Sources inside the Obama transition team today told news outlets that Obama was nominating Dr. Steven Chu, winner of the 1997 Nobel Prize in Physics, as energy secretary. Chu is the second Asian American to be nominated by Obama this week, after Gen. Eric Shinseki was nominated to Secretary of Veteran Affairs on Sunday.

Reading the CNN article, it seems like some are a little miffed that Chu isn’t a politician — I think that Chu is exactly the kind of person we need advocating in favour of energy reform, precisely because he’s not a politician. Just like I think Obama’s expertise in constitutional law will help him make difficult decisions while president that might affect civil liberties, I think Chu’s area of expertise in the science of energy and energy reform will ensure that he considers the information we should be considering as a country as we move towards better nationwide energy consumption. No one should be advocating based on political favours inside and outside Washington; the job of the Energy Secretary should be to consider the hard science behind improving our energy sources.

And y’know what? Having another Asian American face in the upper echelons of Obama’s administration doesn’t piss me off either.

I just wanted to jot down a quick word about this week (and next week). I’ve been super-busy collecting data over the past month or so, all culminating to this week. I was accepted to give my first seminar at a conference of my scientific peers this Saturday in San Francisco, and will be presenting a good chunk of my research to the big names in my field.

Not to mention, I’ve got two grants due before the end of January! Yikes!

I’m really excited and even more nervous about it all, particularly my chance to prove myself and my work to the folks whose papers I’ve been reading for the last few years! Wish me luck and hopefully there will be some San Francisco-blogging happening, too!

I think Barack Obama is going to have one of the most diverse administrations of any president in history. Obama announced earlier this week that he was nominating acclaimed Army official, and Vietnam War veteran, retired Gen. Eric Shinseki as Secretary of Veteran Affairs.

Shinseki is from Hawaii, and he is the first Asian American to become the Army chief of staff. His testimony to the Senate Armed Services Committee in 2003 regarding troop levels in the Iraq War won him no friends with the Bush administration but solidified his willingness to advocate on behalf of soldiers, even against Washington leadership if necessary.

I am particularly excited about Obama’s choice of Shinseki, not only because this ensure an Asian American face amongst Obama’s advisors, but because Shinseki’s prominence is based on his being an Asian American patriot. He is a direct contrast to the stereotype of Asian Americans as foreign, untrustworthy, and un-American.

Moreover, veterans need a strong advocate like Shinseki. For eight years, veterans (and their families) have suffered from shrinking benefits and inadequate healthcare. Whether pro-war or anti-war, we should all agree that veterans deserve the best benefits in exchange for their service; there is absolutely no excuse for veterans of any war to not have access to basic benefits like healthcare and a college-level eduation. I hope Shinseki can correct the languishing Veterans Affairs department

Found this postcard on Postsecret this morning.

Wait… how is this person not racist?

I love me some Postsecret, but electroman and I have both noticed that periodically (and more frequently, of late) there is one postcard every week that is blatantly racist or offensive. Finding racist Postsecret postcards is an unabashed reminder of the racism internalized into so many people: these postcards vocalize secret, racist fears and hatred of racial and ethnic minorities without consequence (because, by definition, the authors of these postcards are secret).

So, you end up with Postsecret mailers who get to share unchallenged racism and the only people who feel the sting of the xenophobia are the very targets of the racism. Why should I have to turn on Postsecret and be reminded that some people find my very race scary? And why should the author of this Postsecret card be able to make me feel so dehumanized and not be directly challenged on his or her racism?

My Postsecret postcard will read: “I am extremely terrified of stupid, racist people. But I’m not elitist.”

Now that McCain has officially lost (and lost badly), we’re beginning to see the culmination of the “Blame Palin” post-Election Day strategy. Many conservatives, including those within the McCain camp, are bending over backwards to blame the loss on Sarah Palin, calling her a “diva” and other sexism-charged terms.

