Thi Associated Press story about the Federal Reserve's priorities shifting to controlling inflation instead of making more interest cuts.  Chairman Bernanke acknowledged the weak economy but hoped for something better in the second half of the year:

Economic growth in the current quarter, he acknowledged, is "likely to be relatively weak." Even as he reiterated the Fed's hope for a pickup in growth in the second half of this year and into 2009, Bernanke said the economy continued to battle against a trio of negative forces - a housing slump, credit problems, and fragile financial markets.

I haven't paid a great deal of attention to Unity 08's brand of "non-partisan" bullshit -- anyone whose stated goal is to get beyond blind partisanship but seems to think Joe Lieberman is just dandy is pretty obviously full of it. But today a friend of mine pointed something out to me. One of the founders council of Unity 08 is Tom Stroockthe former U.S. Ambassador to Guatemala (1989-93) who is notorious in some circles for his outrageous treatment of Dianna Ortiz, an American nun who was abducted, raped and tortured by a right-wing goon squad in Guatemala in 1989.

Even though Stoock later provided a letter to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights investigating the case which indicated that he had seen through his "own personal observation, that [Sister Ortiz] was seriously beaten and mistreated", he slandered her and speculated to the State Department that "(Ortiz) had perhaps staged (her) own abduction to secure a cut-off of US aid to the Guatemalan army."

HeadingLeft radio has two big shows coming up Thursday, February 22. My co-host James Boyce and I will have General Wesley Clark on at 1:30pm and at 4:00pm we'll have former DNC chair Terry McAuliffe.

Terry McAuliffe, former Chair of the Democratic National Committee and currently a major player in Senator Hillary Clinton's Presidential campaign, will be talking about his new book, "What a Party."

I've had all kinds of bloggers email with nasty hard-hitting questions I should ask McAuliffe, even on mainstream reporter, but they were all too chicken to ask the tough questions themselves. Something tells me the Kossacks ain't chicken. Call (646) 652-4803 and rake Terry over your own personal coals.

I've excerpted some of Rick Perlstein's NYT review below in the full entry.

"I congratulate Ned Lamont on a great grassroots campaign, and wish him success in November. I and our PAC, Forward Together, will be supporting the Lamont campaign. Connecticut Democrats are mirroring the frustrations most Americans feel with this President's failed foreign policy and mishandled war. I also commend Senator Lieberman for his remarkable record of public service."

"Republican wishful thinking notwithstanding, Tuesday's vote was anything but a Democratic party repudiation of a robust and determined defense of this nation's security. To the contrary, it is a call for a return to an American foreign policy that unites our friends and divides our enemies--and a call that will inevitably sweep through November's elections."

Last week Mark Warner was a featured guest at a fundraiser for ActBlue, the PAC that has made state of the art online fundraising technology available to Democratic campaigns at the federal level since 2004. They're currently fundraising to expand their services to candidates in state races across the county. Help ActBlue. Read what Benjamin Rahn, co-founder of ActBlue  has more to say in the extended entry.

And if you didn't catch my diary from yesterday, we posted our first dispatch from YearlyKos on YouTube as well.

We've posted it up on YouTube, take a look. Keep an eye on this diary, we'll be posting more as we get them edited.

Unless his flunkies screw up, you'll also have credentials in your registration package, but just to make sure you don't miss the open bar, the free food, and the free rides (they have crazy rollercoaster rides atop the 100+ floor Stratosphere), get on the list.

Here's the details:

Blogosphere at the Stratosphere Party
Hosted by Gov. Warner
Friday, June 9th
9-11pm
Stratosphere Casino Hotel Tower

Also, Governor Warner is speaking on Saturday at 12:30 for all attendees with Q & A's following... See you at the top of the Stratosphere Friday night.

It seems timely to post this since Chris Bowers and  Booman met with Governor Warner today.

Governor Warner spoke to the Wisconsin Democratic Party a while back and we excerpted part of the speech for this video.

It's also available as a podcast if you're into that sort of thing. The full text of the speech is below.

Governor Warner is wrapping up a two day visit to Iowa where he campaigned for Congressman Leonard Boswell. The DeMoines Register, and Associated Press have coverage of the trip.  Political Forecast has a report from the Boswell fundraiser.

This morning NPR aired an interview of Governor Warner by Steve Inskeep (audio file available). NPR also has an analysis of the inteview.

Excerpts in the extended entry.

Tomorrow Governor Warner is in Iowa where he'll be a special guest at a fundraiser for Congressman Leonard Boswell.

The AP has a story on Governor Warner's efforts on behalf on Democrats across the country:

There are lots of places Democrats can be competitive where we haven't been before," he said. "And we can reach out to Reagan Democrats, moderates and independents without sacrificing progressive values... There's real growing concern about the direction of this country, and the best thing I can do right now is help candidates around the country.

And the Globalist features an op-ed from Governor Warner on the "challenges of technological advancement." More in extended entry.
 

Mark Warner has released a short video clip about the importance and opportunities of 2006. Take a look and if you agree that 2006 is critical year for Democrats, please come to the Forward Together PAC site and tell us how you plan to help Democrats win in 2006.

Governor Warner has been busy campaigning for Democrats across the country, including Francine Busby, Claire McCaskill, Harold Ford, Jr.

More from Governor Warner in the extended entry.

Mark Warner started Forward Together PAC to help candidates in key races who share his common sense, future-focused, results-driven approach to politics that has worked in Virginia. Please come to the Forward Together web site and get involved.

Blog readers have known for a while that 2006 may be a once in a generation opportunity for Democrats to change the political map. Now it's hitting the traditional media. This week TIME Magazine reported that "a startling realization has begun to take hold: if the elections were held today, top strategists of both parties say privately, the Republicans would probably lose the 15 seats they need to keep control of the House of Representatives and could come within a seat or two of losing the Senate as well."

We launched a new feature on the Forward Together site today. It's a brief flash animated message from Governor Warner welcoming first time visitors and encouraging them to sign up on his site.

We got a good review from Teagan Goddard on his Political Wire. Let us know what you think at the Forward Together blog.

Please come to the Forward Together blog and let us know what you think of our efforts.

Gov. Warner was proud to be able to help Francine and urges everyone to help her win this race to replace the disgraced Duke Cunningham, a poster-boy of the Republican culture of corruption.

Gov. Mark Warner and Francine Busby

More pics in extended entry.

Francine Busby is running in the special election dated April 11 to succeed Duke Cunningham. If she wins, it will be a clear sign that the Republicans will suffer at the polls in November, 2006. She needs our support in this Republican district. It's a winnable race where we can convert some Republican voters to our side.

But I shouldn't have to tell anyone here at DailyKos about Francine Busby. She's one of the official netroots endorsed candidates.

The suggested minimum donation to attend the event is $125 per person or $200 per couple. If you can't attend, please contribute online.

Event details and rsvp info are in the extended entry.

Mark Warner was in New Hampshire last night, speaking at a fundraiser for the NH Democratic Party. There is lots of commentary from New Hampshire media about  Governor Warner's visit, inclding a video snippet on WMUR from the visit to Stonyfield Farm.

The Union Leader has a story online, one leading into Warner's visit to NH and the Stonyfield tour. And Ex-Va. Gov. in New Hampshire, by the AP's Holly Ramer, is on the wire.

And theConcord Monitor,  by Eric Moskowitz had a great writeup. Excerpt after the break.