Not exactly what a Senator up for reelection in a state that favored the other party's presidential nominee wants to see.

Florida Gov. Charlie Crist remains overwhelmingly popular with a 68 - 18 percent job approval rating that makes him a strong favorite for re-election in 2010, but Sen. Mel Martinez's 42 - 33 percent approval rating makes him much more vulnerable, according to a Quinnipiac University poll released today.

[...]

Although Sen. Martinez gets a somewhat favorable job approval rating, only 36 percent of voters say he deserves another term, while 38 percent say no and 26 percent say they are not sure. If the election were today, 36 percent say they would vote for Martinez while 40 percent would support his unnamed Democratic opponent and 24 percent are undecided.

Senators with approval ratings south of the 50 percent mark are never in a great position to earn another term -- particularly when they have a negative reelect number. Combined with the polling from over the summer showing either Congressman Robert Wexler (whom I like as a candidate in this race) or state CEO Alex Sink giving Martinez a tough time, and polling from the fall showing Congressmen Alan Boyd and Ron Klein both doing the same, it's fairly clear that Martinez will be a top target for the Democrats this coming cycle.

From The Washington Post

Lieberman agreed to surrender his position on the Environment and Public Works Committee, leaving the panel and his subcommittee chairmanship there. But Lieberman will remain chairman of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee and head of the subcommittee of the Armed Services Committee that oversees air and land power issues.

[...]

The deal was negotiated by Sens. Christopher Dodd (D-Conn.) and Ken Salazar (D-Colo.), as well as Sens. Tom Carper (D-Del.) and Bill Nelson (D-Fla.).

The Democratic caucus voted 42-13 to accept it. Those voting included the six incoming senators for the 111th Congress. Obama has already resigned his seat and Vice-President-elect Joe Biden (D-Del.) was not present.

[...]

In a more than two-hour meeting inside the Old Senate Chamber of the Capitol, where 19th century compromises were hatched, Lieberman offered apologies for some of his remarks during the campaign.

"There are some that I made that I wish I had never made at all," Lieberman said later.

It appears as though four in five Democrats in the United States Senate are content with their committee leadership including a member who actively campaigned not only for the Republican Presidential nominee but also Republican Senators up for reelection this fall. I knew the Senate was a collegial place... I just didn't know it was this collegial.

Sounds like someone missed a few hugs:

Asked what it would mean if Lieberman kept his chairmanship, one Senate Democratic aide said bluntly: "The left has been foiled again. They can rant and rage but they still do not put the fear into folks to actually change their votes. Their influence would be in question."

This "aide" volunteered a fairly profound confusion about why he believes we oppose Lieberman keeping his gavel; they seem to think this is just about being a reactionary pain.

Politics is not a game. And the opposition to Lieberman remaining chair of Homeland Security is grounded in a belief that the Connecticut independent will continue to abdicate his responsibility and undermine our party if he keeps his gavel.

But the substance of the disagreement is ignored.

Confusing your friends with your opponents is one of the worst mistakes you can make in politics.

Back before the news was all elections all the time, I did a distinct lot more science issues reading. Now that is some wicked cool stuff. For your entertainment ...

- A team led by a geochemist has traced the origins of around 3,000 minerals to chemical precursors produced by living organisms. These minerals include semi-precious stones like turquoise and malachite, and their spectrographic markers might help astrophysicists spot other worlds where life evolved.

- Much of our oxygen is produced from carbon dioxide by photosynthetic cyanobacteria that can also "fix" nitrogen, or turn inert nitrogen gas into organic chemical compounds. But scientists have discovered a type of cyanobacteria that only fixes nitrogen and can't photosynthesize. [But don't be misled: Though they're referred to as blue-green algae in the article, an old and outdated term, they aren't algae, but bacteria.]

- Gene-mapping and 3D imagery of developing chicks and mice will be used to create a developmental atlas of gene effects. The research is expected to point the way towards explanations of developmental anomalies like spinal bifida.

- Early but promising steps have been made towards sensors fine enough to allow direct control of bionic limbs by the brain, or perhaps even act as a workaround for a damaged spinal cord.

- Contrary to popular belief, humans still seem to be evolving.

- Just a question ... has it never occured to anyone setting up the sorts for Google News categories that someone looking for "Sci/Tech" news might find a page 9/10ths full of stories about software companies and consumer electronics completely useless?

Consider this an open thread, though you probably just want to talk about Lieberman. I understand. I also think that for many of his colleagues, he would need to actually shiv one of them in a dark hallway before they found his disloyalty unsettling. And he'd need to cause major organ damage or death before they were likely to do anything but write it off as a misunderstanding over a filed down quill pen.

What is on your minds?