Now, don’t get me wrong: Sarah Palin is a moron. And she really didn’t have the modesty to avoid many of the mistakes she made. Fox News reported yesterday that McCain camp insiders are telling media that Palin refused preparation for the disastrous Couric interview, and during debate prep confessed to believing that Africa was a country, not a continent. Palin didn’t know what NAFTA was, and truly believed that the questions being asked of her were unfair.

So while much of the criticism of Palin has been blatantly sexist, it’s also clear that Palin’s gender aside, she was the textbook example of an “unqualified”, anti-intellectual candidate.

What does it say, then, about Republican feminism that Sarah Palin is the first Republican woman to be nominated to lead the Right to the White House? Some have argued that Palin represented (at least in some respects) modern feminism, but how feminist is it to tout a clearly unqualified, lip-service candidate merely for the sake of her gender?

I think Sarah Palin is a clear indication that Republican feminism leaves much to be desired. Sarah Palin is not a feminist simply because she is a woman, despite her protests to the contrary; Sarah Palin is not a powerful woman, she is a woman with undeserved power. And Republican feminism simply needs to evolve beyond parading a series of beautiful, but ultimately brainless, women who do more to cater to  preconceptions of the men as smarter, more qualified, and more adept than they symbolize the uplift and competency of women.

I do agree that feminism is, in some ways, limited by the predominance of liberal precepts amongst feminist ranks: feminism sometimes seems to suffer from the lack of bipartisan dialogue amongst feminist scholars, to help nuance and evolve feminist ideas. But there’s simply no way that feminism can be more inclusive of conservative Republicans so long as conservative Republicans continue to think that women like Sarah Palin represents the aspirations or ideals of modern-day feminists.

So, I’ve been swamped with RL work, and have sort of left my election commentary waning, but I figure I should at least make an effort today, with the big election day upon us. Escalating tensions between the Obama and McCain camps guarantee that today will be a historic and important day for this country, regardless of who wins.

As I briefly wrote earlier this morning, I believe Obama will emerge victorious tonight. McCain must win all the swing states in order to have a shot at 270, but Obama has many paths to 270 electoral votes that don’t depend on winning all or even most of the toss-up states. Moreover, the last few days of his campaign have seen Obama not in the swing states but in traditionally red states, indicating his campaign’s confidence not only that he will be competitive in swing states, but that he can actually make a sizeable dent into McCain’s base.

Virginia is the most likely to swing into Obama’s column of the swing states, and with its 13 electoral votes, should put Obama over the top when coupled with at least one of the other smaller swing states. Popular Democrat Mark Warner was recently declared the winner of his Senate race, strongly suggesting that Virginia — which has been red for decades — will finally go blue with a definitive win for Obama. Of the other toss-ups, Pennsylvania was highly-contested with McCain practically putting all his eggs in that basket, yet conservative blog Drudge Report claims that exit polls in Pennsylvania have Obama up by 15.

Since, I think Virginia, Pennsylvania and Florida are the deciding states amongst the toss-ups this year, and all of these are on the East Coast, I also think that as the night progresses, we will know almost right away if tonight will be a good night for Obama.

As the night progresses, I’ll update this blog with some reactions.

This Morning: So, I was watching CNN as I got ready this morning, and I saw Palin’s post-voting interview. What a disaster! When asked who she voted for, Palin said, “I am also exercising my right to privacy and I don’t have to tell anybody who I vote for, nobody does, and that’s really cool about America also…” Perhaps Palin is secretly an Obamaniac?

5:39pm CNN has already projected Obama to win Vermont and McCain to win Kentucky. No surprises there, but exactly how can a winner be called in Kentucky when polls are still open?

5:50pm Alrighty, that’s a little worrisome. McCain is leading by 3 in Indiana and by about 7 in Virginia with less than 30% of precincts reporting in. Still a toss-up, but that definitely suggests that things are tighter in both these states than I originally anticipated. Perhaps I was wrong about Virginia…

6:00pm South Carolina has been called for McCain. Surprised? No, neither am I. Conneticut, Delaware, and District of Columbia have been called for Obama. Surprised? No, neither am I.

