Let me introduce everyone to a name that most people probably have never heard of but should know:  Nels Ackerson.  Nels is currently running for Congress in Indiana's 4th Congressional District against Republican incumbent Steve Buyer.  Now I know that we have to pick and choose our battles, so I'm not bitter that Nels is not on the Orange->Blue list or on the DCCC's Red->Blue list.  In fact, given previous cycles in IN-04 this is pretty understandable.  But follow me over the fold and I'll attempt to introduce you to Nels Ackerson, explain why he is an absolutely fantastic candidate, but more importantly, why I think that he can even win this race.  We all love darkhorses don't we?  I must confess that I am somewhat astonished that this race has received almost no attention from anyone, and that's why I'm writing this diary.  Consider it DKos on the cutting edge.  If someone can point me to some resources where this race has received some attention that I am merely overlooking I whole-heartedly welcome it.

Okay, this is coming in real-time from the Supreme Court of the United States so information is going to be limited initially but I wanted to post the holding of the Court as soon as it was announced.  I will update and give some analysis as the opinion is released and more is learned.  Heller is being announced last of the three decisions today, meaning that a senior Justice is the author of the opinion.
The Holding in District of Columbia v. Heller is affirmed by a 5-4 meaning that the 2nd Amendment DOES grant individuals the right to bear arms.  This is not consistent with the Court's holding in United States v. Miller 307 U.S. 174 (1939), not what I expected and a bad decision.  Opinion author is Scalia.

For those who do not know that background of this case, and because I wrote this diary as a BREAKING diary, which means that the opinion of the Court was not even issued when this diary was published, please go to Scotus Wiki which has all the detail and history of the case.

Ok, haven't seen this diary floating around here yet so I figured I would throw it out there.  Everyone knows the usual suspects, those potential VP candidates that people are talking about and everyone has their own preferences and opinions.  But has anyone heard of Gen James L. Jones?

This just hit the waves a few minutes ago.  Michelle Obama is in Cleveland this afternoon at the University Center at Cleveland State University.  She was introduced by Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson who gave his full weight of endorsement to Obama.  Mayor Jackson is a mild mannered guy, but there have been many diaries that have stressed the importance of endorsements by local officials who can actually put boots on the ground and deliver votes.  Mayor Jackson is very popular, the most important issue for him is the foreclosure crisis (for which the City of Cleveland has filed a lawsuit against many lenders) and he praised Obama for his position.  Kind of takes the wind out of Hillary's sails on that one--with her criticism of Obama for not agreeing to freeze interest rates.  Anyway, the O-Mentum is building in Ohio!  Mayor Jackson endorses Obama!

I vacillated considerably on what title to give this diary.  I was going to say "Why Edwards hasn't endorsed Obama" but I didn't want people to get distracted because that isn't the main point.  The main point is that Obama really does have trouble with working-class whites.  I'm banging my head here in blue Northern Ohio attempting to figure out how we can deliver Ohio to Obama on March 4th.  Read on to get my take.....

Last night Barack Obama captured his first voting win in Ohio as a straw vote took place in Lakewood, Cuyahoga County.  

Update:  Don't read more into this than the simple point that, this was a surprising result to me.  I'm not trying to make any huge, misleading, declarations about the significance of this straw vote.  I'm just saying that it cuts against the grain... which I think is great.  I do think Dennis is in serious trouble though.