The new polling numbers from Gallup show Sen. Hillary Clinton with a commanding lead and a significant drop in support for former Sen. John Edwards. Edwards lost 31% of his support dropping from 16% to 11%. Clinton gained 2 more points and is nearly at 50% in Gallup polling.

Hillary Clinton      47%.
Barack Obama    25%
John Edwards     11%
Bill Richadson       5%
Joe Biden             3%
Christopher Dodd  1%
Dennis Kucinich    1%

http://blogs.usatoday.com/onpolitics/200 7/09/gallup-giuliani.html#more

Gallup compared the 2008 race to previous election cycles.

But one would have to assign a fairly low probability at this point to the chances of any one other than Clinton ending up with the party nomination.

http://blogs.usatoday.com/gallup/2007/09 /how-certain-is-.html

Wyoming has moved ahead of Iowa and New Hampshire and changed their GOP caucus to January 5, 2008.

Wyoming Republicans have jumped to the head of the pack in the US presidential nominating process, moving their caucus to January 5, ahead of even the traditional early-voting states of Iowa and New Hampshire.

While the move puts Wyoming first in the accelerated primary process for the 2008 election, it is not expected to stay there as states continue to jockey for position. Candidates who win early states have more momentum, giving those early states more influence nationwide.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/usa/story/0,,2 158377,00.html

It is not too late to join Sen. Larry Craig's Kids Club which can be found on his Senate site.

http://craig.senate.gov/kidsclub/frontpa ge.htm

Sen. Craig asks if you have any puzzles or jokes to share...

If you're like Tattie, you like to play and have fun. Her favorite game right now is Go Fetch. I thought you might get bored with that game pretty fast, so here are some other interesting things for you to do.

Send me a message if you have any ideas or puzzles or jokes that you think other kids like you would enjoy. Maybe your ideas could be made a reality right here on this page

There is even a recipe for a "Super Tuber"...

Super Tuber, is a great snack that uses one of my favorite vegetables: The Idaho Potato. Of course, I suppose any type of potato could be used, but I cannot guarantee that a Super Tuber made with anything but a true Idaho potato would taste as good.

If you are lucky Sen. Craig might even respond to your email...

Dear Kristine,

Thank you very much for your letter. I am always happy to hear from young Idahoans interested in our government.

You asked about my daily schedule. It can be described in one word: busy! A typical day might begin with a meeting with my chief of staff. If there are any votes that day, I go over to the Senate chamber in the U.S. Capitol to register my vote. I might also make a statement about a bill or an issue. Either of these things could happen at any time during the day. I generally have at least one committee hearing or meeting, and always spend a great deal of time studying the issues in the committees on which I serve. I usually will have meetings with constituents and other people who are interested in issues before the Senate or Senate committees. The remainder of my day is spent meeting with staff, making phone calls, and handling general "housekeeping" chores.

I hope this answers your questions. Thank you again for writing, and please contact me if I can help you in the future.

Sincerely,

Larry E. Craig

If you have wondered why the number of anti-Clinton diaries is on the decline in the netroots....

The Weekly World News which bills itself as the "World's Only Reliable Newspaper" has gone out of business. If you can find a copy the last issue is on the rack in your supermarket checkout lane.

http://www.abcnews.go.com/Nightline/stor y?id=3520499&page=1

http://www.worldwide-sawdust.com/showDia ry.do?diaryId=1339

They diligently reported on Hillary Clinton for decades. Their last major political exclusive was the scoop that Hillary Clinton has selected Bigfoot as her running mate.

Former Sen. John Edwards has lost the lead in his home state of North Carolina. Edwards is now behind both Sen. Hillary Clinton and Sen. Barack Obama who are now tied for first place with 27% of the vote.

Hillary Clinton 27%
Barack Obama 27%
John Edwards 26%

http://bluesunbelt.com/showDiary.do?diar yId=747

 Mark Blumenthal of Pollster.Com has a story today that includes figures on the turnout rate by age groups. In the 2006 elections younger voters turned out at a rate far below older voters. Only 25.5% of voters 18 - 29 actually voted compared to 63.1% of voters over 60.

 

 

In a new book Republican presidential candidate Sen. Sam Brownback  talks about how he overcame his hatred of Bill and Hillary Clinton during the 1990's.

 

 

 

Sam Brownback says he harbored a "hatred" of Bill and Hillary Rodham Clinton until he experienced a religious awakening in the mid-1990s.

Brownback, a Republican presidential hopeful, details in a new book how the change in outlook led him to make a stunning apology to Hillary Clinton a few years later during a Senate prayer breakfast.

"I was considering what I should say when I confronted all the anger that I held for the Clintons," the Kansas senator writes in the book, "From Power to Purpose: A Remarkable Journey of Faith and Compassion."

 

 

 

I am passing this along but I have not seen any confirmation of this from any other source beyond the original report.

The Taipei Times is reporting that former Vice President Al Gore has cancelled all events for the next 6 months. They quote Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Tien Chiu-chin as saying Gore is "considering a presidential bid".

Al Gore visit postponed
Former US vice president Al Gore will not be able to make it to Taiwan this September to address the issue of global warming, Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Tien Chiu-chin (田秋堇) said yesterday. Tien, who invited Gore to visit Taiwan to promote awareness on global warming, told reporters yesterday that she received an e-mail from the Harry Walker Agency, which has the exclusive right to arrange Gore's speeches, saying that Gore had canceled all his scheduled events in the next six months. The visit to Taiwan had been postponed to next year, she added. Tien said the reason for the cancelation was that Gore was considering a presidential bid.
http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/taiwan/a rchives/2007/06/27/2003367023

Take it with a grain of salt, but check out this little item:

http://progressiveintelligencia.wordpres s.com/2007/06/29/gore-cancels-taipei-spe eches-mulls-presidential-run-1st-in-new- hampshire-already/

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UPDATE: Al Gore's office has told the Raising Kaine blog the story published by the Taipei Times is incorrect. http://www.raisingkaine.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=9141