Wake up.  We were not born yesterday.  I'm not going to name usernames.  Hell, I won't even name the candidates you're working for... but both should be obvious to loyal readers of this site. It wouldn't be so obvious but for the fact that every single diary you put up is in support of the candidate that so very obviously is paying you.  Maybe support isn't the right word because more often you're just trashing their opponents who are good Democrats or attacking the good people at the DCCC, DSCC, and DNC who lets not forget are trying to elect a Democratic congress.

Don't give me that line about you being a volunteer or "just an avid supporter."  If you really were or wanted to be a part of this MyDD community you would have SOMETHING, ANYTHING to say besides yet another reason why we should throw our money away on your underdog candidate.  Read that last sentence again and again.  If it doesn't apply to you, then this post isn't targeted at you.

You know, its kind of funny.  I had a friend that was hired along with 7 other people to serve as full-time paid blog commentors for a candidate in a statewide race.  I am not kidding.  His job was to spend upwards of 8 hours a day sitting in front of a computer using several different usernames at various local and national message boards and blogs hyping up his guy and talking trash on other candidates.  Needless to say, the job didn't last long because the candidate pulled out early as this is a pathetically idiotic way to run a campaign.

Lets imagine the thought process of a campaign manager who decides to hire a commentor/diarist:

"Hmmmm, we can't raise any money because we're clearly overmatched and the other candidates have far more local support.  What will we do?  I know, we'll go scream into the echo chamber.  We don't have to build up any real local support when we can go to the blogosphere ATM.  It doesn't matter to them that the locals aren't with us and we're clearly overmatched.  They love underdogs, and we can paint the other guy as the big bad DCCC/DLC/DSCC bogeyman.  Oh and we can have complete anonymity to slander and lie at will."

NEWS FLASH...  We are up to your game.  You are hurting the blog community.  If you want to continue to post diaries on this site PLEASE DISCLOSE YOUR STATUS AS A PAID CAMPAIGN STAFFER or become an actual member of the community rather than a solicitor.

The new ABC/Washington Post poll was released this morning and it contains great news for the electoral prospects of Democrats in 2006.

The most obvious good news is the headline finding:

The survey found that three in four--76 percent--of all Americans said Bush should disclose contacts between aides and Abramoff while 18 percent disagreed.

However, a detailed look at the PDF shows even more reasons for optimism.  The 'culture of corruption' meme is breaking through.  Of course, it helps when these Republicans can't stop getting themselves into trouble ;).  Here are some key stats to prove this:

11. Which political party, the (Democrats) or the (Republicans), do you trust to do a better job (ITEM)?
b. standing up to lobbyists and special interest groups
Both Neither No
        Democrats Republicans Both Neither No Opinion
1/26/06     46       27        1     20        5
12/18/05    42       34        2     17        5

The late december numbers on this question were one of many indicators that led many in the blogosphere to criticize Democratic leaders for failing to successfully push the republican culture of corruption meme.  However, we can now see that in the aftermath of the Abramoff plea Democrats have garnered a substantial 11-point swing on this issue vis-a-vis the republicans.  Even better is the degree to which Democrats are inching closer to crossing the magical 50% bar on this question.  As corruption is now one of the 4 most important issues to voters this can only bode very well for the midterm elections.

More after the jump....

So much for that "Bush bounce" that the media has been trying to hype in recent weeks. Congressional Democrats are still poised for a big win in 2006. With this kind of national momentum it becomes all the more crucial that we recruit candidates for every single house district.

You can have a look at the details in this PDF from Ipsos.

By WILL LESTER, Associated Press Writer 43 minutes ago

WASHINGTON - In an ominous election-year sign for Republicans, Americans are leaning sharply toward giving Democrats control of Congress, an AP-Ipsos poll finds. Democrats are favored 49 percent to 36 percent.

The poll was taken this week as Republican lobbyist Jack Abramoff pleaded guilty to tax evasion, fraud and corruption charges and agreed to aid a federal investigation of members of Congress and other government officials.

President Bush's job approval remains low -- 40 percent in the AP-Ipsos poll. About as many approve of his handling of Iraq, where violence against Iraqis and U.S. troops has been surging.

More details below the fold...