The financial crisis isn’t isolated to Wall Street and Main Street. It’s also having an impact on academia. Today I received a letter from Ithaca College President Tom Rochon explaining my alma mater’s attempt to grapple with these challenging times and dwindling endowments. At Ithaca, the problem is complicated by a lower-than-expected enrollment this year.

20081002_JRB_debate_stlouis-38, originally uploaded by Barack Obama.

If I had to do it over again, I probably would have chosen to watch the Pitt vs. South Florida game last night rather than the vice presidential debate. The Panthers pulled off an upset against the No. 10 ranked Bulls.

Sarah Palin pulled off an upset, too, although hers was far less dramatic. She did well against Joe Biden and reinvigorated conservatives who were hoping the rising star would shine bright again. The debate gave me an opportunity to reflect on where we’ve come over the last month. Check out my advice for Palin on The Next Right. My conclusion: not very far.

The clock is ticking on the McCain campaign. Now is the time to let Palin be Palin.

This morning on K Street Café, I wrote about the latest viral video craze on the right. It’s a 10-minute video that’s well worth your time.

UPDATE — Sept. 29, 10:47 p.m.: For those who had trouble viewing the video, I’ve posted a new version. This is the message on YouTube about the video that came out last week:

It received more than 1 million views before it was pulled.

20080926_Oxford_MS_FirstDebate0482, uploaded by Barack Obama.

As I watched last night’s presidential debate at the University of Mississippi, I also offered my play-by-play commentary on Twitter. And while I know my 885 followers were getting updates throughout the evening, I didn’t want readers of Bluey Blog to be jealous. So I’ve reprinted my “tweets” below. For non-Twitter users, the @ symbol signifies a reply to another Twitter account.

Geico Geko, originally uploaded by Rob Bluey.

Last night’s final home game at Nationals Park was billed as Fan Appreciation Night. It was fitting that the game was washed out by rain. After spending the whole season under-appreciating fans, the baseball gods expressed their displeasure at the Nationals on our behalf.

I’ve been a partial season-ticket holder ever since the Expos moved to Washington in 2005. I remember the excitement that first winter when tickets went on sale. Three years of watching games at RFK Stadium was far from ideal, but there was always hope about the future.

Well, the future finally arrived this year. And after a full season of watching games at the new $611 million stadium, I’m thoroughly disgusted with the franchise. After shelling out $400 for seats that were worse than last year’s at RFK, I’m done. Ted Lerner won’t get my check next year.

Just how bad did it get at Nationals Park this year? The team, which is on the verge of 100-loss season, will end with the lowest average attendance (29,005) for a new ballpark since 1991. They’re also probably overtake my pathetic Pirates as the team with the worst record during the first year in a new stadium.

My personal experiences are a telling example of the dire situation. When I went on Stubhub earlier this month to sell some extra tickets, it was painful to see others near my section selling their $20 seats for as little as $3. My tickets for the first-place (at the time) Mets wouldn’t move. I couldn’t give them away. Even some of the most expensive seats are unattractive to fans. Earlier this week my uncle, in town for a conference, called his D.C. office to inquire about any leftover tickets. We ended up sitting in a nearly empty Lincoln Suite for most of the night.

Thomas Boswell is correct when he says there’s more at stake for the Nationals than just losing baseball games. And Thom Loverro rightly points out that this franchise is no jewel. The ownership has left such a bad taste in my mouth this season that I will cut back on games next year. Contrary to what Nationals executive Chartese Burnett tells us, there’s no value in going to Nationals Park. (Who can afford paying $7.50 for a beer and $7 for a slice of pizza?) When I do go, albeit sparingly, there’s no way I’ll pay full price for my tickets, especially when I can get them for a fraction of the cost on Stubhub.

With equally miniscule numbers of people watching on TV and listening on radio, the Nationals are unquestionably the worst franchise in baseball. This stems from Commissioner Bud Selig’s personal intervention to pick the Lerner family as owners. President Stan Kasten has clearly lost his touch from his glory days with the Atlanta Braves and General Manager Jim Bowden is a bumbling fool who couldn’t run a 7-Eleven let alone a baseball club.

I honestly don’t know where the Nationals go from here. But after this pathetic season, it can’t get much worse.

This week has certainly been one of the most educational for me since joining The Heritage Foundation. I’m fortunate to work with intelligent people who fully grasp what’s happening with our financial markets. One of them is JD Foster, who took a few minutes this afternoon to explain the credit crisis.

This video is also a departure from the formal setting we’ve typically used for Heritage videos. I’m hearing positive feedback, but I’d love to know what you think.

This week I’m beginning my stint as a contributor to K Street Cafe with a series of blog posts on small things that think tanks can do to have an impact online. Jeff Mascot of Adfero Group invited me and a handful of other public policy people to contribute to the new site.

My first post deals with something rather boring — boring headlines, that is. I recount how a simple headline about the Bridge to Nowhere significantly boosted traffic to Heritage’s website since Sarah Palin’s acceptance speech. Why? Because a search for “Bridge to Nowhere” on Google puts a Heritage paper near the top of the results page.

Throughout the week I’ll be blogging about other simple things think tanks can do. Check back often to read some of the other contributors, including my pals John “CZ” Czwartacki of Verizon, Chris Kinnan of FreedomWorks, Alan Rosenblatt of the Center for American Progress, and John Wonderlich of the Sunlight Foundation.

D.C. Duck, originally uploaded by Rob Bluey.

My regular readers probably wonder where I’ve been. While, if you’re following me on Twitter, you already know how busy I’ve been for the past week.

My best friend Dom visited from Upstate New York, I was swamped with 2009 budget stuff at Heritage, Missy and I went to a wedding, and I painted our guest bedroom.

Finally last night I uploaded some photos. I snapped the shot above during my friend Dom’s visit last week. We had a great hanging out, checking out the monuments in D.C. and watching my Nats beat up on his Mets. This picture of the duck was taken at the Korean War Memorial. I love the detail.

Check out Flickr for more photos of scenes from Washington, the Mets vs. Nats game from last Monday, and Alex and Kevin’s beautiful wedding over the weekend.