This week we’ve received hundreds of pictures from around the country of "Sotomayor" posters in interesting locations. We’ll be posting a bunch later today, but given Judge Sotomayor’s love of the Yankees (and the fact that she effectively ended the 1995 baseball strike by issuing an injunction against major league baseball owners), we couldn’t resist sharing these two to start:

Sotomayor, bringing people together: Fenway Park + Yankee Stadium

update: [jonah]
Here are more photos from around the country:

update 2: [jonah]
Share your photos with us! You can print out fliers and upload photos of them around your community.

“Nominating a justice to the Supreme Court of the United States is one of a President’s most serious responsibilities. Today, President Obama announced an outstanding nominee in Sonia Sotomayor. Her experience in the American judicial system, coupled with her inspiring life story and fierce intellect, make her uniquely qualified to serve on the nation’s highest court.

“Sonia Sotomayor was born and raised in a public housing project in the South Bronx. Her parents moved to New York from Puerto Rico during World War II. Sotomayor’s mother instilled in her a belief in the power of a good education and driven by that belief, Sotomayor graduated with the highest honors from Princeton University and Yale Law School.

“Sotomayor has worked at nearly every level of the American judicial system for the past three decades: as a district attorney prosecuting violent crimes, as a corporate litigator working on complex commercial cases, as a federal district judge, and most recently, as a judge on the Second Circuit Court of Appeals. She has been lauded as a fearless jurist, with a sharp and independent mind and a deep commitment to the rule of law and our constitutional traditions.

“In every way imaginable, Sonia Sotomayor has lived the American dream. She will be the Court’s first Latina, its third woman, and the only Justice on the current court with experience as a trial judge. I commend President Obama on his choice and congratulate Judge Sotomayor on her nomination."

President Obama recorded a video about his announcement - check it out here.

You can also watch a slideshow of photos of Judge Sotomayor and her family from throughout her life on the White House blog.

"Scott Murphy's long-awaited victory is proof positive that Americans, even in this heavily Republican district, support the President and want him to succeed and the result is a repudiation of the failed policies of the past touted by Republicans," said Kaine. "Republicans decided to make this race a referendum on President Obama's leadership of the economy and his jobs and economic recovery plan - and given the result we are thankful that they did. Scott Murphy embraced President Obama's approach to the economy and his message of change while his opponent embraced the politics of division and the failed economic policies that got our country into the mess we find ourselves in today. While the Republican Party and its candidates appear to have learned nothing from recent elections and the nation's obvious desire for change, I commend the voters in New York 20 for supporting Scott and giving the President another strong ally for change as the Obama Administration moves forward with its plans to reform healthcare, invest in clean energy and improve education.”

Update: As Chris Hass points out on the Organizing For America blog that thousands of the President's supporters made phone calls and walked door to door in the closing weeks of the election. Shortly after Jim Tedisco conceded President Obama released the following statement.

I want to extend my heartfelt congratulations to Congressman-elect Scott Murphy for his victory in New York's 20th Congressional District. With this hard fought win, Scott has shown he is willing to fight the tough battles on behalf of the people in his district.

As a candidate, Scott courageously championed the economic plans we need to lift our nation and put it on a better path, and he will continue to do so in Congress. With his proven record of creating high paying jobs and standing up for Upstate New York, Scott will bring to the nation’s capitol the change New Yorkers need.

You can use the comments below to congratulate Scott Murphy, and wish him good luck as the newest member of Congress . . .

Despite Tedisco's efforts to crown himself the winner election officials continue to actually count ballots. The same problem persists for Tedisco. Scott Murphy's lead keeps growing.

Friday, 10AM
Scott Murphy (D): 79,722
Jim Tedisco (R): 79,458
Difference: 264

Sen. Gillibrand's vote has also officially been counted. And via a blogger on DailyKos this is one of the best wrap ups of where we are at;

7141 total ballots, 127 void (or "set-aside"), 1652 challenged, 2554 for Murphy and 2265 for Tedisco, 543 left to count (126 in Dutchess, and 417 in Warren). We are about 92% done phase one and then will have about 1790 challenged ballots to start examining to either void them or count them. We also have about 51 "set-aside" ballots left in one or more counties (other than Columbia) that could be counted today if all the people required to do it can get together and agree to do it.

