Non sports news

In case you are tired of reading about Kenny the Cheater Rogers, here's some goods news. There are exactly two weeks til the election day that could change the country.

South Dakota is the first test of a certain "wedge" issue. I've made my stance on this issue perfectly clear.

No idea what Mitch McConnell's on but he still thinks the GOP can win.

Yet another article on politicians and facebook.

Sen. Evan Bayh, D-Ind., is not on the ballot, but his Facebook page is held up as a model of how to do it right.

Everyone who joins Bayh’s Facebook profile gets a welcoming e-mail, and members who have included their birthdates in their own profiles get a birthday message from Bayh.

“It allows you to begin a conversation with college students in an environment they’re already comfortable with,” said Dan Pfeiffer, spokesman for Bayh’s political action committee.

Because Facebook and other social networking sites are organized so that contacts are to the politician, not from the politician, Pfeiffer said, there’s no sense of being hounded.

The people who use Facebook expect to have a relationship with candidates the way they do with other friends in their networks, said Lauren Miller, a strategist with Blue State Digital, which advises clients on Internet strategies.

“I don’t think kids think candidates are on the page,” Miller said, “but they like to think that Ted Kennedy or Ted Strickland or Barack Obama is really their friend.”

People younger than 25 vote at much lower rates than other age groups, and no one has found a way to change that. But Pfeiffer said the Internet is opening doors to politicians.

“We’re beginning to see real-world, tangible benefits,” he said.

Young people have turned up at events they learned about through Bayh’s Facebook profile and other online avenues, Pfeiffer said.

“It’s not a lot of people right now,” he said, but Facebook and the other sites “have potential.”

In some news from the Yarmuth campaign that broke last night, we learned that John will indeed introduce the former President.

With control of Congress about to shift into the hands of the Democrats, the party's big names are pulling out all the stops in the hottest races from coast to coast. So when the biggest name of them all, President Bill Clinton, speaks in Louisville on Tuesday, he will be introduced by Louisville's great hope for change: John Yarmuth!

Comedian Seth Meyers is an alumnus of Northwestern. Oh, really?

"I wake up every morning, call Brian Williams, and we talk for three hours," Seth Meyers jokes about his gig as the new Weekend Update anchor alongside Amy Poehler on "Saturday Night Live."

The 32-year-old Northwestern alum with the trenchant wit now sits in the chair formerly occupied by fellow Chicago performer Tina Fey, and he's hoping to make it his own.

"I will say my life has shifted from ESPN to CNN," he says, "so I sort of feel like I have to call ESPN and explain my recent behavior." Plus, "It's amazing how if you watch an hour of CNN, you hear every news story five times. You catch up pretty fast."

As for me, if I watch any "news" other than sports, it's on MSNBC or NBC. That said, if my TV is on during the day, it's on ESPN. I usually never miss PTI or Around the Horn unless I have class or work.

Another Mike Weaver press conference is online.

Senator Bayh is in town this week. Due to class and financial reasons, I will be unable to attend.

As the 4th District congressional race between Democrat Ken Lucas and incumbent Republican Geoff Davis heats up, Lucas is getting some high-profile help this week.

Sen. Evan Bayh, a potential 2008 Democratic presidential contender from Indiana, will be the special guest at Lucas' fund-raiser Wednesday at the Fort Mitchell Country Club.

The event will be from 12:30 to 2 p.m. Tickets are $100, or $250 for special seating near Bayh.