South Carolina:
Nikki Haley made history in the state by becoming not only the first woman but the first Indian-American woman to run for governor in last night's run off election.

Representative Tim Scott easily won against Strom Thurmond's son in the 1st District and could be come the Republican's first black congress in over a century. The South may indeed rise again, but with a slightly different look

Utah:
Tea Party backed candidate Mike Lee was selected to head up the GOP Senate race. Utah is overwhelming Republican, so no drastic changes there.

Arlen Spectator gets sunk by former Admiral Joe Sestak in PA, Blanche Lincoln heads to a run off in Arkansas, a Tea Party favorite edges out the Republican party candidate in Kentucky and Democrats easily keep John Murtha's seat.

So which party came out on top? Neither, the primaries signal a voter dissatisfaction with the establishment candidates. What do the primaries results say about the elections in November? Things aren't looking so certain for Republicans and Democrats still have a good chance to retain both houses.

Florida Governor Charlie Crist, currently running for a Senate seat in the state, is expected to switch from running as a Republican to an Independent.

Voter's in Massachusetts head to the polls today to determine who will fill the Senate seat formerly held by Ted Kennedy, choosing either Democrat Martha Coakley or Republican Scott Brown.

The race was originally seen as cakewalk for the Democrats, but Brown's campaign and supporters turned the race into a dead heat and now an seeming victory for Brown, as Nate Silver of 538 is puts Brown at 3:1 and other polls also point to Brown winning.

If Brown wins, that puts 41 Republicans in the Senate, enough to sustain a filibuster, which puts Democrat plans for health care reform in jeopardy. Backup plans are already being considered, including asking the House to back the Senate plan with no changes.

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Remember the NY-23 congressional race between 3 candidates, a Democrat, a Republican and a conservative, and how up in the air the election was? You know how Republican candidate, Dede Scozzafava eventually dropped out and endorsed the Democrat, Bill Owens, while the Republican party machine put its weight behind Doug Hoffman, the Conservative party candidate, yet the Democrats went on to win the seat? Well, maybe (maybe!) the Democrats didn't win.

Owens won by 5,335 votes, but a re-canvassing has dropped that to 3,026 votes and the 10,200 absentee votes have yet to be counted, which were mailed out before Scozzafava withdrew. So there's a possibility that Hoffman could still win, despite having conceded the race on election night.

Iran is reportedly close to making a deal on its nuclear program.

The U.S. House of Representatives have agreed to allow Gitmo prisoners to be transferred to the states to stand trial.

The U.S. Senate is again looking at ending the 100:1 sentencing disparity between crack and power cocaine.

The Afghanistan election is heading to a runoff, which may quell some of the accusations of fraud and vote tampering.

A minor note and pretty duh as McCain admits to tensions in his 2008 campaign over Sarah Palin. Note how it's framed though: "Steve Schimdt (the campaign manager) had problems with Palin's people" i.e. "It wasn't me and it wasn't Sarah, it was a few of our staff members" Nice political passing of the buck.

Canadians appear to be heading for another election, as the Liberals vow to try to bring down the minority Conservative government.    Continues...

As America gazes at its bellybutton, the rest of the world continues to live:

In Japan, the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) may topple the Liberal Democratic Party's (LDP) nearly 50 years of rule in the August 30th general election.

North and South Korea agree to hold talks about reuniting families, further signaling a thaw in the region.

Canada wrestles with whether to do its own version of cash for clunkers.

Iran resumes trials of those who opposed the past elections. Meanwhile, the current President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad faces a fight in parliament over his choices for cabinet positions.

Got any other bits of non-US political news? Add them in the comments.

Afghans head to the polls this week for Presidential elections. Though President Hamid Karzai is expected to win, he may be facing a run off, leading to several possibilities, from a runoff to violence.

Self-styled 'America's Mayor' Rudy Guiliani remains coy about running for NY Governor next year.

Remembering Iran's Protests on the 4th of July.

After months of debate, fanfare and tensions; candidate approval (and rejection) by the Guardian Council, former Prime Minister Mir-Hossein Mousavi faces off against the current President, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, as Iranians will finally cast their vote for President.    Continues...

Despite a large warchest and frequent visits from President Clinton, Terry McAuliffe was trounced yesterday in Virginia's Democratic primary by Creigh Deeds. This sets the stage for a rematch of sorts between Deeds and now Governor Bob McDonnell (R) in the fall. The two had originally faced off in 2005 for the Attorney General spot, with McDonnell winning by a razor slim 360 votes.

With a worsening economy around the world and in Canada, why has Conservative party there managed to hold onto power? Perhaps it's as simple as Canadians not being as worried about recessions.

Experience with past recessions has taught people that, in fact, unemployment doesn't rise much over 10 per cent, and so they are more right than wrong to conclude that it may not strike their household.

New York Congressman John McHugh (R) has been selected to be Secretary of the Army, setting off a scramble for replacements in the Armed Services Committee and New York's 23rd Congressional District. Thought it voted for Obama in 2008, the district has been traditionally been Republican, but in recent years that gap has narrowed and Democrats believe they have a chance to pick it up.

