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The Colleague is: John McCain?

John Mc Cain attended private school and graduated from Annapolis is 1958 with a Bachelor’s degree. He ranked 894 in a class of 899 almost flunking out before graduation. That bit of information should not bother teachers, especially in public education; these professionals love a challenge with a low achiever.

What should bother teaching professionals is that because McCain’s children attended parochial schools, he is a strong advocate of school “Choice” i.e. school vouchers. According to his chief education advisor, Lisa Graham Keegan, McCain believes that parents should not limit themselves to school districts or even their own pocketbooks when it comes to their children’s education. McCain believes that all Americans have a right to taxpayer-subsidized religious education.

On October 14, 2008, a Florida judge ruled that the state's Constitution barred students from using taxpayer money for private school tuition. Yet McCain is willing to reinstate the recently proclaimed unconstitutional voucher tug of war to prove his point..

McCain also believe’s that President Bush’s controversial No Child Left Behind Act has, according to a quote in education.com by domestic policy advisor, Holtz-Eakin, “focused our attention on the realities of how students perform against a common standard. “ Holtz-Eakin and Keegan have provided no information, thus far, as to how McCain’s policy differs in any fundamental way from President Bush.

Barack Obama attended primarily a parochial and a prep school before college. Obama is a graduate of Columbia University and Harvard Law School, where his high academic record enabled him to serve as president of the Harvard Law Review, He also taught at the University of Chicago Law School from 1992 to 2004.

Although the Obamas talk about strengthening public schools, Michelle and Barack send their two daughters to private schools. Public media sources indicate, however, that Obama opposes school vouchers, reasoning that such “independent scholarships” take taxpayer money away from public schools. He believes in increased funding and reforming of No Child Left Behind, and he is an advocate of increased teacher pay( albeit through the unpopular “merit” program). He promotes public pre-school programs, and grants for educational innovation.

American Teachers

In July, Obama was endorsed by The National Education Association (NEA). In October 2008, American Teacher, a publication of The American Federation of Teachers, endorsed Barack Obama. Randi Weingarten, the AFT president, said of the endorsement, “Barack Obama has walked the walk with people we represent his entire adult life.”

Neither candidate’s views dovetail exactly with the perfect educational presidential candidate. Educator’s, however, should have no difficulty choosing “the best answer” when they mark their polls on November 4, 2008.

Not only McCain but much of the conservative intellectual elite warn of an impending turn to European-style socialism at home and appeasement abroad, especially if Democrats seize a monopoly in Washington.

Historians call the fears exaggerated, a reflection of the country's 30-year rightward shift. On many issues, Obama is to the right of Nixon, the Republican who proposed a guaranteed income for all Americans, supported affirmative action, imposed wage and price controls, and established much of today's environmental regulation.

"A conservative in 1968 was far more liberal than a liberal is in 2008," said Schulman.

An Obama victory offers two potential paths: a major political realignment, following Roosevelt in 1932 and Reagan in 1980. This would require that he rack up successes in his first two years, a honeymoon when presidential power is at its peak.

If he does, and realignment is under way, he could avoid the catastrophic losses that Clinton suffered after his 1993 health care plan crashed under a Democratic Congress, replaced in 1994 by a Republican one.

Another model is 1964, with a big Democratic win followed by a collapse four years later, or 1976, when Democrat Jimmy Carter ran a flawless campaign but proved a weak leader unable to control his party or rally the public.

"You could have a scenario where Obama is under a lot of pressure from his left and yet can't do big economic things because of the difficult situation we're in, where he can't disengage from Iraq and Afghanistan as quickly as the base would like," Fiorina said. Obama could then come under attack from his left, face congressional losses in 2010 and by 2012 a challenge from his own party, perhaps Hillary Rodham Clinton.

When did the Democrats smarten up? When did they learn how to outdo the Republicans at their own game?

The answer is that they didn’t. They decided — or rather Obama decided — to play another game, one we haven’t seen for a while, and it’s a question as to whether we’ve ever seen it. The name of this game is straightforward campaigning, or rather straightforward non-campaigning.

We saw it in the 10 days when the activity around the mounting economic crisis was at its height. Henry Paulson alternated between scaring members of Congress and scaring the public. Nancy Pelosi alternated between playing the responsible Congressional statesperson and playing the partisan attack dog. Media commentators went from one hysterical prediction to another. John McCain went from saying there’s nothing to worry about to saying there’s everything to worry about to saying that he would fix everything by suspending his campaign to saying that he was not suspending his campaign and that he would debate after all.

And Barack Obama? He didn’t do much and he said less (O.K., he did say some reassuring, optimistic things), and his poll numbers went up.

Weeks later, the pattern continues, but in an even more intense form. The McCain campaign huffs and puffs and jumps from charge to charge: Obama consorts with terrorists; he’s a socialist; he’s a communist; he is un-American; he’s not one of us; he’s a celebrity; he’s going to take your money and give it to people who never did a day’s work; he’s going to sell out Israel; he’ll cozy up to foreign dictators; he’s measuring the drapes.

