Ugh. More political commentary. I'll try to curtail this new obsession with the 2008 Presidential and Vice-Presidential candidates' portrayal by the media, but I feel a real lack of objective information vs. analysis and commentary.

I took a few minutes to compile a summary of the candidates' academic records. For the record, I have a B.S. Ecology, Behavior and Evolution from the University of California, San Diego 1992-1996. I don't actually remember my GPA (seemed so important back then...) but I'm pretty sure it was around 3.3 or thereabouts. I was a B+ / A- student for the most part.

Also, for the record, I don't think that academic performance is necessarily a great indicator of future potential as a leader, businessperson, or anything else. I *do* think that a willingness and/or ability to perform well in an academic setting is a pretty solid indicator of a person's drive or innate ability. I also believe that there is some merit to the notion that people who attend prestigious institutions of higher learning have accomplished something good and important. Something that is not necessarily within the ability of everyone to accomplish. That is: getting into and graduating from a top-tier school means that some combination of intelligence, hard work, family connections, and perseverance have come together in sufficient quantities that the person who has graduated from said school is someone of value.

OK. Enough commentary, on to some facts culled primarily from Wikipedia (so take it with a grain of salt) and a handful of other blogs/news sites/postings on the web (so use an entire salt lick).

Candidate	Undergraduate	Graduate	Comment
Barrack Obama	Occidental College (two years) then B.A. Political Science at Columbia University 1981-1983	J.D. Magna Cum Laude, Harvard Law 1988-1991, President Harvard Law Review	lackluster early academics, very strong later academics
John McCain	U.S. Naval Academy, Annapolis 1954-1958. (ranked 894 of 899)	Naval War College	16 Naval Awards & Commendations including a Silver Star(3rd highest military decoration)
Joe Biden	B.A. History & Political Science University of Delaware, Newark 1961-1965 (ranked 506 of 688)	J.D. Syracuse University College of Law 1965-1968 (76th of 85)
Sarah Palin	Hawaii Pacific College 1982, North Idaho Community College (2 semesters), University of Idaho (2 semesters), Matanuska-Susitna Community College (1 term), B.S. Communications-Journalism, University of Idaho 1987 (six years, 5 schools total)	none	Participated with success in pageants during college years, won a scholarship

In brief: The two candidates for President both attended prestigious institutions of higher learning. The two democrats both hold degrees in Law. The two elder candidates both ranked low amongst their peers. One of the four candidates has a very small portion of the academic distinction of the other three candidates.

Once again I find myself thinking: "Who the hell decided that Palin was fit to run for Vice President?". I'd vote for her as President of my home-owners association any day of the week, even State Governor (ignoring politics, just looking at experience), but for higher office I generally assume that the candidate has a stronger academic background than my own, and Palin simply doesn't cut it.

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