Morning News Roundup

• The much anticipated sequel to 2003's Pirates of the Carribean: The Curse of the Black Pearl, Pirates of the Carribean: Dead Man's Chest premieres tonight/tommorow morning at 12:01AM. Yes, I'm going. Be jealous. The sequel as well as the third film, due out next summer, were filmed concurrently (much like the second and third installments of the Lord of the Rings trilogy) and are expected to cost, in total, over half a billion dollars. They'd better be good.
• The Mexican election promises to be a squeaker as the tally continues. Despite his earlier claims of victory, the right-wing Calderon is now behind ever so slightly in the polls to the populist Obrador. Some of the latest numbers I've seen have Calderon up 1/100 of a percent on Calderon, with 97.7% of the votes tallied. The good news is that

  The remaining votes to be counted are mostly from National Action Party, or PAN, strongholds in northern Mexico and Calderón's supporters are gathering outside Calderón's headquarters in anticipation of his victory.

  A Calderon victory would unequivocally be a victory for free trade in the hemisphere and potentially a partner on the immigration issue - or at least more of one than Obrador would be. However - and here's the real nail-biter - because of Mexican election law, the election court has to certify the results and has till September 6th to do so. Unfortunately, and much like our own 2000 election, I feel like the outcome, regardless of who is replaces Vicente Fox, will serve only to divide the Mexican populace at a time when the people of that nation need to have an honest discussion, free from partisan acrimony, about their future. I'll obviously continue to update as the day goes on.
  
• Washington Post blog coverage is here.
• Howard Dean's idea of winning back Congress? Spending $75,000 for a new headquarters for the US Virgin Islands Democratic Party. Apparently thinks have gotten so bad between him and DSCC Chairman/IL Democrat Rahm Emmanuel that "during a recent fire drill staffers worried that Dean and Emanuel might bump into each other on the curb." And people wonder why we can bungle things and still maintain the majority? This, ladies and gentlemen, is why. Democrats are desperate for some sort of victory, other than the "moral victories" they've been crowing about (see: CA-50), but instead Dean's claiming to build the groundwork for future presidential campaigns. Emmanuel's deeply worried about having sufficient resources to actually make a push this fall in the House, apparently seeing the midterms and Dean's 50-state plan as mutually exclusive. But Dean too, has his backers, people like the Alaska Democratic Party chairman, who noted that "Until Dean came along, states like Alaska were ignored." Maybe that's a function of having three electoral votes and just over 600,000 residents? Such efforts, and the funding of Democratic parties in places like the Virgin Islands, shows the flaw in Dean's logic. It may be nice, fuzzy, and inclusive to work with them - but to win races you need to work in the heartland, in Florida, in the Mountain West. Dean may leave the DNC as the most beloved Chairman, at least in the eyes of state parties; I doubt he'll leave being remembered as one of the most effective.
• In Washington and at the UN, US leaders are trying to craft a response to North Korea's ballistic provocations. Although the rhetoric has thus far been strong, the international response will no doubt be limited to sanctions and isolation. Unsurprisingly, some reports indicate that China and Russia are balking at even these limited measures. Russia, of course, is again trying to make itself relevant (admit it, it's a 2nd rate power - call it the Al Gore of the international order), however Chinese intransigence is more disturbing as I believe the key to any resolution of this issue is Chinese involvement.
• Happy 60th, Dubya.

More later.