6:08pm Wow. Obama is kicking major ass in the popular vote, ahead by over 5 points. If this trend continues, than I think that Obama has to declare victory — mainly because this country would implode if one candidate wins the popular vote by over 5% and the other candidate somehow still ekes out a 270 majority in electoral votes. Even if McCain won, if Obama dominates in the popular vote than McCain would have a hard time claiming anything even remotely resembling a “mandate”.

7:54pm Holy shit! A girl goes to dinner and comes back to find out this shit is O-V-E-R. Obama has been projected to win both Ohio and Pennsylvania, two of the states that McCain absolutely needed to reach 270 electoral votes. Obama also took New Mexico which, along with Ohio, were two of the red states that Obama flipped blue this year.

It’s a frickin’ blowout!!!

Also, is anyone else excited that Lizzie Dole was defeated in North Carolina? I really thought that “godless” commercial was gonna work for Dole. Guess this year’s electorate isn’t going to have that kind of Playboy mansion “Call Me” bullshit.

8:07pm Yeah, so I know today is going to be Obama’s big day (yes, I am calling Obama the winner today) but the biggest surprise?

CNN has a frickin’ holographic reporter. Star Wars anyone?

Today is election day and folks all over the country are lining up to vote for either John McCain or Barack Obama. Today will be historic because either the first Black president or the first female vice president will be elected today.

Personally, while I don’t want to be cocky, I think Obama will win today, because McCain simply doesn’t have a reasonable pathway to 270 electoral votes available to him. However, there’s always room for an upset, and if Obama doesn’t win today, it will be the biggest example of the Bradley Effect yet.

So, if you haven’t voted yet, go vote!!!

Hat-tip to Keith

My friend and former Arizona State Representative candidate Ephraim Cruz recently travelled to Pennsylvania, a critical swing state, to help canvass for Barack Obama. He sent me back this picture of a sign he found in Erie, Pennsylvania.

The Racism Fairy seems to be having a field day with this presidential election. Hat-tip to elle, phd for these images of racist anti-Obama signs. In her comments section, elle thinks that these images were taken in Ville Plate, Louisiana.

Head on over to elle, phd for more appalling anti-Obama yard signs.

Rep. Robin Hayes, a Republican Congressman from North Carolina facing a close race this November, was quoted as saying to a group of McCain supporters that “liberals hate real Americans that work and achieve and believe in God“ (emphasis added).

Hayes apologized after the event, saying that his implication that liberals are unpatriotic was unintentional.

But why hasn’t Hayes apologized for the other implication of his statement — that real Americans “believe in God”? I guess the more than 15% of Americans – who are either atheistic, agnostic or ascribe to faiths like Hinduism, Buddhism, Islam, or Taoism – aren’t part of Hayes’ real America.

Perhaps Hayes thinks we’re of terrorist descent, too.

This past Sunday, former Secretary of State Colin Powell broke with the GOP ranks to endorse Senator Barack Obama for president. Citing in part McCain’s negative campaigning as part of his decision, Powell said of Obama:

Sen. Obama has demonstrated the kind of calm, patient, intellectual, steady approach to problem-solving that I think we need in this country.

As political analysts posted wave upon wave of comments on this latest development in the ‘08 presidential election, Politico posted an email from Rush Limbaugh saying that Powell’s endorsement had nothing to do with Obama’s qualities as a candidate and everything to do with race.

“Secretary Powell says his endorsement is not about race,” Limbaugh wrote in an e-mail. “OK, fine. I am now researching his past endorsements to see if I can find all the inexperienced, very liberal, white candidates he has endorsed. I’ll let you know what I come up with.”

