Goin' back to Cali

It's about 2 a.m. here in Newport Beach, Calif. and I'm sitting in my cushy room at the Radisson
Hotel.

I'm a little tired, a little fatigued. Still doing some last-minute tweaks to my laptop for tomorrow's jam-packed day. (Note to self for next time: buy more memory -- or a MacBook Pro).

But my minor efforts are nothing like what the folks over at the APIA Vote room, or HQ as they dubbed it, are doing. From getting everyone to be on the same page of the day's agenda to making sure that the visual presentations are ready, they're working on the final preparations for tomorrow right now.



What's frustrating, however, is the fact that none of the candidates will be in attendance during the town hall. All three will answer questions, but none will physically be in Irvine.

Let me explain, Hillary Clinton is going to be beamed in via satellite. Though she's not there, at least she'll be seen. That's something that can't be said of the other candidates.

Both Barack Obama and John McCain will answer questions over the phone.

(Uh-huh.)

Wow, are Obama and McCain even trying?

In this digital age, it's not difficult to do a live video feed. There are so many different types of software out there to do this. Heck, I'd even settle for a Skype or AIM video chat.

Why don't they want us to see what they look like when they talk? They went onto World Wrestling Entertainment via video, but they won't appear in front of us APIAs?

Bah, whatever. Maybe they'll surprise us with a visit tomorrow.

Something to look forward to: Performances by Kaba Modern and Beau Sia!

And with that, it's off to bed for my 7 a.m. wake-up call. Hopefully the APIA Vote folks will end up getting some sleep, too.