Thanks to technology, we're making history, again, tonight here in Idaho.

Beginning at 9:30pm ET tonight, Independent Rex Rammell and I will be having the first debate of the general election campaign for U.S. Senate here in Idaho -- and for the first time in Idaho history, we'll be broadcasting the debate on the internet and taking questions live from folks like you watching it online, right here at DailyKos and across the internet.

Tonight's forum is a new kind of debate that uses the power of technology to put the debate in your hands. So please, join us below the fold to watch the debate and ask your questions in real-time starting at 9:30pm ET!

UPDATE (8:45pm MT): I've now updated the diary with a copy of the video from tonight's debate.  Thanks so much for everyone from DailyKos who tuned in and participated!

Today at 3pm ET/Noon PT, I'll be holding my third live online video town hall, and I want you to join me!

I've already had two live online town hall meetings, and they have been really successful. I've been able to reach out to voters from Idaho and friends like you from across the country and answer their questions -- face to face. I hope you'll stick around and join the conversation!  Just ask your questions in the chat room below.

Update: Thanks to everybody who participated in today's 3rd online town hall meeting!  You can watch video from today's event below.  I look forward to chatting more with you online very soon!

It's great to be back blogging with you all here at DailyKos!

Last week, Markos released the results of a new poll that show us running strong in Idaho's U.S. Senate race.  I blogged here about the new poll numbers last Friday.  But for those of you who haven't seen them, here they are:

Research 2000 for Daily Kos. 7/28-30. Likely voters. MoE 4.5% (No trend lines)

 Risch (R) 42
 LaRocco (D) 32
 Rammell (I) 5
 Undecided 17

There's something happening here in Idaho.  I see it everywhere I travel, including at each of the 32 "Working for Idaho" jobs that I've taken where I'm working shoulder-to-shoulder with working Idaho families, and these numbers are telling the tale.

More over the flip.

Yesterday, Markos released the results of a new poll that show us running strong in Idaho's U.S. Senate race.  Here are the latest numbers:

Research 2000 for Daily Kos. 7/28-30. Likely voters. MoE 4.5% (No trend lines)

  Risch (R) 42
  LaRocco (D) 32
  Rammell (I) 5
  Undecided 17

When I ran into Markos at Netroots Nation last month, I challenged him to poll our race, and I'm so glad that he took me up on that challenge.  Our own internal poll in June showed the gap at 15 points -- so yesterday's poll results certainly show us with the momentum.  What's more, our internal poll showed that once voters get to know about me, get to know about my stands on the issues, and get to know more about my Republican opponent, Jim Risch, poll respondents shift and choose me over Risch.  Clearly, looking at Markos' poll, that's starting to happen.

More over the flip.

Today, at 3pm ET / 12pm PT, I'm holding my second live online video town hall meeting to talk about the race of U.S. Senate in Idaho, and I want you to join me -- right here through my DailyKos diary!

UPDATE:  Thanks to everyone who participated in today's online town hall!  I really enjoyed our discussion.  I've embedded the video from today's town hall below.  Thanks again!

I am very pleased to be back on DailyKos.  Since I was last here I have been fighting to represent the forgotten working families of Idaho.  

I have campaigned non-stop since April 2007.          

My "Working for the Senate" campaign continues to grab Idaho voters and media. Tomorrow will be my 27th job and I will work side by side with members of Local 296 Plumbers and Pipefitters Union in Boise at a dairy processing plant in Jerome.  Next week, I will work with roofers in Boise.

As we head down the home stretch with 119 days remaining a clear path to victory is emerging.  

Today, starting at 12pm MT, I'll be holding a live online town hall meeting -- here at Daily Kos, at my own campaign website, and across the internet.  Today's online town hall is the first of its kind here in Idaho, and I'm really looking forward to it.

UPDATE:  Thanks to everybody who joined us for today's online town hall meeting!  I really enjoyed our dialogue and look forward to doing more of these as the campaign continues -- and continue doing them after I'm in office. 

If you didn't get a chance to join us live, you can watch a recording of today's town hall below the flip.  Thanks again to everyone who participated -- and if you live in Idaho, please remember to vote in Tuesday's primary!

It’s great to be back here at Daily Kos with all of you.  I always enjoy stopping by, sharing my thoughts, and answering your questions.  I’ll be around until about 4:30pm ET / 2:30pm MT today, and I look forward to our dialogue about the U.S. Senate race developments here in Idaho.

Just to get our conversation started today, I wanted to post about something I care about a great deal:  the Bill of Rights.

Our Founding Fathers created the Bill of Rights to protect American citizens from their own government, not to make it easier for the government to spy on its own citizens or torture prisoners.  Sometimes I feel as though politicians say they'll support the Bill of Rights -- until they get in office and become part of that government.  You can see where that's gotten us over the past 7 years.

Can't you just feel it?  I feel it.  On Tuesday red state Idaho quadrupled the attendees of caucus attendees from '04.  21,000 attended.  More were turned away by space limitations or avalanches.

I stood in front of the Ada County caucus venue for 2 hours shaking the hands of people who were not prodded, paid or persuaded to attend.  They were there because they wanted to be there.  It was the largest caucus in the USA.  In Boise, Idaho.  

