I did not see the California debate yesterday, sorry. I talked to a few people who did, and almost all said the same: McClintock was very good, and the clear winner. Ueberroth was babbling, and Huffington was silly and unimpressive. Bustamante kept talking about his immigrant background (Parents or grandparents came from Maxico). This latter point is especially odd given that Arnold really is an immigrant. This does remind me of a story. I had a very nice colleague here in the history department. He is now retired. His grandparents came from Italy. I had a conversation with him once in which he was beating up on Americans and praising Italians. Nothing wrong with his opinions except that he would do it, explicitly, as if he were an immigrant. I thought this a little odd for many reasons, not the least is that he wasn’t an immigrant and he was talking to an immigrant, me. I pointed this out to him, politely. It caught him off guard, he regained his senses, and said, "Oh, of course, you’re right, what was I thinking." Amusing for him, and perhaps equally amusing in the end for Bustamante.

Ken Masugi has some very sensible opinions on the debate coverage. This AP story is said to be the best report on it.