“All your base are belong to us.” The old dawn-of-the Web refrain has been echoing in my head ever since I first heard John McCain talking about how Sarah Palin had excited “the base.” If John McCain had a base and Sarah Palin had excited it, could Democrats hope to claim it on election day? As recently as a month ago, I seriously wondered if it could really happen. Back then, it seemed inconceivable that Nevada—much less any of the other “tossup” states—could turn blue. I read a newspaper editorial that floated the notion. Impossible, I thought at the time. ... (more...)

I’ve never thought of myself as a “Joe” before, but it’s clear from tonight’s presidential debate that our two contenders think every last vote-casting one of us should respond to the nickname. McCain came out with a hard-packed Joe in both barrels, and Obama couldn’t resist hurling a hastily-scooped-up Joe or two back. So where does that leave me, who’s neither a Joe nor a person who considers the governor of Alaska a role model? Thinking about school vouchers, mostly. While I’m definitely interested in topics like health care that doesn’t result in personal bankruptcy and ineffective government intervention into major economic disaster, I actually have some knowledge about the notion of school vouchers. Yes, although I don’t ... (more...)