Something is afoot in Idaho.  Every county, no matter how small or conservative had a caucus.  Every county, no matter the weather conditions or the distance to drive had a caucus.  

Idaho is turning purple.  Idahoans want to take their state, country and government back.  

There is more political activity than anyone has seen in decades and November will seal the deal.  

Larry LaRocco reports on progress in Idaho

It’s time to check in with you on my campaign for the U.S. Senate in Idaho.  It’s been an amazing journey so far in this open seat race.

On April 11th I committed 18 months to this campaign.  On that date I was a "challenger."   Today, I am running unopposed in the Democratic primary in an open seat contest.  And there’s a bloody GOP primary underway.

Eight months ago I began my "Working for Senate" campaign and today I have 12 jobs under my belt working shoulder to shoulder with Idahoans.  There are many more jobs planned before we reach November.

Greetings from Seattle.  I am spending two days with my 3 year old grandson who will be saddled with the $2.4 trillion Iraq War debt.  This fact further strengthens my resolve to change course in Iraq.  I don't have a vote......yet.  But I must represent Idahoans and Americans who want to develop a new path for Iraq, one that leads us quickly out of this war.   I am posting this diary today so you are aware of my position and can discuss it with me.

Most Idahoans agree with me and are shocked by the escalation of the war and the escalating price tag.  You must understand that Idahoans do not rush into international agreements and entanglements.  Independent minded Idahoans are cautious about policies that don't have exit strategies and are open-ended.  This war violates those basic conservative principles and it is why I will win this election in 2008.

I released the following statement this week:

The United States needs a Senator like Frank Church once again to restore the original purpose of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA).

My former boss and mentor, Senator Frank Church, led the Senate investigation of Executive branch abuses of civil liberties back in 1975 - 1976 as Chairman of the Senate Committee on Intelligence.

His oversight was badly needed.

I woke up today and read of the return of Senator Tim Johnson to the public eye.  It was great news.  Tim and I served in the U.S. House of Representatives and he is a great public servant.  I smiled when I saw the picture of him and his talented wife, Barbara, in South Dakota responding to the cheers and accolades from many of his supporters who have prayed and hoped that he would recover and return to public service.  

Tim is up for re-election in ’08 and I was struck by an observer who said it was time for a quiet campaign.

In some ways I, too, have been running a quiet campaign. I call it my “Working for Senate” campaign where I take jobs for one day throughout Idaho. I work shoulder to shoulder with Idahoans who show up every day for their shift and responsibilities to provide for themselves and their families.  

It’s been a few weeks since I first told you about my “Working for Senate” campaign.

All summer, and for the next 15 months, I am taking jobs all over Idaho to work side by side with voters and listen to their concerns about our state and country. Recently,I worked at the main smokejumper base in McCall, Idaho supporting the brave firefighters who are combating wildfires here in Idaho.  Last week I spent an evening as an all-around staffer for the Boise Hawks minor league baseball team, doing everything from selling peanuts to calling an inning of play to donning the Humphrey Hawk mascot suit, all in 100 degree heat. It was worth it because I got to meet many of the 2,600+ fans in attendance, and because the Hawks won!

I am now looking forward to this weekend, when I will join Reps. Paul Hodes and Tim Walz for the "New Leaders" panel Saturday morning at Yearly Kos.

(More after the jump ...)

Today’s campaigns are awash in money, consultants and negative TV ads, and candidates typically spend very little time actually meeting voters. In their book "Crashing the Gate," Kos founder Markos and Jerome Armstrong described a new kind of politics, where people have the power to change the way campaigns are run in our country.

That’s how I believe politics should be, too. I have never approached campaigns in Idaho in a traditional or laid back way.  Idaho voters are independent minded and they will respond to candidates that show an openness to listen and learn. I didn’t win a seat in Congress as an Idaho Democrat by taking the easy road.  I have never run like I was "sitting on a lead."  That’s a certain formula for failure.  

Two weeks ago I launched my "Working for Senate" campaign in Idaho.  And for the next 16 months I will take jobs through Idaho and work side by side with voters and listen to their concerns about our state and country. The fact is, Idahoans are tired of being taken for granted by aloof politicians who have no idea what working families are encountering in their daily lives. I will take no voter for granted.

Greetings. This is my first visit to Daily Kos, and I look forward to spending the next hour with you to exchange some ideas and views. I know how the netroots pitched in for Jon Tester and Jim Webb last year, and I would like to win your support in my race to represent Idaho in the U.S. Senate.

Live blogging is an extension of my earlier campaigns where I have worked with constituents and shaken hands across Idaho.  My style is to meet Idahoans and listen to their concerns where they work, live and play.  In one campaign for Congress, I took 22 different jobs – for one week each - over 8 months. I worked in a nursing home, picked apples, worked on a logging crew, served in a restaurant, and so on.  Last year I shook 22,209 hands in all 44 counties of Idaho in a short amount of time.    

As I sit in my office in Boise, I am reflecting back on the one of the deadliest months of the Iraq War.  We have reached a point in this conflict where President Bush will only change course when his focus groups indicate he can no longer accuse Americans of being "chicken hawks" or his "swift boating" of congressmen won’t stick.