They both think Obama is the man. Hammering another nail into Hillary’s coffin, Berkeley professor Robert Reich posted an announcement formally endorsing Obama on his blog yesterday night.

Forty years of friendship and a stint as the Clintons’ secretary of labor isn’t something to sneeze at, and at first Reich was dead set against leaping into the endorsements fracas with a proclamation for either/or. But then Hillary went and made those terrible, horrible, no good, very bad videos targetting Obama after he slipped and said that Pennsylvanians are bitter and cling to guns last week. Reich took Hillary’s tactics to be

the nadir of mean-spirited, negative politics. And also of the politics of distraction, of gotcha politics. It’s the worst of all worlds. … It’s old politics at its worst — and old Republican politics, not even old Democratic politics. It’s just so deeply cynical.

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For those of you watching the Arizona Wildcats pluck the Oregon Ducks, there was another installment of the Democratic presidential debates tonight. The debate closed on a rather skull-scratching question pointed at Hillary Clinton: Does she prefer diamonds or pearls?

Hillary mocked her perceived weak stance on campaign issues and said she liked both. The Clog would have rather had her take a stance on the question. Something on the lines of “Well, if I had to choose blindly, I’d go with pearls because of the presence of blood diamonds in the market” would have certainly captured the Clog’s vote.

Either way, what does this say about the future of presidential debates? We already had our first presidential debate with questions provided by YouTube users, which turned out be extremely similar to a TV debate with overly dramatic questions.

Even though the Republican Party will not hold a debate at Berkeley, it got us wondering, what crazy twist could we throw in?

The obvious place to start would be to place Stoney Burke in the role of moderator. Who needs a PBS news anchor when you can have the Bay Area’s best street comedian.

The Clog figures Stoney would question the GOP candidates hard on their voting records concerning the Iraq war and would make certain to press on the increasing cost of higher education.

Needless to say, Stoney would blow his cherished whistle and trash Rudy Giuliani the second he reached to answer a phone call from “his wife.”

Image Source: Salgu Wissmath, Daily Cal
Debate Wrap: Viva Las Vegas [The New York Times]
Dear Hillary, Do You Prefer Diamonds or Pearls? [TeresaCentric]

As if our scene just isn’t popping enough during this spectacular football season, we’ve counted a total of three huge events happening all this weekend. For one thing, current Senator and 2008 presidential election primary candidate Hillary Clinton has decided to drop by on Sunday and throw an old school street fiesta. Her goal: to assist us Cal students in getting crunk while the Bears are out of town.

Of course, Senator Clinton’s list of things to achieve while here probably also involves mobilizing many Bay Area citizens–including the 18-24 set (hey, that’s us!)–out of voter apathy and out of voting for Obama. The block party will celebrate good times on Sunday in nearby Oakland from 4:30-6:30 p.m. and will feature surprise local entertainers. Since it’s Oakland, we’re half-expecting the hyphy movement to show up.

Feel like block party hopping? Competing with Hillary’s appearance on Sunday is the 12th Annual “How Naked Berkeley Can You Be” parade and festival in Civic Center Park. Before that, however, be sure to get your rave on at San Francisco’s 2nd Annual Love Fest this Saturday. It’s modeled after Germany’s Love Parade, so you can expect lots of touching, lots of feeling–and most importantly, lots of ecstasy.

We here at the Clog urge you to take advantage of the randomly abundant celebrations now. Come Halloween, our beloved, violent costume-partying at the Castro may no longer exist.

Hillary Clinton to Host Oakland Block Party [Oakland Tribune]
Home Page [How Berkeley Can You Be!?]
Home Page [San Francisco LoveFest]
S.F. Officials Cancel Halloween [The Advocate]