How racist of Limbaugh to see a Black man showing support for another Black man and to automatically assume it’s all about skin colour. Forget that Powell spoke at length about Obama’s qualifications as president: Limbaugh can’t fathom that Obama could be endorsed for any reason other than race.

This morning, Limbaugh defended his comment, saying that because Democrats are remarking on Obama’s race as reason for his candidacy’s historic nature, that Limbaugh is in the clear.

“I thought it should be about race,” he said. “I thought you liberals thought this was a historic candidacy because finally we are going to elect a black guy…why hide behind this, why act like it’s not about race?”

“This was all about Powell and race, nothing about the nation and its welfare,” Limbaugh added. The talk radio host also criticized members of the media for not addressing his claim that Powell likely hasn’t endorsed white candidates who, according to Limbaugh, have similar political leanings and experience as Obama.

It’s ironic that Limbaugh is making this argument; just last Thursday, I got into a discussion/heated exchange with some local Democrats over Obama and race. They were making the argument that Obama should be praised for not making an issue of the race and racism he has experienced on the campaign trail — like Jackie Robinson, the first African-American player to play for the then all-White Major Leagues, Obama was to be credited for not “turning it into a race issue”.

I find here a consistent perspective from some White Democrats to misconstrue why this election is all about race. Rather, like Limbaugh, many seem to equate discussions of race this year with accusations of racism; an uncomfortable, touchy subject that they would rather avoid. Limbaugh mocks Obama’s candidacy (comparing it to affirmative action) while leftists tout Obama’s “post-racial” candidacy — but in both cases, there is a determined effort to avoid a real discussion about race and what it means.

To say Powell’s decision has nothing to do with race is to argue that somehow we can wash away the effects of race from Obama’s candidacy. Of course, colour doesn’t wash off; similarly, it would be ludicrous to say that Powell’s endorsement had nothing to do with race, and liberals who would deny race’s impact in Obama’s candidacy would rather pretend Obama really is campaigning in the meritocratous America of their fantasy. But Limbaugh takes the other extreme, assuming that Obama is nothing more than the colour of his skin –  a two-dimensional cardboard-cutout Black man.

Why is there such resistance to seeing people of colour as both “people” and “of colour”. From both sides of the aisle, we see pressure to simplify racial minorities into either racist or post-racial caricatures, but at no time are we allowed to be three-dimensional, complicated people who have a race.

I don’t think we should celebrate Obama as a post-racial candidate; that is no better than arguing that Obama has nothing to offer but his melanin — we are defining for a bi-racial, African American man whom he should be based on what we are comfortable with about him. And, for the record, I wish Obama were able to discuss more freely the racism and lynch mob-esque furor at McCain/Palin rallies, so intent is he on getting elected that he is missing the opportunity to initiate real, three-dimensional race dialogue in this country.

Not to say he shouldn’t try to win, but I think one of the tragedies of racism in America is that you can’t be a person of colour and do both.

In last night’s debate, after moderator Bob Schieffer asked both candidates whether they would be willing to say to one another’s faces the negative attacks they’ve said on the campaign trail, McCain denounced the negativity of this election cycle and flat-out blamed it on Obama for not agreeing to a series of town-halls with McCain (which, of course, would only benefit McCain since this is both his strongest medium and would pull Obama from his stadium-filled rallies, so McCain can hardly call that request anything but political).

McCain further played the victim, citing a statement made by former Civil Rights activist Congressman John Lewis who committed the unthinkable when he used McCain and Palin’s names in a paragraph just above the one where he talked about segregationist George Wallace, and the racism and scary lynch-mob mentality of Jim Crowe. Of course, McCain conveniently overlooks the fact that Lewis (like so many race activists) have been concerned with supporters of McCain using blatantly racist attacks and threats of physical violence against Obama, egged on by a young governor out of Alaska who says Obama “pals around with terrorists” and then feigns deafness when she hears supporters cry out to “kill him” and other obscenities at her rallies.

