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You know, I'm tired of the media writing the script of this campaign. I saw an interview with Education Sec'y Page a while ago. The interviewer said something like "The president says we've made great strides in education, but some critics say ______________". What a journalistic cop-out.

I wish pubbies would learn to answer that question thusly:

"You know, John, I'm not going to respond to unnamed critics. Let's deal with FACTS: we've increased education spending 40% since the president took office. We've instituted standards by which a parent can compare her child's school within district, county, state and nationally. If a school isn't performing up to standard, we've targeted programs to ensure improvement. It's a program aimed at helping CHILDREN. And some special interests would prefer the emphasis be elsewhere..

As for those "critics", some (like Senator Kennedy) were there when the bill was signed, happy to share the spotlight. But ever since we got down to the hard work of actually improving schools he's done nothing but carp from the political sidelines.

A new virtual blog!

Convention Chairman to provide daily highlights and key campaign messages using innovative Update by Phone technology

WASHINGTON, Aug. 31 /PRNewswire/ -- ElectionMall Technologies and Oddcast, a company that develops and distributes conversational character software products, today announced the launch of the Ed Gillespie VHost(TM) multimedia blog on the RNC Website (http://www.gop.com). The Oddcast VHost(TM) platform is the industry-leading solution for enhancing online communication with intelligent, conversational characters. Mr. Gillespie will use the VHost "Update by Phone" feature to refresh campaign highlights communicated by his online talking likeness. This application will offer the American public as well as media and other interested parties an additional way to learn about important convention details. It is also the first multimedia blog in the political arena to combine both visual and audio technology.

"The VHost technology is a proven communication tool in the consumer and business to business worlds. We are excited to bring it into the political realm and anticipate an increase in site traffic, contributions and click through rates because of the Ed Gillespie talking likeness," stated Ravi Shah, CEO ElectionMall Technologies. "With the availability of a package deal on the VHost application, we expect to see more politicians using virtual characters to help deliver key messages for both national and local campaigns."

Recent research from Stanford University has proven that the presence of a virtual character can increase and help to sustain trust. The research shows that when characters guide interactions people trust the information more than in identical interactions without characters. This is very important for the RNC because over 20 million will be visiting the Web site on a daily basis to gather important campaign information.

Through a partnership with Oddcast, ElectionMall Technologies develops CampaignPal(TM) websites. Along with the virtual candidate, the site includes links for visitors to contribute, view breaking news and more. The VHost CampaignPal application is available through ElectionMall by calling 1-888- WEB-2-WIN or via email (ravi@electionmall.com).

Sample of the fun waiting at gop.com:

Documentary on KerryOnIraq.com Surpasses Viewership of Fahrenheit 911 Opening Weekend

Moore upheld my belief that liberals accuse others of what they really are, hence Moore holding up the Loser sign.