Vote For Bill Halter

Updated at 12:30 PM PDT

I received this bit of political e-mail spam today:

The polls are open in Arkansas again for the runoff between Blanche Lincoln and Bill Halter! This will be a close race, with the latest poll showing Bill Halter up by only 3%.

This is a chance for Arkansans to tell the DC Democratic Party that they're doing a lousy job. Bill Halter may not be all that progressive, but voting for him means that Blanche Lincoln, one of the worst of the Democratic Senators, will no longer have a job. That in itself is an improvement. It also sends a message that the Democrats need to be more progressive, not less. We have no such opportunity out here in the other Washington, nor do voters in much of the country.

So please, Arkansas, tell the DC Democrats to get with the program.

UPDATE: As this Talking Points Memo article makes clear, the special election in Arkansas will happen on June 8, next Tuesday. What has happened today is that early voting has started. Reading what I wrote earlier, it's obvious that wasn't at all clear.