• Saratoga County has completed their count which has netted Republican candidate Tedisco 168 votes. Saratoga is Tedisco's base and he was expected to make major gains here
• Washington County has finally reported their full results which have netted Democratic candidate Scott Murphy 81 votes
• Columbia, Warren and Dutchess Counties have not completed their counts yet and Murphy carried all of these counties in the returns on election night
• And via the DCCC; "A Dutchess county judge ruled this afternoon that most of the 1,200 challenged absentee ballots were cast legally, and will need to be included in the count. Since Tedisco's campaign has objected to a majority of these ballots, Murphy is expected to further increase his lead as they are counted."
• One of those ballots Tedisco is challenging is from Sen. Gillibrand, no joke

So here is where we stand at the moment;
Murphy (D): 79,105
Tedisco (R): 79,019

update: (jonah): As of 11AM Murphy now leads by 167

update: (jonah): As of 4PM Murphy now leads by 178

You can sign up to volunteer here.

I'm writing to you now because you have the opportunity to make a big impact on my efforts to bring about a lasting economic recovery.

Today I'm announcing my support for Scott Murphy, candidate for New York's 20th Congressional District.

On Tuesday, March 31st -- just one week away -- voters will have the chance to send Scott to Congress, where we'll work together to get our economy moving in the right direction.

Volunteer this week and help in the final push to send Scott Murphy to Congress.

Scott has the kind of experience and background we desperately need right now in Washington.

He's created jobs by building and growing small businesses while bringing people together to address difficult challenges. He supports the economic recovery plan we've put in place, and I know we can count on him as an ally for change.

To restore our economy and build a foundation for lasting prosperity, I'll need Scott's help. This week, Scott needs yours.

Sign up and pitch in to elect Scott Murphy to Congress.

What you do now can make all the difference as we work in the coming weeks and months to lead our country in a new direction.

Thank you,

President Barack Obama

You can learn more about Scott Murphy and next Tuesday's special election at the DCCC and The Albany Project.

Watch here.

Republicans are fast becoming an endangered species in New York’s Congressional delegation.

Democrats are aiming for a Yankee grand slam next week, hoping to pick up four more Republican seats to turn the delegation a deep-blue 27-2.

“When I first came to Congress there were 13 Republicans” in the delegation, said Rep. Tom Reynolds (R-N.Y.), who is retiring after a decade in the House and whose seat is in danger of falling into Democratic hands. “There are now six and coming out we’re likely somewhere between two to four.”

A blue tide has been washing over the state for the past two election cycles. In 2006, Democrats took back the governorship for the first time in 12 years and are now threatening to take the state Senate next week for the first time in 46 years — and that chamber’s flipping could have huge implications down the line for redistricting.

“The Republican Party has totally fallen apart and there’s a lack of leadership on a statewide level,” said a New York Republican consultant.

John McCain loves New York for its campaign cash, but New Yorkers? Maybe not so much.

During an NBC interview, his running mate, Sarah Palin, was asked to define the "elitists" the GOP ticket scorns, and said, "Anyone who thinks that they're better than someone else."

McCain chimed in: "I know where a lot of 'em live ... in our nation's capital and New York City."

Americans are tired of the same old divisions and while John McCain might say one thing on the campaign trail about "unity" and "coming together as a nation," he offers more of the same divisive politics of the last eight years.

President Bill Clinton received an extended, thunderous applause from the crowd and gave the assembled delegates plenty to cheer about. Senators John Kerry, Evan Bayh and former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle also delivered speeches tonight.

Find those speeches and more here.

Tomorrow, we head to Invesco Field at Mile High Stadium for Senator Barack Obama's acceptance speech of the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination.

What a year we Democrats have had. The primary began with an all-star line up and came down to two remarkable Americans locked in a hard fought contest to the very end. The campaign generated so much heat it increased global warming.

In the end, my candidate didn’t win. But I’m very proud of the campaign she ran: she never quit on the people she stood up for, on the changes she pushed for, on the future she wants for all our children. And I’m grateful for the chance Chelsea and I had to tell Americans about the person we know and love.

