If you could paint Columbia last night, here is what you would see. Somebody should because I'm not sure we'll see the same thing again.

The picture would  start in Harlem. Scores of Columbia students marched to Adam Clayton Powell Boulevard to watch Obama finish his acceptance speech on a jumbotron. According to one student, "there were Harlem people, there were Columbia people, we were all as one." Another, "it was like the Harlem residents were embracing us." And another, there were "lots of CU students there in harmony." Some people cracked the joke that it was the one night that Columbia students wanted to go into Harlem. There may be some unfortunate truth behind the joke, and if there is, then this part of the scene is evidence of what the election means in front of our eyes. We don't need platitudes. Columbia chose to cap the night beyond its borders in territory that many usually leave off of their radars. This was no small portion of Columbia, not an exceptional group of Harlem sympathizers, but a "ton of CU sweatshirts." Packs of friends returned along 125th and cheered their way up Columbus Ave. In a picture, you might see blurry walls along Morningside Park and a wide open Amsterdam gate.

Tonight Barack Obama bought 30 minutes of airtime on CBS, NBC, and Fox and showed a long infomercial - American Stories, American Solutions - billed as his campaign's "closing argument." Putting your face in front of the country for that long might seem like a great idea, but it's also a ton of pressure. If it's bad, it's 30 minutes of bad on 3 national networks. So how did Obama do? What was the video all about? One surprise: No McCain - the ad didn't mention him once. Here's the video and a review is after the jump.

Last week in the Columbia Spectator, Lauren Salz wrote an editorial entitled "Palin Haters Anonymous". It included the following: This past Sunday, Senator Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) came to speak at Columbia. One female student stood up and said, "As an educated woman, I know many of us were offended by the pick of Sarah Palin. So a two-part question—first part, what are your thoughts on Sarah Palin? Go wild. Second part, I'm really unsure why it became bad in politics to be smart and well-educated, especially at elite institutions such as Harvard or Yale or Columbia."

Well I am the questioner Lauren refers to. And Lauren, your rants against my elitism are not that far off base—I am an intellectual snob. So here we go…
1.    Sarah Palin did not know what the Bush Doctrine was—fine if you're an average citizen, not ok when you are a heartbeat away from the presidency
2.    Sarah Palin is unsure if global warming is man-made—expedient thoughts if you are a polluting industrialist, probably not the best belief set when your ignorance raises the rate of hurricanes, tsunamis, and more.
3.    Sarah Palin cannot name any Supreme Court case she disagrees with besides Roe v. Wade—disappointing if you are a voter, appalling if you will have a role in choosing future Supreme Court Justices.
4.    Sarah Palin seems to think all government spending is the core of economic problems—fine if you're the Libertarian candidate for President, not the best stance to take when Wall St. is imploding as I type this.
5.    Sarah Palin took five years and several universities to graduate with a degree in sports journalism—great if you want to be Bob Costas, not the best credentials if you're vying to be the leader of the free world.