"The worst flooding Cedar Rapids has ever seen."  That's how the morning talk show host on 600 WMT-AM just described the devastation.  Make no mistake - this is a flood of epic proportions.  Nothing like this has been seen in Eastern Iowa in recorded history.

To give some perspective on just how bad it is, here are the river crests for the previous big floods:

Previous record flood in 1929:  20 feet
The Flood of 1993: 19.3 feet
Current river level in downtown Cedar Rapids: ~30 feet and still rising

As Bosniagate continues to be in the news, the Hillary Clinton campaign is doing everything it can to keep Clinton's other foreign policy "credentials" from coming under other scrutiny.

Bosniagate exploded because there was video proof: easily played clips and soundbites for mass public consumption; but the scandal that really started closer scrutiny of Hillary's foreign policy record was that of her role in the Northern Ireland peace process.

The Clinton campaign was obviously not happy about this, and they pushed back immediately.  But now, with her foreign policy record in the glare of the media spotlight, her campaign has decided that's not enough.

James Rubin went on record with MSNBC, in an interview with Andrea Mitchell, calling Lord Trimble a sexist "crankpot."

More below the thin orange line...

One of the areas of greatest frustration to me in this campaign cycle is that the Obama campaign has not been more visible in its support of, and its outreach to, the GLBT community.

Now it appears as though they'll be spending some of my contribution money reaching out to the gay community in Texas and Ohio, taking out full-page ads in several papers.

Flip for more.

WASHINGTON - Shortly after appearing on Meet the Press this morning to announce yet another Presidental run, Ralph Nader held a press conference in front of the local Piggly Wiggly to announce that he will be starting his own political party, not affiliated with any existing party infrastructure in America.

One of the greatest mistakes that we make as Democrats time and time again is assuming that the majority of the electorate makes decisions the way we in Left Blogistan do...that they study policy, records, and position papers before making an informed decision about a candidate.

We are wrong.  George Bush didn't get elected because of his policies.  He got elected because he was "compassionate" and apparently most of the country wanted to drink a beer with him (although now, I'd imagine most of those people would throw a Busch in Bush's face if they had the chance.)

Most voters go for the emotional connection - the fire in the belly, the personal connection (I have young kids, he has young kids, so he must understand), the thinking that he might just be like me.

Over the course of the last several months, I have seen many, "I would like to support Obama...but" comments around the threads here at DailyKos.  As an Obama supporter I've tried to answer these comments as honestly and forthrightly as I could with the knowledge I have about the man and his positions.

I'm going to attempt to lay out here what I perceive to be the major issues that fellow Kossacks have with Barack Obama and see if I can inform some of the undecideds, lay to rest some criticisms, and maybe spark an intelligent debate in the comments.

While I'm basing most of this diary on facts as stated elsewhere, I may inject, from time to time, personal anecdotes that may help you, the reader, into my head a little about why I made the choice I did.  These opinions interspersed with the facts are my own.

So without further adieu, pour yourself a drink, grab a snack, and follow me below the thin orange line.  It might be a little long...

Well, folks, it's official.  Joe Lieberman has officially completed his transition into a Republican.

If there was any doubt left that he could still caucus with the Democrats as he claims, it's officially gone out the window.

Headline from the Boston.com: Lieberman tapped to McCain 'leadership team' in Conn.

More below...

[UPDATE II]  Updated with more of Bill Clinton's remarks from a campaign rally in NY last night.

What follows are Obama's remarks in his Good Morning America interview this morning with Robin Robers from Atlanta.

This is my own transcript (not taken from any website) so please excuse any typos.  I really want to kiss whomever invented the DVR.

Flip below the fold for more...

Oh, the humanity!

Bill O'Reilly, your favorite pundit and mine, thinks the campaign trail has gotten so hostile that "somebody is going to get hurt."

And it's all Markos' fault.

If you need a good laugh, (and after the past few days, I bet you do) follow me below the fold for a few guffaws.

Over the past few weeks, the vitrol on the comments pages and in the diaries here and elsewhere has taken a dive into the territory that we usually use when talking about Republicans.

In particular, I've seen a lot of comments regarding Barack Obama and this notion that he somehow wants to push the Democratic party to the "center" or to negotiate our progressive ideals away to the Republicans.

I've seen some great rebuttals here in the comments, but nothing seems to be getting through.  Knowing that Kossacks like their assertions backed up with facts, I've decided to go back to the legislative records in both Illinois and the U.S. Senate and find out if this "centrist" rhetoric holds water.

More after the jump...

On the ground here in Iowa, all of us involved in the campaigns of one candidate or another are holding our collective breaths hoping one of our competitors screws something up enough to swing the vote substantially one way or another.

The HRC campaign may have just turned into its own torpedo.  Ever heard the phrase "don't bite the hand that feeds you?"  Today it needs to be changed to, "never alienate the people that vote for you."

More after the thin orange line...