Gotta disagree with Dov on a couple of things. The night was not as bad as we thought it would be–and while the candidates’ affability was clearly fake, it was also a refreshing break from the utterly meaningless “lipstick on a pig“-gate and the only slightly less meaningless “Obama supported sex education for Kindergartners“-gate. Perhaps the greatest measure of this event’s success was the fact that there was absolutely no mention of it on RPC the next day. It deviated from the narrative of the election–which is a good thing, given the nature of that narrative over the past few days.

Having said that, I think Dov was dead-on in suggesting that the forum didn’t do Obama any favors. My hastily-written coda to last night’s liveblog (which appeared in the print edition of the Spec) described Obama’s performance as “exceptionally strong,” but in retrospect my reaction had more to do with my low expectations for the candidates than it did with Obama’s ability to regurgitate a pretty standard, Clintonite line on the importance of “national service.” Even a brief deviation from politics as usual was enough to make both candidates look dazzling, even though their ever-so-momentary flirtation with civility and idealism hardly registered as a blip on the political radar screen. In fact, things seem to be getting worse.

So yes, event failed. It was exploitative, self-righteous, insincere, and insignificant. I still think Obama won the night, though…

[In the spirit of today's shambolic demonstration of non-partisanship or whatever, Noah Baron offers some non-partisanship of his own, re the sensational Sarah Palin. Wonder what she has to say about "service?" Only no I don't. -Ed.]

One of my close friends is a Republican. This fact, in and of itself, should not be terribly surprising to most — though it might be, considering the fact that I am — and you are too, probably — a Columbia student. In any case, what is important about this is that this friend is also, in the words of Russell Peters, “of the gay”.

Originally, he supported Rudy Giuliani. For a gay man, this, I suppose, is forgivable. Now, of course, he supports John McCain—and rabidly so. When McCain announced that he was going to make Sarah Palin his vice-presidential candidate, my friend was ecstatic, not stricken with grief, as he should have been. Instead, he went on about how the Ice Queen, the ever-so-humble expert on Russia, isn’t actually so bad when it comes to gay rights. “She’s a Grace!” he exclaimed, referencing the TV show “Will and Grace”, unbeknownst to me. “You mean a disgrace?” I asked, annoyed. “I mean,” he said, with his barely-contained lisp, “she has a gay best friend!”

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In case the awesome reportorial powers of the Columbia student journalism corps isn’t satisfying your Obamacain fix (sorry; it’s just really great shorthand), this blog is here to help. And wow does it have everyone else beat: those J-school students unearthed one useful or interesting tidbit after another, the most useful and interesting of which is this guest list of celebrities, dignitaries and Middle Eastern monarchs. In case James Franco didn’t satisfy your inner stalker, today you’ll have the chance to hunt down:

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I was all ready to prognosticate about tomorrow’s “festivities,” but Armin beat me to the punch.  Well, not really.  Armin blasted more than he prognosticated, and in many respects, rightly so.  But I’d like to offer a slightly redirected (and somewhat shorter) critique of tomorrow’s proceedings.

In the ServiceNation organizers’ defense I can say this: they have a mission to garner the most attention possible for their organization and for their cause.  What better way to do that than to invite the two men vying to be President of the United States to speak at THEIR event.  They are probably thinking monosyllabically right now — something in the realm of “WOW,” I would imagine.

The problem is much as Armin explained.  The invitation of two people so deeply rooted in a political battle debases the very moment that we are all meant to honor, cherish, and reflect upon as a community and a country.  It debases that moment because there is no such thing as an apolitical event with politicians — especially politicians running against each other in two months for the nation’s highest office!

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Let’s do a little thought experiment. Forget, for a moment, that Senators McCain and Obama are running for president. There’s still an election going on, but the candidates are abstractions without faces, identities, policies, or what have you. They don’t have poll numbers either–the only premise operating here is that there i s a presidential election going on. Forget that we’re currently mired in an unusually demagogic election season, and that our equally self-aggrandizing candidates are right now arriving at the least-offensive way to turn tomorrow’s 9/11-inspired foruminto another campaign stop. Forget the stink of political exploitation pre-emptively emanating from Roone Arledge–I still think the following scenario says a lot about the state of politics in this country, all of them bad:

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By now, we all know about Clinton’s 3am ad — I have even written about it! — that rhetorically asks, “Who do you want answering that late night phone call?”

My answer? McCain. And for once, I think NBC might agree with me. Check out this spoof of the Clinton ad that makes both Democratic contenders look like idiots:

The New York Times has a great piece today pointing out the inconsistencies between McCain’s ethics policies and his own actions. Among a slew of scandals cited is his bizarrely close relationship–during the 2000 election–with a young female lobbyist who happened to represent some of McCain’s biggest beneficiaries. Sensing there might be more to the relationship than just business or politics, aides separated the two and took steps to distance her from the campaign. Though both parties deny they were involved sexually, I find the whiff of an affair tantalizing–Family values, bah.