I’m not so grateful for the chance to speak in the wake of her magnificent address last night. But I’ll do my best.

Hillary told us in no uncertain terms that she’ll do everything she can to elect Barack Obama.

That makes two of us.

Actually that makes 18 million of us – because, like Hillary, I want all of you who supported her to vote for Barack Obama in November.

Here’s why.

Our nation is in trouble on two fronts: The American Dream is under siege at home, and America’s leadership in the world has been weakened.

Middle class and low-income Americans are hurting, with incomes declining; job losses, poverty and inequality rising; mortgage foreclosures and credit card debt increasing; health care coverage disappearing; and a big spike in the cost of food, utilities, and gasoline.

Our position in the world has been weakened by too much unilateralism and too little cooperation; a perilous dependence on imported oil; a refusal to lead on global warming; a growing indebtedness and a dependence on foreign lenders; a severely burdened military; a backsliding on global non-proliferation and arms control agreements; and a failure to consistently use the power of diplomacy, from the Middle East to Africa to Latin America to Central and Eastern Europe.

Clearly, the job of the next President is to rebuild the American Dream and restore America’s standing in the world.

Everything I learned in my eight years as President and in the work I’ve done since, in America and across the globe, has convinced me that Barack Obama is the man for this job.

He has a remarkable ability to inspire people, to raise our hopes and rally us to high purpose. He has the intelligence and curiosity every successful President needs. His policies on the economy, taxes, health care and energy are far superior to the Republican alternatives. He has shown a clear grasp of our foreign policy and national security challenges, and a firm commitment to repair our badly strained military. His family heritage and life experiences have given him a unique capacity to lead our increasingly diverse nation and to restore our leadership in an ever more interdependent world. The long, hard primary tested and strengthened him. And in his first presidential decision, the selection of a running mate, he hit it out of the park.

With Joe Biden’s experience and wisdom, supporting Barack Obama’s proven understanding, insight, and good instincts, America will have the national security leadership we need.

Barack Obama is ready to lead America and restore American leadership in the world. Ready to preserve, protect, and defend the Constitution of the United States. Barack Obama is ready to be President of the United States.

He will work for an America with more partners and fewer adversaries. He will rebuild our frayed alliances and revitalize the international institutions which help to share the costs of the world’s problems and to leverage our power and influence. He will put us back in the forefront of the world’s fight to reduce nuclear, chemical, and biological weapons and to stop global warming. He will continue and enhance our nation’s global leadership in an area in which I am deeply involved, the fight against AIDS, TB and malaria, including a renewal of the battle against HIV/AIDS here at home. He will choose diplomacy first and military force as a last resort. But in a world troubled by terror; by trafficking in weapons, drugs and people; by human rights abuses; by other threats to our security, our interests, and our values, when he cannot convert adversaries into partners, he will stand up to them.

Barack Obama also will not allow the world’s problems to obscure its opportunities. Everywhere, in rich and poor countries alike, hardworking people need good jobs; secure, affordable healthcare, food, and energy; quality education for their children; and economically beneficial ways to fight global warming. These challenges cry out for American ideas and American innovation. When Barack Obama unleashes them, America will save lives, win new allies, open new markets, and create new jobs for our people.

Most important, Barack Obama knows that America cannot be strong abroad unless we are strong at home. People the world over have always been more impressed by the power of our example than by the example of our power.

Look at the example the Republicans have set: American workers have given us consistently rising productivity. They’ve worked harder and produced more. What did they get in return? Declining wages, less than ¼ as many new jobs as in the previous eight years, smaller health care and pension benefits, rising poverty and the biggest increase in income inequality since the 1920s. American families by the millions are struggling with soaring health care costs and declining coverage. I will never forget the parents of children with autism and other severe conditions who told me on the campaign trail that they couldn’t afford health care and couldn’t qualify their kids for Medicaid unless they quit work or got a divorce. Are these the family values the Republicans are so proud of? What about the military families pushed to the breaking point by unprecedented multiple deployments? What about the assault on science and the defense of torture? What about the war on unions and the unlimited favors for the well connected? What about Katrina and cronyism?

