Popular former Virginia Gov. Mark Warner formally announced today that he is running for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Republican Sen. John Warner. The announcement immediately give the Democrats a strong frontrunner in a race that would help solidify a Democratic majority in the U.S. Senate, and makes the possibility of two Democrats representing the Commonwealth of Virginia for the first time since 1970 highly likely. No other serious Democrat is likely to…

>> Larry Flynt has 30 solid leads on potential congressional sex scandals, and was especially shocked to learn something juicy about a yet unnamed senator. [CNN] >> Via Matt Yglesias, the San Diego Union-Tribune reports the latest hilarity in the Duke Cunningham saga: First, he’s snitching to the FBI, so look out, Brent Wilkes. Second, he apparently was miffed that Wilkes got the “younger and cuter” of the prostitutes Wilkes hired for them on…

Well, that was fast. Judging by the comments that are pouring into yesterday’s post, the Dismemberment Plan reunion benefit sold out in less than a minute. All of us here at DCist offer our hearty congratulations to those of you who managed to snag tickets — many of us also offer our undying envy. It’s a little hard to say exactly when the show sold out. Some commenters are reporting success as late as 5:05,…

Ever since the District agreed to build the Washington Nationals a brand-new, $611 million stadium, pretty much everyone in the region who owns a sports team has been demanding a handout of their own — D.C. United has announced plans to build itself a new stadium on Poplar Point in exchange for the development rights of the surrounding land, and even the Washington Redskins have expressed interest in moving back to the city. Now Abe…

I was surprised to see a man as liberal as Matt Yglesias argue that expanding the size of the Metropolitan Police Department from its current 3,800 officers to the proposed 5,100 would effectively help decrease crime in the District. I suppose I rarely expect liberals to be on the side of such dramatic increases in police power, given that militarizing a city or country doesn’t often track well with pacifying it. Last week Matt claimed…

With three blogs, Matthew Yglesias is one of the more prolific progressive political bloggers out there. The 24-year-old writer for The American Prospect, who hails from New York City, has also, since he moved to D.C. a few years ago, been dubbed by just about everybody as either a “rising star” or “up-and-coming pundit.” Yglesias took time to chat with DCist over email about everything from the D.C. blog scene to Gilbert Arenas….

DCist tends to steer clear of national politics — presidential and congressional. We’d rather focus on all things local. But there are of course political bloggers, like V Street-based Matt Yglesias (at right). And there are a lot of them, with many based in the nation’s capital. In an article on ClickZ, we learn of a study conducted by Pew Internet & American Life Project and BuzzMetrics, “compared political blog activity, influence and buzz-generation to…