A Kennedy, a Carnival, and a Contest

Let's start with Bryan Kennedy, the man who will defeat F. Jim Sensenbrenner in Wisconsin's fifth CD next fall. Before you go any further, click here and vote for Bryan in Democracy for America's poll about whom they should endorse first in the 2006 election cycle. Only the top ten (out of nearly 50 candidates) will advance to the next round of polling. As I write this, Bryan's in ninth place--good, but not great. If you haven't voted yet, do so, and then email all of your friends to do so as well.

Second, check out the ePluribusMedia inteview with Bryan, either at dKos with scores of good comments or at ePM itself. It's a long and wide-ranging discussion, but I thought this snippet really sums up why Bryan will be great in Congress and why he has a real shot at beating F. Jim:

I am not a "tax-and-spend" liberal. I am fiscally conservative and believe in balanced budgets. I believe that government can have a positive impact in people's lives. I live in a society and I expect to pay taxes. I do not want to overpay and I expect to receive a strong defense to keep my family safe, good schools for my children, good roads and transportation infrastructure, and a healthy environment, among other things. I pay good money and I want good quality. I have not seen my taxes go down under this administration, but the quality sure has. I am paying the same but getting less.

I believe that government needs to be responsible and I do not support government programs just to have a government program. I think there should be accountability; if a program does not meet its objective, we should ax it.

Lastly, I am more of a "think globally, act locally" kind of leader. I would like to have more of our federal programs outlined at the federal level but run and "fine-tuned" at the local level. We can meet the needs of people in Wisconsin better in Wisconsin by adapting federal guidelines to our specific needs.

For something completely different, the fifth edition of the Carnival of the Badger is up at Letters in Bottles. A slimmer selection this week, but some good reads.

Finally, we've hit the ten-week line of demarcation on the MKEonline Blog Contest. Since I won a weekly contest during the last ten weeks, I'm in the hopper for this round. You can vote for me if you like; I haven't decided yet who gets my vote.