The country will have a great opportunity to see liberal hypocrisy on parade as the Obamas decide where to send their two kids to school in the coming weeks.

Of course, just like every other good liberal, Obama opposed school choice...especially vouchers.  Pretty much any program that empowers parents who arent rich.  And, just like pretty much every other liberal, he sends his kids to an elite private school that only a fraction of his supporters could afford.

So, as they make the transition to DC, the buzz is over where the kids will attend...and we'll get to watch his delicate dance of trying to quietly send them to an elite DC private school, while paying lip service to the public schools...no doubt probably saying that he really wanted them to go there, but it was a "security" issue (an understatement for most of the regular kids in the DC system).

The point is not that anyone should be criticized for wanting to send their kids to the place where they can get the best education, but rather that the politicians who tend to oppose making that option a reality for everyone else, usually take advantage of it themselves.

In other words, they're hypocrites.

Some results from issues that were on the ballot yesterday, via the AP:

Utah voters on Tuesday killed the nation's first statewide school voucher program that promised tax dollars for private tuition, no matter how much a family earned or whether kids were in bad schools.

In another of the most closely watched questions on state ballots Tuesday, New Jersey voters rejected the state's plan to borrow $450 million over 10 years to finance stem cell research. In Oregon, residents decided against hiking the cigarette tax to pay for health care for kids who don't have it. ...

...more... 

The New Jersey measure had been one of the nation's most ambitious public efforts to fund stem cell research.

Multimillionaire Gov. Jon Corzine campaigned heavily for the measure and spent $200,000 of his own money on TV ads for it. He argued the funding would help find cures for conditions such as spinal cord injuries, Parkinson's disease, sickle cell anemia and multiple sclerosis while also luring leading scientists and research firms to the state.

But the measure was opposed by anti-abortion activists, conservatives and the Roman Catholic Church because it would pay for research that destroys human embryos and would increase state debt.

"It's a reinforcement of our values and a rebuke to the governor," said Steve Lonegan, a conservative Republican who led opposition to the question. "The taxpayers are saying enough is enough." ...

...more taxpayer common sense

Among the other measures on ballots Tuesday:

_ Oregon voters opted not to raise the cigarette tax by 84.5 cents a pack — to $2.02 — to fund health insurance for about 100,000 children now lacking coverage. Tobacco companies opposing the measure outspent supporters by a 4-1 margin, contributing nearly $12 million.

_ Texans authorized up to $3 billion in bonds over 10 years to create a cancer research center. The proposal was pushed by cycling champion and cancer survivor Lance Armstrong and opposed by some fiscal conservatives.

_ Voters in the northeast Ohio city of Streetsboro, where a 19-year-old fell short of reaching a runoff in the mayoral primary last May, raised the legal age to run for mayor or council from 18 to 23.

It says something about how secure your politicians are when they lead an effort to keep teenagers from running against them.

Voters in Utah will head to the polls tomorrow to decide the fate of the nation's most far-reaching school choice proposal.

SALT LAKE CITY (AP) — Utah voters will decide Tuesday whether to adopt the country's first statewide school voucher program that would be open to anyone. The referendum could influence efforts elsewhere to use tax dollars for private school tuition.

Utah's voucher law would grant $500 to $3,000, depending on family income, for each child sent to private school. Unlike other voucher plans geared toward low-income students or those in failing schools, Utah's plan would be available to anyone, even affluent families in well-performing districts. ...

Utah's hotly disputed voucher law won approval by one vote in the Republican-controlled Legislature in February. The law was suspended before taking effect when opponents gathered more than 120,000 signatures to force an up-or-down referendum vote.

"It's unusual for someone to say 'As goes Utah, so goes the nation.' But this is a huge national issue," said Kim Campbell, president of the state's teachers union, the Utah Education Association, which opposes the measure.

Supporters of vouchers say the program would reduce crowding in public schools and give parents more choices. Children already in private schools would not qualify.

John Stossel points out the usual suspects in the opposition.

Arrayed against the vouchers are the usual opponents. They call themselves Utahns for Public Schools. They include, predictably, the Utah Education Association (the teachers union), Utah School Boards Association, Utah School Employees Union, Utah School Superintendents Association, the elementary and secondary school principals associations, and the PTA. No to vouchers! they protest. Trust us. We know what's best for your kids.  

Uh-huh.  This being the same crowd that's had a virtual monopoly over education for almost a century...the value of which has been going steadily down-hill ever since.

Don't know how this one will turn out...polls have the pro-voucher side at around 40%.  Of course, it is a special election, in which it's all about which side's people are more motivated.  So anything can happen.

More: Citizenlink - NRO