ABC News' Teddy Davis Reports: During a Friday book signing in Washington, D.C., one of former Vice President Gore's daughters seemed to go further than her father in saying that a 2008 White House run was not going to happen.

"He's really not going to get in the race," said Kristin Gore when asked if she has any special insight into her father's political plans. "He's really liberated working on things he cares about."

The former vice president regularly says that he has "no plans to be a candidate for president." But by stopping short of a "so-called Sherman statement," completely ruling out a presidential run, speculation has continued to surround the future plans of the man who won the 2000 popular vote for president.

http://blogs.abcnews.com/politicalradar/ 2007/07/gore-daughter-0.html

Since Jerome does a much better job mortgaging his credibility than any of my rants can, I'd like to dwell on one point of contention between Obama "fanatics" and skeptics: the intersection between the candidate's personality ("it's a brand, not a movement") and the speecific policies advocated. Obama partisans seem so reluctant to acknowledge the candidate part of the appeal, relative to how big of a factor it actually is, in my opinion. I don't think Obama supporters should hold back on that front at all, and it's a red herring to differentiate between "the personality" and "progressive policy."

So there's a lot of buzz about a new Suffolk University (?) poll in NH showing Clinton leading 37-19-9-9 (Clinton-Obama-Edwards-Richardson). What's changed? Well, Edwards lost three or four points, Richardson gained a couple, and ... drumroll ... Gore would get 32 percent of the vote if he announced, and lead Hillary 32-29 in NH! Shock and awe, right?

With Chris Bowers and Matt Stoller headed out, I thought now would be a good time to voice some of my own concerns (as a relative newcomer here) about what has happened to MyDD, and why, in my opinion, it has lost a lot of "authenticity" as an online community. I have two specific complaints, both of which have been covered heavily already but which have recently become significantly more degrading to the community. They are: the Hillary astroturfing, and the anti-Obama/ ring-kissing complex embodied in Jerome's assault on Obama.

Georgep and a few others will remember the comment catfight over Hillary's push polling... this one, for instance.

Has anyone else noticed the proliferation of Hillarybots on myDD in the past 3-4 weeks, ever since Hillary's much-ballyhooed "blog outreach" with the Pandagon post?

Honest question... sorry to throw that accusation out there, maybe it's completely spontaneous... but myDD would seem to be a very counterintuitive place for a sudden uprising of young Hillary enthusiasm. It just seems like the online equivalent of Hillary bussing in lots of "supporters" to her events. just wondering..

http://www.stratfor.com/products/premium /read_article.php?id=284341

(pricey subscription required)

Iran: Bombing in Zahedan
February 14, 2007 07 43  GMT

An explosion occurred in the southeastern Iranian city of Zahedan on Feb. 14, killing 18 people. The bomb, reportedly hidden in a car, exploded as a bus belonging to the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) passed by. It has not yet been determined whether those killed were IRGC guards.