But McCain tried to take the high road, saying:

… I think the tone of this campaign could have been very different. And the fact is, it’s gotten pretty tough, and I regret some of the negative aspects of both campaigns. But the fact is that it has taken many turns which I think are unacceptable.

… the point is that I have repudiated every time someone has been out of line, whether they’ve been part of my campaign or not. And I will continue to do that. But the — but the fact is that we need to absolutely not stand for the kind of things that have been going on. I haven’t.

Oh, really, Senator McCain? Why do I find you so disingenuous?

Well, less than 24 hours after Obama/McCain III, hundreds of thousands of live- and robo-calls were placed in several key battleground states that mislead voters into thinking Obama practically masterminded the Weather Underground, himself. These calls, paid for jointly by McCain/Palin ‘08 and the RNC, actually even overstate the crimes of the Weather Underground, suggesting that they were a terrorist group that had committed mass murder — when in fact, the Weather Underground was a fringe group of students who specifically sought to cause property damage during the radical 60’s to draw attention to issues of injustice and inequality.

Here’s the script of the call:

“Hello. I’m calling for John McCain and the RNC (Republican National Committee) because you need to know that Barack Obama has worked closely with domestic terrorist Bill Ayers, whose organization bombed the U.S. Capitol, the Pentagon, a judge’s home and killed Americans. And Democrats will enact an extreme leftist agenda if they take control of Washington. Barack Obama and his Democratic allies lack the judgment to lead our country. This call was paid for by McCain-Palin 2008 and the Republican National Committee at 202-863-8500.” 

The only deaths caused by a Weather Underground bomb were three Weather Underground members whose bomb prematurely detonated. Not like bombing people’s houses is a good thing, but we’re not exactly talking about 9/11 here.

But McCain knows this kind of hyperbole will work: some Americans still confuse the name “Obama” with “Osama”, call the good Senator from Illinois a “half-breed Muslin(sic)”, barely bat an eye when McCain draws a distinction between “Arab” and “decent people”, and tell us to “Vote Right, Vote White”.

Somehow, I fail to see how McCain can think for one second that Americans are going to be duped into believing he is not the source of this election cycle’s negativity. If he feels the candidates “need to absolutely not stand for the kind of things that have been going on”, than why is he paying presumably thousands of dollars in order to air this kind of slanderous, spurius drivel?

McCain called Obama a liar last night. Well, who’s lying now?

Welcome to my live-blogging of the final debate beetween Obama and McCain, aka AyersWatch as we all hold our breaths for McCain to “take it” to Obama and bring up William Ayers. Sorry I’m a little late starting up: traffic was hell.

Moderator Bob Schieffer starts with the economy — no surprise there. Both candidates are asked why their economic plans are better. McCain — who is proposing $52 billion dollars in tax cuts to buy up subprime mortgages — said he was happy to be in front of Obama again. Yet, McCain didn’t even look at Obama when he said that!

Obama’s economic plan calls for $60 billion dollars in middle class tax cuts. McCain charges that Obama’s plan will raise taxes on a guy Obama met dubbed ”Joe the plumber”, and paints himself as a protector of this guy’s income. Yet CNN’s approval ticker shows that this tactic pretty much doesn’t work at all.

Obama sets the record straight, saying that anyone making under $250,000 will not see any raises in their taxes — in fact they will receive tax breaks. McCain tries again, saying that Obama is going to take “Joe the plumber”’s wealth and spread it around; McCain wants to spread “Joe the plumber”’s wealth to “Joe the plumber”.

Obama repeats himself yet again that middle class Americans will not see a tax increase, but folks making over $250,000 will have their taxes raised. And if “Joe the plumber” in fact is “Joe the guy who owns a big plumbing business”, then yes, he will be taxed more.

Ooooh, except that Obama said, “I don’t mind paying more taxes” — no good, Obama, don’t get flustered. Get back out there!

Shit, McCain actually put Obama on the ropes in terms of economic plans. No good, no good.

