One unsurprising (Edwards), the other a bit of a stunner -- although not as big of a surprise as hearing that Mark Warner was out.

John Edwards plans to announce his candidacy for the presidency in New Orleans, apparently before the end of the year.

Personally I think it's kind of tacky to announce from the Lower 9th Ward, which is where it's supposed to occur, but I am probably over-sensitive to Katrina issues and imagery. I was also offended by those Chevrolet commercials during the World Series that showed New Orleans underwater.

It's just that Edwards making his announcement from a still-decimated disaster zone reminds me slightly of the 2004 Republican convention in New York City -- as a blatantly political move. That said, it's mitigated somewhat by the fact that Edwards does actually care about New Orleans and the Gulf Coast, and announcing from there could bring a much-needed media spotlight back to the Crescent City.

I think it should be patently obvious by now where my 2008 loyalties lie, but I'm glad that Edwards is in. I've liked him for awhile, and my slight disappointment over his choice of location from which to announce a presidential bid doesn't change that. But even if I were ambivalent, I'd be glad for another person to enter the field. The Hillary Clinton people seem to want to "coronate" her, and I am deeply against the idea of coronations. That's how the Republicans acted in 2000 with Dubya. The more legitimate contenders in it (and Edwards is definitely a legitimate contender), the more ideas will be floating around. People are likely to decide based on the debates this time. I think they're sick of "personality politics."

I have watched with increasing irritation as the blogosphere castigates John Kerry and Evan Bayh for not donating as much to the DSCC as a small, anonymous blog site would purportedly wish them to.

And then, after Kerry does something he had planned to do for days, they take credit for "persuading" (read: strongarming) him to do it.

I hate to attack fellow Internet activists, but you know, sometimes you have to call it what it is.  It's swiftboating.  It is a group of people unfairly leaping on any accusation made against Kerry, who has been doing precisely what they themselves have advocated doing this year.

It started with the now-defunct startup blog "heyjohn.org," which claimed to have been administered by anonymous top Democratic Party officials, claiming that Kerry and Bayh had been miserly with their money. This claim is false.

Then Markos, the proprietor of the major blog site Daily Kos, who worked for the Dean campaign in 2004 and apparently harbors a lasting grudge against the man who beat Dean, globbed on to the attack and issued a vulgar smear against Kerry's spokesman for calling out the anonymous site. He attempted to convince his flock that the calling-out was somehow aimed at him, his friend Bowers at another blog, and their readership.