Hillary Clinton is quite likeable and a really good speaker and she obviously has very committed people work her; but blogdamn, what the hell is thinking when they take up seats so they can look like there are cheerleaders in the crowd, in a room where there is only standing room. NO! It just looks bad.

THAT SAID, I really, really like listening to Hillary Clinton speak. Eons ago, when I used to work as a translator, I had to translate transcript of her speeches and interviews with friends and family members. She is listenable. She definitely knows how to turn on the charm; YET just comes out as extremely measured. After the "town hall" meeting, a couple of "on the fencers" gave her a B.

Here's some notes of the whole thing. More introspection coming later.

A guy from SanFran has just asked HRC if she will repel DOMA, the DRMCA, NAFTA and welfare reform. The room cheered. less than 5 seconds ago from web.

In Re DOMA : Marriage should be left to the states.

In Re DMCA : You have to ask Al Gore.

In Re NAFTA : we need to see what has happened and compare it to what was expected and promised.

In Re Welfare Reform : The positives far outweigh the negatives.

On Alberto Gonzales
"I think it would be a breath of fresh air if we had an attorney general who believed in the rule of law."

No Child Left Behind
We have to admit it became an unfunded mandate. It was unfair. There was a real breach of the real bargain that we thought we were going into.

The department of education has been incompetent in enacting the mandate.

I have been working in education reform since 1983 ... I am passionate about accountability.

We have to keep track of accountability but for each child not just for the system. "We should have an electronic education record that aggregates a child's education history".

We have to move towards national standards of testing.

We have kids who learn different, not everybody sits down and takes notes. We have to go back to a diverse broad curriculum.

"The best thing to close the achivement gap between African American and white children is to focus on pre-kindergarten".

We need to focus on high school as well. More mentoring programs.