Blue Radar

As I post each morning, here are some of the political stories thatmight not be worthy of their own posts, but are nonetheless newsworthy:

• CONGRESS On Wednesday, the House passed the Employment Nondiscrimination Act, which prohibits companies from firing workers based on their sexual orientation.  The vote was 235 to 184.  Ted Kennedy (D-MA) and Susan Collins (R-ME) will introduce identical legislation in the Senate.  The law might get vetoed by Bush.
• CONGRESS Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill) introduced a bill in the House that would ban private contractors from Iraq and Afghanistan.
• 2008 ELECTION/HOUSE According to The Hill magazine, lobbyists are in the midst of a full-on effort to court Democratic lawmakers that need money for reelection.  "Lobbyists for the private equity and hedge fund industries havetargeted vulnerable freshmen who may need cash for tough reelectionbattles in order to stave off a tax hike on fund managers’ carriedinterest," The Hill reports.
• 2008 ELECTION/PRESIDENTIAL In an Associated Press interview, Ron Paul commented on the $4.3 million that his campaign raised in just 24 hours earlier this week.  "They said if the candidate doesn't call and pander to specialinterests you can't raise enough money. But here, we found out thecampaign is very spontaneous and volunteers are coming," he said.
• 2008 ELECTION/PRESIDENTIAL Barack Obama is angry at a smear group for releasing a photo of the Illinois Senator not putting his hand over his heart during the pledge of allegiance.  "My grandfather taught me how to say the Pledge of Allegiance when Iwas 2," Obama said, his annoyance obvious. "During the Pledge ofAllegiance you put your hand over your heart. During the nationalanthem you sing."
• 2008 ELECTION/PRESIDENTIAL Pat Robertson has endorsed Rudolph Giuliani for president.  (Robertson is making clear that fear of different cultures trumps any religious beliefs he has about the morality of abortion.)
• 2008 ELECTION/PRESIDENTIAL Word has leaked that Robert E. Rubin, former Treasury Secretary, will endorse Hillary Clinton on December 13th at a fundraiser.  (Maybe he will bring all his Wall Street friends too.)
• 2008 ELECTION/PRESIDENTIAL According to an NBC News poll, while voters favor Democrats 50% to 35% in the general election, many have reservations about Hillary Clinton.  "Americans have turned sharply away from President Bush and towarddomestic issues favoring his partisan adversaries. But offsetting thatdemand for change in the presidential contest are reservations aboutClinton’s truthfulness and ideology, even as Americans applaud herexperience and leadership qualities."
• 2008 ELECTION/PRESIDENTIAL Hillary Clinton is backing out of a "Today Show" appearance with Matt Lauer, following last week's interview with Barack Obama, where the Illinois Senator effectively accused Hillary of using the gender card during the last debate.

If we left something out, it's because we either wrote about ityesterday or are scheduled to do so in an individual post later today. Otherwise, feel free to add any stories to the commentbox.