Let the record reflect that George W. Bush is handing off a recession to Barack Obama:

The U.S. economy fell into a recession last spring and will contract sharply this quarter as more than 200,000 workers per month are added to the rolls of the unemployed, a survey said on Monday.

The Philadelphia Federal Reserve's latest Survey of Professional Forecasters removed some of the glow from an earlier report showing industrial output rebounded in October after hurricane disruptions produced a stunning fall in September.

[...]

The Philadelphia Fed's survey predicted gross domestic product would shrink by 2.9 percent in the fourth quarter, a sharp downgrade from the previous prediction of 0.7 percent growth.

It said the U.S. economy entered a recession in April and that it will last 14 months, which would make it one of the longest recessions since the Great Depression of the 1930s.

While there may be efforts by some on the right to cast blame for the state of the economy early next year on the Obama, it's clear that any downturn began earlier during the watch of the Bush administration. In light of these data showing that a contraction in the economy began seven months ago, it is even more clear that the foot-dragging of both the White House and Congressional Republicans at a time when Democrats were calling for more robust stimulus measures -- and, I might add, an end to the War in Iraq, which comes at a great cost to this country -- was monumentally misguided. The only question, now, is whether Republicans will continue on the path of obstruction or, if instead, they will allow the Congress to move forward with the types of changes so required to begin to heal the ills in the economy

What's up tonight?

The Guardian tonight announces with great confidence that Hillary Clinton intends to accept the Secretary of State position in an Obama administration.

Hillary Clinton plans to accept the job of secretary of state offered by Barack Obama, who is reaching out to former rivals to build a broad coalition administration, the Guardian has learned.

Obama's advisers have begun looking into Bill Clinton's foundation, which distributes millions of dollars to Africa to help with development, to ensure that there is no conflict of interest. But Democrats do not believe that the vetting is likely to be a problem.

So if the vetting of Bill goes well and Clinton is officially offered the job, she'll take it!? Wow, ya don't say.

Interesting that US media outlets aren't reporting the same thing and aren't even picking up The Guardian's story. In fact, this is up on the front page of CNN.com right now:

Former President Bill Clinton's international business dealings, global foundation and penchant for going off script could present a significant obstacle to Hillary Clinton becoming secretary of state, observers say.

On the one hand, his established relationships with world leaders could instantly make the New York senator a welcome face in embassies around the world.

On the other, his complicated global business interests could present future conflicts of interest that result in unneeded headaches for the incoming commander-in-chief.

I'm with Josh. I think it likely will happen but is this Guardian story actual confirmation of anything? Probably not.

With the Minnesota vote certification set for tomorrow and the recount to commence on Wednesday, Al Franken's campaign is fighting to make sure that absentee votes that were wrongfully disqualified are counted. Franken had originally requested voter information on all excluded absentee ballots but when two counties rejected the request, citing privacy concerns, Franken took it to court.

Franken has sued to get access to a roster of voters whose absentee ballots were invalidated. The campaign says it would use the information to investigate whether the rejections were proper.

The hearing on this lawsuit is set for Wednesday morning, shortly after the recount is scheduled to begin, so the Franken campaign has requested that the certification -- and hence the recount -- be pushed until all valid votes are counted.

The Franken campaign filed a brief with the five-person board Monday, demanding that every vote be counted.

"We would ask them to not certify the vote count," Marc Elias, a Democratic election lawyer working for Franken, said in a news conference Monday.

As Elias said on a conference call with reporters today:

"I don't think that they have a vote count to certify."

It's important to note that, despite the Republican party line on this, this is not some futile fishing expedition by a campaign desperate for any vote it can get. This is a legitimate enfranchisement issue.

Franken's advisers say they know of hundreds of voided absentee ballots based on their surveys of Minnesota counties that voluntarily supplied information, but they wouldn't give a precise number. [...]

One of the affidavits is from James Langland of Thief River Falls, who voted absentee in person because he was traveling on Election Day. Langland said he was told his ballot was invalidated because it lacked proper documentation. He said he learned nine days after the election that a county official failed to sign the envelope.

Langland said in the document that he voted for Franken, as did the other three voters who submitted sworn statements.

"In an election this close, every vote matters and every vote should be counted," said Franken attorney Marc Elias. "Whether it's a close election or not, these individual Minnesotans have a right to have their vote counted."

Elections officials in the state have said that the absentee ballot issue could potentially be dealt with during the recount, so it doesn't look as though an official certification of the vote would spell the end for those wrongfully disenfranchised absentee voters, but clearly, the Franken campaign would like to add them to the official pre-recount tally to minimize any lead Coleman has and hence any premature claims of victory.

Whenever it actually starts, the recount is going to be expensive, so help Al out over at the Road To 60 ActBlue page.