Michelle the Plumber

Joe the Plumber was not the only person who got a shout-out last night. This from Jeff Chu as Fast Company:

It wasn't a surprise that both candidates, who have used the words "reform" and "change" about a million times in an effort to be seen as forces of reform and change, tried to align themselves with the only woman in Washington who can unmistakably be called a maverick and a reformer. Obama praised her as a "wonderful new superintendent"; McCain tried to pull Rhee over to his side, citing her as a supporter of vouchers. Obama shot back that she was a supporter of charters, implying that she was against vouchers.

Who was right? The National Review and the Washington Post’s Marc Fisher came down on McCain’s side, claiming that Rhee supports vouchers. Mike DeBonis of the Washington CityPaper reminded readers that Rhee told the Wall Street Journal she “would never, as long as I am in this role, do anything to limit another parent’s ability to make a choice for their child. Ever.”

But as far as I can tell, it was the blog Sassafras Mama that got it closest in its liveblog, saying “Michelle Rhee, the Superintendent of D.C schools supports charters, but as I understand it, she doesn't support a widespread system of vouchers.” Rhee’s office quickly issued a statement that said she “disagrees with the notion that vouchers are the remedy for repairing the city’s school system.“ But she reiterated to Fast Company that she has “not taken a formal position on vouchers,” and she said she won’t—because she’s more concerned about fixing the schools where nearly 50,000 kids are still being educated.