In response, Obama explains his tax policy for the umpteenth time, points out that capitalists like Warren Buffet support him, details his relationship with Bill Ayers, lists those he consults with, observes that Senator McCain, by his own boast, voted with President George W. Bush 90 percent of the time, and calls for change.

What he (or his campaign) doesn’t do is bring up the Keating Five, or make veiled references to McCain’s treatment of his first wife, or make fun of Sarah Palin (she doesn’t need any help), or disparage his opponent’s experience, or hint at the disabilities of age. He just stands there looking languid (George Will called him the Fred Astaire of politics), always smiling and never raising his voice.

Meanwhile, McCain’s surrogates get red in the face on TV when they try to explain away the latest jaw-dropping thing Sarah Palin has said, or proclaim that anything can happen in seven days, or respond to ever more discouraging poll numbers by saying (how’s this for a weak cliché) that the only poll that counts is the poll on election day. (I know things are bad when my wife, a staunch Democrat, feels sorry for them.)

Yet the endorsement of Mr. McCain by a Qaeda-affiliated Web site isn’t a surprise to security specialists. Richard Clarke, the former White House counterterrorism director, and Joseph Nye, the former chairman of the National Intelligence Council, have both suggested that Al Qaeda prefers Mr. McCain and might even try to use terror attacks in the coming days to tip the election to him.

“From their perspective, a continuation of Bush policies is best for recruiting,” said Professor Nye, adding that Mr. McCain is far more likely to continue those policies.

An American president who keeps troops in Iraq indefinitely, fulminates about Islamic terrorism, inclines toward military solutions and antagonizes other nations is an excellent recruiting tool. In contrast, an African-American president with a Muslim grandfather and a penchant for building bridges rather than blowing them up would give Al Qaeda recruiters fits.

There always have been a glimmer of hope that someday, someone would "race through the gate" full steam in Goldwater style. Unfortunately, this hasn't happened, and the Republican brand has been tarnished in a shameless effort to gain votes and appeal to the lowest emotion, fear. Nothing about McCain, except for maybe a uniform, compares to the same ideology of what Goldwater stood for as a politician. The McCain/Palin plan is to appear diverse and inclusive, using women and minorities to push an agenda that makes us all financially vulnerable, fearful, and less safe.

When you see the candidate's in political ads, you can't help but be reminded of the 1964 presidential campaign of Johnson/Goldwater, the 'origin of spin', that twists the truth and obscures what really matters. Nothing about the Republican ticket offers the hope America needs to regain it's standing in the world, that's why we're going to support Barack Obama. I think that Obama has shown his ability and integrity.

After the last eight years, there's a lot of clean up do. Roll up your sleeves, Senators Obama and Biden, and we Goldwaters will roll ours up with you.

A Pittsburgh police commander told KDKA Investigator Marty Griffin that Ashley Todd confessed to making up the story & is facing charges

Police say there are inconsistencies in the story of a McCain campaign staffer who told them she was mugged in Bloomfield on Wednesday night by a man who etched a "B" on her cheek when he saw a McCain sticker on her car.

Ashley Todd, 20, of College Station, Texas, spent five hours with robbery detectives last night at police headquarters, where she took a polygraph test. She told police that a man robbed her as she tried to take money from an ATM machine at Pearl Street and Liberty Avenue around 9 p.m. Wednesday.

Ms. Todd told police she then began walking to her car, which had McCain stickers on it. She told police that although the robber had moved away from her, he became agitated when he saw her car, punched her in the back of the head, pushed her to the ground and carved the letter into her face. Yesterday, she said the man sexually assaulted her, a detail that police said she didn't mention in the initial report.

Police today said that security camera footage from the Citizens Bank doesn't show the incident, but it could have happened outside the camera's range. Police also said they have found no witnesses to the attack.

The excuses for McCain’s great unraveling are flying fast and furious, and most of them lead back to Steve Schmidt and Rick Davis, his tone-deaf campaign managers, because of their obsession with tactics over substance, notably Schmidt’s snap selection of Sarah Palin as a running mate without even a cursory examination of who she was.

If McCain has been in the thrall of his handlers, then he is even more befuddled than I have feared. If that is false, then McCain is even less prepared for that 3 a.m. phone call than I have feared.

Pick one. Nah, go ahead and pick both, kind of like McCain having more than one position on so many issues.

Yes, it’s that bad.

Few advisers in John McCain's inner circle inspire more loyalty from him than campaign manager Rick Davis. McCain and his wife, Cindy, credit the shrewd, and sometimes volatile, Republican insider with rescuing the campaign last year when it was out of money and on the verge of collapse. As a result, McCain has always defended him—even when faced with tough questions about the foreign lobbying clients of Davis's high-powered consulting firm. "Rick is a friend, and I trust him," McCain told NEWSWEEK last year.

Last week, though, McCain's trust in Davis was tested again amid disclosures that Freddie Mac, the troubled mortgage giant that was recently placed under federal conservatorship, paid his campaign manager's firm $15,000 a month between 2006 and August 2008.