Mitt Romney hits Iowa today, fielding questions from voters at a series of “Ask Mitt Anything” sessions.

In Old Saybrook, Republicans endorsed Michael Pace to serve a fifth term as First Selectman at their caucus Tuesday evening.

According to The Day of New London “Republicans at the caucus lauded Pace for numerous achievements as first selectman in recent years, including revitalizing Main Street, improving Saybrook Point Park and making the town fiscally stable.”

Also nominated was William Peace for the board of selectman for another term.

On the other side of the river Old Lyme Republicans endorsed Timothy Griswold for a sixth term as First Selectman. Also endorsed was Skip Sibley to continue as a selectman.

Griswold will once again face Bonnie Reemsnyder in the November election. Reemsnyder only lost to Griswold by 46 votes in the 2005 elections and will be back for a third try at winning the top post.

Before our readers put down the Wall Street Journal, take a look at this editorial by Professor Paul E. Peterson of Harvard University on achieving racial balance in our schools:

And the solution is simple: To achieve racial balance, let parents choose their school, and let oversubscribed schools admit students by lot. If parents of all races and ethnicities seek admission to a particular school at the same rate, then a lottery will ensure that the school’s social mix reflects that of the school district, the very goal Seattle said it tried to achieve.

Professor Peterson answers some of the typical objections to school choice, such as that minority parents somehow won’t be as responsible as white parents in putting their children in better schools:

Charter schools serve a higher percentage of minorities and disadvantaged students than traditional public schools. According to a Department of Education survey, 33% of charter school students are African-American, as compared to 18% in traditional public schools. For Hispanics, the proportions in the two sectors are 15% and 13%, respectively. Nor are the well-to-do crowding out the economically disadvantaged: 54% of charter-school students are income eligible for the subsidized lunch program, as compared to 46% of those in public school.

Hartford Public Schools Superintendent Steven Adamowski likes the idea of school choice:

Converting Hartford to an all-choice system of schools, in which schools need to distinguish themselves to attract students, is key to Dr. Adamowski’s plans for rejuvenating the district.

I don’t blame him:

• Hartford is the lowest performing school district in Connecticut.
• It is the lowest performing district among the six urban districts in the state.
• Only 15 percent of all third graders read at grade level.
• Only 8 percent of Hartford tenth graders scored at goal on the Connecticut Academic Performance Test (CAPT).
• Only 29 percent of those who started high school in 2002 graduated in 2006.
• Only 39 percent of Hartford graduates go to college; 20 percent of those attend two-year schools.

If Superintendent Adamowski succeeds, and I hope he does, then we’ll have to ask our Democratic friends, “If school choice is good enough for Hartford, then how about the rest of the state?”

I’m sure our friend, Judy Aron, at Consent of the Governed would approve.

Allan Hubbard, President Bush’s Chief Economic Adviser, offers an alternative to Democrats’ (and sadly, some Republicans’) big government plan for health care in today’s Wall Street Journal.

Option A:

The Baucus-Grassley proposal would expand Schip to cover many children who are not actually poor. A family of four making $82,600 would be eligible for taxpayer-funded health insurance.

It would also cause many people to drop their good private coverage and move to taxpayer-funded, government-run health care. In fact, the Congressional Budget Office has estimated that for every two people who would join Schip under this bill, one would drop his/her private health insurance — a striking example of “crowd-out” that is contrary to the purpose of the program.

Finally, this bill would run up a huge tab — $71 billion over 10 years — and would impose new tobacco taxes to pay for it…

Option B:

So President Bush has proposed to level the playing field for health insurance. Under his plan, every family with private health coverage would receive a standard tax deduction of $15,000 — no matter where they get their health insurance. This deduction would encourage more people to buy their own health insurance, just like the mortgage interest deduction encourages more people to buy their own homes…

More than 100 million people who are now covered by employer-provided insurance would see lower tax bills right away. Those who now purchase health insurance on their own would get a tax benefit for the first time. And millions of others who have no health insurance would be able to purchase private coverage…

Take your pick.

(Note: Our readers should not confuse Allan Hubbard with Glenn Hubbard, Mitt Romney’s economic adviser - as I did.)

Some thoughts on tonight’s Democratic Primary Debate…

If Senator Obama doesn’t accept money from lobbyists, then why did he point out that he supported a law which required him to disclose publicly which lobbyists gave him money?

I don’t think that man’s question was about “big change,” Senator Edwards, I think it was “if you had to pick a Republican Congressman or Governor to be your running mate, who would it be and why?”

Representative Kucinich, where in our Constitution does it say that “all are created equal?” (I believe that’s the Declaration of Independence.)

If Senator Biden’s rule is “where we can, America must,” then how about Iraq?

Can Senator Edwards not steal other people’s ideas?

Are the Democrats aware that George Bush won’t be President in 2009?

Why does the audience cheer when Senator Gravel says American troops died in vain in Vietnam, yet stay silent when Senators Obama says no troop ever dies in vain when serving his country?

Can Senator Edwards answer a question?

Don’t ask Democrats about Iraq. There is no military solution. There is no political solution. It’s a quagmire. It’s endless. We have to pull out now. No, we can’t pull out now - but soon. Hey let’s send 2,500 U.S. troops to Darfur!

Bill Richardson wants a minimum wage for teachers - I mean, the National Education Association wants a minimum wage for teachers. (Note: I thought I was kidding when I wrote that, but turns out it’s true.)

No, no, no! Senators Edwards, Obama, and Clinton didn’t send their kids to private schools! Where did you get a silly idea like that? Well, maybe Obama and Clinton did…but not Edwards!

Okay, who made the snowman video?

Who’s the guy who clapped for Rep. Kucinich’s “global warring” line?

You go Senator Gravel! You took the bus!

Is Senator Obama aware that Dick Cheney won’t be Vice President in 2009?

Newsflash: Hillary Clinton is agnostic (about nuclear power).

I didn’t realize “verifying paper trails” was such a crowd pleaser.

You’re doing pretty well Chris - at least Barack thinks so!

So Governor Richardson wants you to be able to transfer your pension, but not your Social Security.

So if you complain about taxes, Senator Biden will raise them even higher - on rich people, of course.

Rep. Kucinich thinks if we pull out of NAFTA and the WTO, we’ll end our trade deficit. He just flunked Economics 101.

John’s a plan. Barack’s a plan. Everywhere there’s a health care plan.

“Hedge funds” is code for “bankers on Wall Street.” FYI.

Who’s the guy in charge of streaming the YouTube videos? Probably the same one who put the “X” over Dick Cheney’s face.

Senator Dodd really spoiled our fun. We could have seen Senator Clinton put the smackdown on Senator Obama.

Props to Anderson Cooper on Kucinich. Great line.

Well I’m exhausted. The winner? Ah, forget it.