America can do better than that. And Barack Obama will.

But first we have to elect him.

The choice is clear. The Republicans will nominate a good man who served our country heroically and suffered terribly in Vietnam. He loves our country every bit as much as we all do. As a Senator, he has shown his independence on several issues. But on the two great questions of this election, how to rebuild the American Dream and how to restore America’s leadership in the world, he still embraces the extreme philosophy which has defined his party for more than 25 years, a philosophy we never had a real chance to see in action until 2001, when the Republicans finally gained control of both the White House and Congress. Then we saw what would happen to America if the policies they had talked about for decades were implemented.

They took us from record surpluses to an exploding national debt; from over 22 million new jobs down to 5 million; from an increase in working family incomes of $7,500 to a decline of more than $2,000; from almost 8 million Americans moving out of poverty to more than 5 and a half million falling into poverty – and millions more losing their health insurance.

Now, in spite of all the evidence, their candidate is promising more of the same: More tax cuts for the wealthiest Americans that will swell the deficit, increase inequality, and weaken the economy. More band-aids for health care that will enrich insurance companies, impoverish families and increase the number of uninsured. More going it alone in the world, instead of building the shared responsibilities and shared opportunities necessary to advance our security and restore our influence.

They actually want us to reward them for the last eight years by giving them four more. Let’s send them a message that will echo from the Rockies all across America: Thanks, but no thanks. In this case, the third time is not the charm.

My fellow Democrats, sixteen years ago, you gave me the profound honor to lead our party to victory and to lead our nation to a new era of peace and broadly shared prosperity.

Together, we prevailed in a campaign in which the Republicans said I was too young and too inexperienced to be Commander-in-Chief. Sound familiar? It didn’t work in 1992, because we were on the right side of history. And it won’t work in 2008, because Barack Obama is on the right side of history.

His life is a 21st Century incarnation of the American Dream. His achievements are proof of our continuing progress toward the “more perfect union” of our founders’ dreams. The values of freedom and equal opportunity which have given him his historic chance will drive him as president to give all Americans, regardless of race, religion, gender, sexual orientation or disability, their chance to build a decent life, and to show our humanity, as well as our strength, to the world.

We see that humanity, that strength, and our future in Barack and Michelle Obama and their beautiful children. We see them reinforced by the partnership with Joe Biden, his wife Jill, a dedicated teacher, and their family.

Barack Obama will lead us away from division and fear of the last eight years back to unity and hope. If, like me, you still believe America must always be a place called Hope, then join Hillary, Chelsea and me in making Senator Barack Obama the next President of the United States.

Cheri from Nevada writes, “My husband has Parkinson’s and was forced to retire. He has been on disability for three years and Medicare doesn’t meet his prescription needs. I have to pay my own insurance premium so our Medicare expenses are quite high. Our health care system doesn’t work.”

Forty-seven million Americans are uninsured—9 million are children—and that is a national disgrace.

Democrats in Congress passed a bill to ensure that senior citizens can continue seeing the doctors they trust and another bill to provide coverage to millions of uninsured children. John McCain opposed our bill.

Barack Obama’s plan will provide all Americans with better choices and lower prices. John McCain’s health plan is just more of the same—and families like Cheri’s can’t afford more of the same.

That’s why we need Barack Obama as president.

Stephanie wrote from Georgia: “I know what it feels like to miss home with such a great force that it is in your every waking thought and breath. When I got back from Iraq, my husband and I were soon expecting our first child. When I was seven months pregnant, he left for Iraq. Our son will be a year old before he comes home.”

We must end the stress and heartache the war in Iraq has caused our military families. Barack Obama will guarantee our troops equal time at home for length of their deployments. John McCain opposes it.

Barack Obama will responsibly end the war and restore America’s leadership in the world because families like Stephanie’s can’t afford McCain’s plan to stay the course in Iraq.

Tonight, former President Bill Clinton will speak to the convention and Senator Joe Biden (D-Delaware) will accept the Democratic nomination for vice president.

Other speakers include Governor Bill Richardson (D-New Mexico), Senators Evan Bayh (D-Indiana) and John Kerry (D-Massachusetts). Check the full schedule here.