6:19pm Okay, my connection is a little wonky, but I was watching the exchange between Obama and McCain regarding the fact that both their plans will increase the deficit. I’m sorry, but McCain is winning on Obama’s issue — is this too little too late? I don’t know, but I do know that Obama is getting his ass whupped.

6:21pm “I am not President Bush. If you wanted to run against President Bush, you should have run four years ago” — John McCain. Frankly, McCain should have brought this line to the debate last time. But the obvious counterargument is that McCain has supported Bush Administration initiatives over 90% of the time.

6:22pm Obama lists three things that he has voted against his party — three things, incidentally, that I disagree with Obama on. Which I think proves that either Obama isn’t as progressive as he’s being made out to be… or I’m a commie.

6:23pm Okay, now I’m glad to hear that Obama challenges McCain on his argument that Obama would raise taxes on people making $42,000 a year — every FactChecker on the planet has shown that this is a misleading — if not outright false — charge that McCain and Palin have been making on the campaign trail.

6:25pm Obama needs to stop going on the defensive. Seriously. And he’s getting pissed off, too. Don’t lose your cool, Obama.

6:26pm The moderator asks about the negativity of the campaign. McCain starts off by saying the reason that it was so negative is because Obama decided not to do townhall style meetings. Then — gosh — McCain actually plays the “White victim” card and actually has the gall to demand an apology from Obama, when McCain supporters are the ones calling Obama a freakin’ terrorist because of his “blood-lines” and “his name”.

McCain hasn’t repudiated his supporters who put up racist signs like these (hat-tip: MonkeyKing):

6:29pm THANK YOU! Obama points out how ridiculous is to say that because Obama and McCain never came to an agreement on townhall meetings, it’s okay to run so many negative ads. McCain is not a victim here; Obama is the one being called a “terrorist” at McCain/Palin rallies. McCain has not repudiated those supporters.

6:30pm McCain claims that Obama has misrepresented his platform in ads, but McCain has been the one who has repeatedly misrepresented Obama’s platform, in debates.

6:32pm Obama finally deals with the Lewis press release, and brings it back to the issues. And that is the better strategy: McCain is starting to look from indignant to petulent.

6:33pm McCain is “proud” of the people who comes to his rallies: wait, what????? McCain somehow says that Obama is equating veterans with those folks who are yelling “kill him”.

And the problem is that McCain’s running-mate is the one who is whipping the McCain/Palin mob into a racist frenzy. McCain has been oblivious until only very recently, and now he is trying to talk from a high horse. It is galling to me that McCain thinks this will work.

Obama looks far more presidential trying to take it back to the issues.

Ooooops! and at 6:36pm, William Ayers is finally mentioned, if not by name. Who won the pool?

6:38pm Uhm… while Obama discusses Ayers and ACORN… why does McCain look so smug? It’s kind of a creepy smile.

6:40pm That’s hardly believable: McCain and Palin have made Ayers the central point of this week. It’s not believable that McCain is trying to make this about the issues: 100% of McCain’s ads are negative because McCain’s only line of attack is a character attack; in comparison to Obama’s attack ads which are issue-based negative ads against McCain. I think it’s a small but highly significant distinction. Incidentally, CNN FactCheck points out that “nearly 100%” — not 100% — of McCain’s ads are negative. And, now you know.

6:42pm Did anyone else crack up when Schieffer asked why each candidate’s running-mate would be better as president than the other guy’s running-mate and then they turned to Obama?

6:45pm YES! Obama points out that McCain’s spending freeze would eliminate research that would help special needs children, so what good is having a VP who has a special needs child if the administration would slash science spending to help kids like Palin’s?

6:50pm Highly effective argument from Obama as to why we can’t “drill our way out of the problem” of oil.

6:54pm Aaaagh! I really can’t get over how creepy McCain’s smug smile is when he’s not talking. I can’t find a screen-cap of it off CNN’s live video, but it’s so creepy and distracting.