Urban, middle class voters in Iran are making use of cellphones and the internet encourage others to vote against current President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and his policies. The government is starting to get bit rattled, especially since many urban voters boycotted the 2005 election, allowing Ahmadinejad's rural base to put him in office.

How rattled is the current government? They shut off access to Facebook on May 23, only to relent 3 days later after complaints from some candidates.

Lebanon will be holding parliamentary elections on June 7, and Hezbollah, called a terrorist organization by the U.S., but seen as a resistance movement among many Arabs and Muslims, is in a tight race to officially lead the country. U.S. Vice-President Joe Biden and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton have visited the country recently, to help the pro West coalition and blunt Iran and its ties to Hezbollah from increasing their influence in the region.

A look at Mahmound Ahamdinejad, President of Iraq in the context of the changed administration in America and the upcoming Iranian elections in June. Or just read Ahamdinejad's blog.

Alaskan Republicans want newly elected Senator Mark Begich to resign, and then a special election held for the Senatorial seat lost by the formerly indicted, now unconvicted Ted Stevens. Governor Sarah Palin agrees, you betcha.

There's a special election going on in New York's 20th Congressional District and the parties are watching it closely to see what it says about the Obama administration. Currently, Democrat Scotty Murphy is in the lead against Republican Jim Tedisco, but just barely, so the race could go either way.

Minnesota Senator citizen Norm Coleman has an idea on how to solve the state's troubled Senatorial race:

Republican Norm Coleman and his attorneys have suggested the state consider re-doing the Nov. 4 election because of fundamental flaws in the way the ballots have been counted.

Coleman challenged the Jan. 5 recount results, which gave Democrat Al Franken a 225-vote lead out of 2.9 million cast. The ensuing trial, called an “election contest,” is now in its sixth week.

Other Minnesotans remained divided on the issue.

Iraq is voting today, amidst large amounts of peace:

Instead of purple fingers, the indelible image for the election this year may well be the tens of thousands of candidates' posters glued to the blast walls throughout the country - in 2005, it was too dangerous for most candidates to reveal their faces. The walls, 12 feet, or 4 meters, high, were built to contain damage caused by car bombs and other explosive devices, and have now become the primary campaign forum for the raw, young Iraqi democracy

After proroguing Parliament to avoid a vote of non-confidence, PM Harper will release Canada's budget today at four. Iggy promises to 'sleep on it' before deciding to vote for or against, or abstain. (Previously.)

The February elections in Israel and the end of the current Palestinian president's term in January are escalating the current conflict.

Meanwhile, back in Canada, the Conservative government seems about to fall, over their proposed response to the economic crisis. The Liberals and NDP look like they have a deal to form a coalition government, with the support of the separatist Bloc Quebecois. With the Liberal leader already having announced his resignation after the election, no-one knows who would actually be Prime Minister, though. (Details, triffling details...)

Christianity Today's blog has a U.S. map that shows the percentage of evangelicals in each state, and percentage breakdowns of how those evangelicals voted. (Lower 48 shown in map, AK and HI shown in text.)

The Gist of the ACORN Story. A good explanation of why Republicans are accusing ACORN of voter fraud and trying to tie Obama to them.

Media Bias: Going beyond Fair and Balanced

Swaziland today chooses members of the its national assembly, the Tinkhundla, despite growing discontent in one of the world's last absolute monarchies.

Wall Street melts down, putting the issue of the economy front and center for both the US and Canadian elections.    Continues...

Meanwhile in Zimbabwe, opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai has agreed to share power with President Mugbae.

LIVEBLOG: Presidential Forum on National Service.

The writ has been dropped. Canada's election is on.

Palin business partner requests emergency motion to have divorce records sealed. The story isn't clear yet, but Daily Kos is questioning if it relates to Trig Palin's paternity.

Obama: The Price of Being Black. "We can see how being a farmer or a bond trader or a gun collector might influence your vote. And we understand why black Americans would want a person of their race in the Oval Office. But just what is there about being white that might incline someone toward one candidate instead of another?"

Putin Asserts Link Between U.S. Election and Georgia War

ABC confirms: McCain Taps Alaska Governor Palin as Vice Presidential Running Mate

The Code Of The West: What Barack Obama can learn from Bill Ritter. "There’s a reason that the Party chose Denver as the host city for this year’s Convention: they expect that it will only help the Democratic Presidential nominee to win the state this fall."

The Madwoman in the Blogosphere: The disturbing rise of the "Hillary Harridan."

Obama’s made his VP choice, but he isn't telling...yet. Will it be one of the top candidates?

"McCain unsure how many houses he owns"

Paul Krugman recommends the Urban Institute-Brookings Tax Policy Center's non-partisan analysis of the McCain and Obama tax plans. "Their new executive summary of the candidates’ tax plans, from which this chart is taken, tells you more, in 6 pages, than you’ll get from a hundred hours of talking heads — mine included."