More than one in four African American men in Florida are unable to vote. Increasing numbers of ex-felons have had their voting rights restored after the problem became widely publicized following the presidential election in 2000, but the process is cumbersome and the waiting time is significant.

Arguments against disenfranchising participants in a democracy are strong.

"Why should we keep people from voting after we spent all this money rehabilitating them?" Representative Kendrick B. Meek, a Miami Democrat, said. "Why stand in judgment on whether they should vote or not? This is politicians standing in and playing the role of virtuecrat."

Scott Maddox, the Demoratic party chairman, says that Governor Bush and the Florida legislature support the ban for partisan reasons. He also sees hypocrisy in their unwillingness to forgive felons who have paid their debt to society.

"It's amazing to me that these Republicans that keep quoting the Bible seemingly don't believe in redemption and forgiveness when it comes to restoring civil rights," Mr. Maddox said through a spokeswoman.

Newsweek has the latest poll results following the testimony of Richard Clarke at the 9/11 Commission hearing this week. In a nutshell, Bush's terrorism approval rating dropped 8 points, from 65% to 57%.

If the election were held today between Bush and Kerry (no Nader, which we think will be the reality) Kerry would beat Bush 48% to 47%. With the margin of error factored in, it's a statistical dead heat. And too close to comfort for us. Give to Kerry.

Here's a short poem we received by e-mail made up entirely of actual quotations from George W. Bush. We're told the quotes have been arranged, only for aesthetic purposes, by Washington Post writer, Richard Thompson.

MAKE THE PIE HIGHER

I think we all agree, the past is over.
This is still a dangerous world.
It's a world of madmen and uncertainty
And potential mental losses.

Rarely is the question asked
Is our children learning?
Will the highways of the Internet
Become more few?

How many hands have I shaked?
They misunderestimate me.
I am a pitbull on the pantleg of opportunity.

I know that the human being
And the fish can coexist.
Families is where our nation finds hope, where our wings take dream.

Put food on your family!
Knock down the tollbooth!
Vulcanize society!
Make the pie higher!
Make the pie higher!

If you're interested, Urban Legends sources the quotes.

Wonkette reports that C-Span will be airing its footage of the Radio and Television Correspondents' Association dinner, Saturday night at 8pm.

Bush hits his comic peak at minute 29:30. How good was the president? Well, his opening was some reporter getting an award for a story about maimed soldiers (what a downer!), and Bush still got laughs.

Meanwhile, Kos of Daily Kos was at the Unity dinner in DC Thursday night. He reports:

John Kerry and I were urinal neighbors. And would you believe it, people wouldn't let the guy piss in peace. For my part, I kept my gaze firmly forward.

by TChris

George Bush should thank Al Gore for inventing the internet. The President is so crazy about the internet that he wants to bring it to your bedroom.

President Bush, hunting for votes in hotly contested Sun Belt states, said Friday his administration is working toward wiring homes throughout America with high-speed Internet access by 2007.

His administration is wiring homes? Cool. As Condoleezza Rice is fishing cable through your walls, maybe you'll have a chance to ask her the questions she doesn't want to answer under oath (new AP story about the administration's latest "public relations nightmare" here).

by TChris

When only 21 percent of voters have a favorable view of a candidate, you've gotta wonder why the candidate is running. The National Annenberg Election Survey finds Ralph Nader to be a much less popular candidate now than he was during the 2000 election. Liberals don't like him. Conservatives don't like him. Even Jimmy Carter doesn't like him.

Former President Carter told fellow Democrats on Thursday that he would advise Nader to go back to "examining the rear ends of automobiles and don't risk costing Democrats the White House this year, as you did four years ago."

John Kerry unveiled his new economic plan today:

John Kerry, promising to create 10 million jobs and keep them in America, said Friday he would cut corporate taxes by 5 percent and eliminate tax loopholes that push jobs overseas....Time after time, (the Bush) administration has put ideology first and jobs last. Today, I'm announcing a new economic plan for America that will put jobs first," Kerry said in remarks prepared for delivery Friday at Wayne State University in Detroit.

Analysts say the plan is risky because it cuts the taxes of some rich corporations and doesn't focus enough on middle class voters. We'd like to hear what Maxspeak and Brad deLong have to say.

More than 2.2 million jobs have been lost under Bush. We think the criticism is unfounded and Kerry is focusing on jobs for workers:

We now have a tax code that has American taxpayers paying to ship jobs overseas," Kerry said. "That makes no sense. And if I am president, it will end."
Current tax laws allow American companies to defer paying taxes on income earned by their foreign subsidiaries until they bring it back to the United States. If they keep the money abroad, they avoid paying U.S. taxes entirely. Kerry would require companies to pay taxes on their international income as they earn it rather than being allow to defer it. The new system would apply to profits earned in future years only, not retroactively.

Give to Kerry.

A new group has sprung up on the Internet, Republicans for Kerry. They seem serious, so if you have Republican friends, you might want to send them the link.