6:55pm Random attack from McCain — Obama doesn’t want free trade but he will “sit down without preconditions” with Hugo Chavez. Now who’s using negative attacks and misleading summaries of his opponent’s platform.

And is anyone else noticing how McCain starts attacking Obama and the moderator immediately cuts discussion — basically not giving Obama a chance to respond.

6:58pm As Obama summarizes his healthcare plan (which is highly popular according to CNN’s approval ticker), take a gander at Obama’s healthcare plan for Asian Americans.

7:00pm Who. The. Fuck. Is. Joe. The. Plumber? And why aren’t you guys talking to me? Is Joe’s vote the only vote that matters? Are we all trapped in a Kevin Costner flick here?

7:03pm Obama pulls out ahead with his explanation as to why his healthcare plan is good and why McCain’s healthcare plan does not work. McCain is wildly misrepresenting Obama’s healthcare plan even when it was just explained in clear terms. McCain is either getting flustered or he actually doesn’t know what Obama’s plan is. His attack here doesn’t even make sense — he doesn’t even address Obama’s argument that under McCain’s plan, people with the $5,000 healthcare tax will lose it all again because McCain will actually tax healthcare benefits. McCain is going from pittbull to addled.

7:09pm What? McCain first says that he wouldn’t use a litmus test to decide his Supreme Court nomination (regarding the nominee’s support of Roe v. Wade) … but then turns around and says that he doesn’t believe that a candidate who supports Roe v. Wade would be qualified to be a Supreme Court judge. Isn’t that operating under a litmus test, Senator McCain?

7:19pm We’ve achieved equal access in schools? Teachers should be allowed to skip teacher certification? Excuse me, Senator McCain — have you lost your frickin’ mind?

7:25pm School vouchers. Here’s the problem with putting all your eggs in the voucher program: allowing parents to jump ship from the public school system only leaves the public education system to languish because you de-fund public schools. It doesn’t fix public education, and paves the way to a nationwide charter school system, essentially privatizing education. Obama, incidentally, has been pro-charter school and pro-vouchers for awhile, although lately, electroman tells me he has been backpedalling because it’s fundamentally not a Democratic position.

Bottom line: you can’t allow parents to bail on public education, you need to fix public education to make it parents’ best choice for education for their kids. Otherwise, you make public education a joke that is only affordable for poor families who can’t afford to take their kids to charter schools and still work full-time jobs. Charter schools and private schools are not held to the same standards as public education, so while some charter schools can be music-based or science-based and be excellent, some are for-profit schools where administrators cut corners in the academics. It’s just not a workable system, and vouchers have been a Republican ploy to privatize education for years; which only leaves us with a system where the rich kids learn more and have better educations than poor kids.

7:31pm Hmmm… a strangely lacklustre and anti-climatic closing remarks from Obama. Clearly McCain was told he has to shake Obama’s head this time.

So, from the first fifteen minutes, I probably would have thought that McCain won, but I actually think Obama pulled it around and pulled out a win in the end. While McCain was strong, I don’t think he brought Obama to the mat after the first fifteen minutes (or, I guess, more appropriately, Obama fell to one knee but got a second wind). For McCain, it was probably too little too late to turn McCain’s poll numbers around, although I’m guessing McCain might experience a bit of a bump after this debate.

I think Obama was very presidential, and McCain — who knew this was last best chance to attack — may have crossed the line from attack to just plain angry. Never a good look; I’m guessing that it probably won’t work for independents.

CNN reports on Kevin Kim, a talk radio host whose audience are primarily South Korean. Great to see Asian Americans getting involved — although it is a little frustrating to see yet another report on Asian Americans that only goes as far as the local Chinatown or Koreatown to find Asian American faces!

(Incidentally, does the report not make the restaurant owner supporting Palin seem like he’s only voting for Palin for… well… aesthetic reasons? Creeeeepy…)