Congratulations go to David Davis for winning the Haltemprice and Howden by-election, but more than that congratulations go to him for turning the Tabloids on to civil liberties for at least a while, for enabling a poll that debunks Brown's "public support" myth, and for helping us keep this issue alive!

Last week (Monday 23rd) Unlock Democracy announced their plans to make the best use of the Haltemprice and Howden by-election, and that is to raise as much money as they can to raise awareness about the illiberal 42 day detention without charge legislation. Asking for £20 ideally they would be happy to get as much as possible as they have worked out they need £5,000 to provide enough literature and bodies on the ground to ensure that all the facts are out in the open for people to make an informed decision come election day, on July 10th.

Apparently today is the day the electoral reform society have their picnic. However instead of sandwiches there will be debate, and the proverbial bees set to ruin the party is the subject of Alternative Vote.

So the bloody David Davis hand-wringing continues. "Boo hoo, why won't the Lib Dem's stand", "Oh woe is us, DD doesn't fit out 100 point check list of a libertarian so we can't support him", or "Oh dear me, I can't possibly believe an MP can resign on a single principle without a direct hidden agenda!" is all I seem to hear from all but a select few. Quite frankly it's pathetic and getting more so as time goes on. Add to this some usual petty politics and over reactions on the blogs and this issue of 42 days is fast getting absorbed into the ether like a fidget in quicksand.

All it would take is 4 or 5 Labour MPs to change their vote from aye to no to turn the 42 day majority around. So who are the blighters that decided to vote against 90 days but for 42?

The MPs that we need to be asking questions of are... Michael Clapham, Ann Cryer, David Hamilton, Doug Henderson, Siân James, Sadiq Khan, Mark Lazarowicz, Tony Lloyd, Andrew Love, Chris McCafferty, George Mudie, Dennis Skinner, Peter Soulsby and Jon Trickett. These MPs, including at least one who has worked for Liberty, and many that have been all too happy to rebel on issues such as Trident, are the priority as far as I'm concerned. If you live in their constituency or know someone that is get a letter written to them and let's see what their reasoning is.

I've been added as one of a handful of bloggers helping out at Liberal Conspiracy with their daily "NetCasts", and Thursday (for now at least) is my day in the sun. You can check out my offerings on the last 24 hours best blogs over at Liberal Conspiracy.

However I also wanted to mention a few blogs here that didn't quite make it in to my list of 6 or 7 items, and intend to do so each week here (if the quality of articles is out there!).

Lib Dem Voice - Mark Pack questions the way the Tories are picking their next Henley MP. Read the comments for the wider argument about how the Lib Dems do it too!
Political Betting - In an issue obviously close to Mike's heart, he wonders why it's taken so long to get the transparency needed for a controversial Ken Livingstone poll.
Alisdair's Blog - Get past the garish header and you have a 15 year old that manages to sound sensible on the subject of the new cluster bomb treaty.
Dizzy Thinks - Dizzy takes a look back at the websites of the main political parties as far back as before the 1997 general election. How times have changed...

You can also click below to continue reading and see the full list on this site if you so wish!

...She would be required to close up shop and tell everyone to go home. I'm going out slightly on a limb, like many others, by predicting the end of her bid to become the Democratic nominee in all but name. The reason for this though isn't because of her more vindictive than ever attitude but because the people simply don't care for her now they've seen both sides of both arguments.

Latest polls are obviously starting to come in with more and more important data looking towards next weeks make or break primary session for the Democrats, and as I wrote earlier on this blog, the data has been looking worse and worse for Hillary. Just to remind you before you read on, Clinton really needs to win around 150 delegates from Texas, Ohio and Pennsylvania...though ideally from Texas and Ohio alone to give her campaign a much needed boost. To do this she will have to win these large states by around 40 percentage points.

The news for today will start off with some positive idea making by Labour MP Frank Field, not really through any effort of his own but by seeing the effect of the US Primaries on America and the rest of the world and wanting to emulate it. Is this the sort of thing we need in this country, will it solve any of our electoral issues, and would it ever have the same kind of esteem that the US version commands?

So Obama has won Hawaii and Wisconsin as predicted, and come the end of the counting he should be at least 150 delegates ahead of Clinton leading in to the next big day of primaries. This is almost certainly the end of the road for his streak, as impressive as it's been, and I feel it's done some big damage to Clinton's campaign which are now seeing slumps in the polls in even the states thought to be safely big wins for her. Ultimately though the next two months are going to be about Clinton and her regaining the ground on the upstart. Unfortunately for Clinton I think that will ultimately play in to his underdog status that he enjoys come May.

Just a quick one, but I wanted to blow my own trumpet and brag about how how right I was about where the Democratic race is going. I'm now more sure than before that the next two states of any meaning will also go to Obama with polls on the rise for him. After that is Texas and Ohio. Quite simply put, Hillary has to win both of these states by about 70% to 30% to stay in the race. Even winning by that margin will likely not put her back in the lead with pledged delegates, though perhaps for overall delegates, but it could stay her execution enough to be able to fight Pennsylvania which is the last big state. In short she needs roughly 100 delegates from these two states just to stay on the pace and give her campaign a boost, and then an emphatic victory in Pennsylvania. Even then it may not be enough.

If Obama does as well in Texas as people are rumouring, or if he cuts in to what is a significant margin of support for Clinton in Ohio, then I have to concur with others around the web that are suggesting that the first primaries of March could be Clinton's curtain call.

It is clear that after tonight Barack Obama will be making strides in to the lead with pledged candidate numbers. He is currently projected to win the Washington and Nebraska caucuses, and exit polls suggest an easy victory in Louisiana is on the way. I was very disappointed with just how many people have tried to suggest that Hillary Clinton is still the person to beat after Super Tuesday, it was very clearly a draw on the night however it is the fact that Obama had come from such a huge margin behind the favourite Clinton that made him able to claim the biggest moral victory. How much longer will those that clearly don't want an Obama victory be able to deny where the feeling of the US, and the world, is going?