By Michael Barone, Thomas Jefferson Street blog

In August 2003, I wrote my first baroneblog post for usnews.com. Today, about 700 blogposts later, I'm writing my last one. Next week, I'm moving to the Washington Examiner, where I'll be writing columns and blogs. It's a great opportunity, and I'm looking forward to it. But I'm also sad to be leaving U.S. News, where I've worked for 18 of the last 20 years, and I will miss many colleagues who have been good friends as well as fellow laborers in the vineyard of journalism. So it's time to say goodbye, and thanks, especially to Brian Kelly and Margi Mannix, Rob Schlesinger and Morgan Felchner, to the former colleagues too numerous to name with whom I've worked over the last 20 years, to the IT staff, and all those whose work has made this blog and all my writings for U.S. News possible. And thanks as well to you, my readers, for your kind comments and intelligent criticisms and even your vehement disagreements, for your corrections and your compliments, and for your attention.

By Michael Barone, Thomas Jefferson Street blog

Last week I wrote a blogpost on cap-and-trade, pointing out that many Democratic senators had a political motive to oppose such a measure: Their states get most of their electricity from coal, and so cap-and-trade would raise their constituents' utility rates disproportionately to other states. This week the Senate voted on whether to include cap-and-trade in the budget resolution and, guess what 26 Democrats voted against doing so. You read it here first.

By Michael Barone, Thomas Jefferson Street blog

The Quinnipiac poll, whose home base is Quinnipiac College in Hamden, Conn., has a Connecticut poll out showing Democratic Sen. Christopher Dodd's job approval at 33 percent positive to 58 percent negative. In pairings against three Republicans mentioned as 2010 opponents, he trails Rob Simmons 34-50 percent, Sam Caligiuri 37-41 percent, Tom Foley 35-43 percent. He is, as Connecticut-based Ironman put it, Dodd Man Walking. These are, to put it mildly, dreadful numbers for a politician in his 29th year as U.S. senator and 35th year as member of Congress.

By Michael Barone, Thomas Jefferson Street blog

Attorney General Eric Holder has dropped the charges against Ted Stevens. Here are statements from Holder and from Steven's lawyer, Brendan Sullivan of Williams & Connolly. Clearly there has been prosecutorial misconduct of a major order. Career Justice Department lawyers, going wild in their self-righteousness; at least that's what it looks like.

By Michael Barone, Thomas Jefferson Street blog

What's going to happen when the absentee and military ballots are counted in the New York 20th district, where Democrat Scott Murphy currently has a lead of 25 votes out of 154,409 cast on election day. Still to be counted are absentee and military votes. How are they likely to go?

First, let's start with a measuring stick, the party registration in New York 20 for the November 8, 2008, election. By my count, the party registration for the district is 41 percent Republican, 26 percent Democratic and 33 percent other or "blank."

By Michael Barone, Thomas Jefferson Street blog

Well, it looks like we don't have a final result in the special election held in the New York 20th congressional district yesterday. Democrat Scott Murphy leads Republican Jim Tedisco by 25 votes, with absentee and military votes still left to count. They could conceivably change the result, but not necessarily: Democrats have done a good job in many places on absentee votes.

This is not particularly good news for either party.

By Michael Barone, Thomas Jefferson Street blog

Last week, Mickey Kaus exposed some postings on JournoList, the by-invitation-only website for certain young left-wing political writers. I'm glad I haven't gotten an invitation. Many of these writers produce thoughtful and intelligent pieces in print and in online venues available to the general public. But the pieces Kaus presents are childish and boorish. These guys would make better use of their time writing for everyone rather than trying to bully and badmouth each other into taking a party line on issues, which seems to be JournoList's purpose. Not all new ideas are good ones.