Breaking the 'Be Nice' Rule in the Energy Family

Novoselic has replaced former congressman John B. Anderson (R-Ill.) as chairman of FairVote, a group that advocates ways to encourage voting. Anderson comes from a different realm entirely; he was an independent candidate for president in 1980.

The transition is not as strange as it seems. In 2004, Novoselic did a national tour with FairVote to promote his book "Of Grunge & Government: Let's Fix This Broken Democracy!" In the book, Novoselic discusses how Nirvana emerged as the biggest band of the early 1990s and how he became involved in politics.

On second thought, it does seem pretty strange. In addition to chairing FairVote, Novoselic now plays with a punk band called Flipper.

Taking Credit

Sen. Carl M. Levin (D-Mich.) contacted his supporters the other day to complain about shady practices by firms that issue credit cards.

"Abusive practices by credit card companies are widespread, well-entrenched and unlikely to end without a legislative ban," he wrote in an e-mail. He then touted a bill he introduced, the "Stop Unfair Practices in Credit Cards Act."

At the bottom of the note, he included a place to click in order to donate to his campaign. And the way people are asked to contribute?

By credit card, of course.

A spokeswoman for Levin said that "like most Americans, Senator Levin appreciates the convenience of charging purchases to credit cards. What he objects to are the abusive practices used by some credit card companies at the expense of consumers."

Gambling on Democracy

The Poker Players Alliance is about to make a big bet on the upcoming elections. The two-year-old lobby, which has nearly 250,000 paid members, is forming a political action committee, PokerPAC.

It is also initiating a voter registration drive. Its "If You Play, Have a Say" campaign will feature voter registration efforts in battleground states as well as during the 2008 World Series of Poker, which will begin next month in Las Vegas.

And that's no bluff.

Homemaker Update

A few weeks ago, I wrote about Todd Goldup, a candidate for the House from New York who wanted to pay himself a salary out of campaign funds even though he hasn't been earning any money otherwise. Goldup had no income last year because he's a stay-at-home father to his two young children.