I tend to think that while the Democrats have essentially the right stance on gun control, it’s a proxy issue that gets much too much attention from both sides. That said, I’m as glad as anyone to see the renewal of the assault weapons ban.

Americans: Go vote. Now.

New Haveners: If you’re in Ward One, polls are at Dwight Hall. If you’re in Ward Two, polls are at the Goff Fire House. If you’re in Ward Twenty-Two, polls are at 114 Bristoll Street – rides are leaving on the half hour from outside Commons and ABP.

In today’s Times, Kerry and Edwards each spin a formative life experience:

We all have those moments when we see life with stunning clarity. I had had many moments before that night: experiencing the effects of segregation in the South during the 1950’s and 60’s; watching my dad try to learn statistics from the math show on public television with the hope of a promotion at the mill; my mom refinishing furniture to help me go to college; that first day I entered college, and the day I had to leave Clemson because I couldn’t afford the tuition; meeting my wife, Elizabeth; and the birth of my children.

Those were personal. That evening in December 1984 with E. G. in an empty room on the ninth floor of the Buncombe County courthouse, overlooking downtown Asheville, N.C., was the moment the personal and professional collided. I will always remember what I told E. G. that night: $750,000 was less than he deserved. It was less than he needed ? and the jury knew it, too. E. G. sat there, his otherwise expressionless eyes welling up, and then in a slow and halting manner, he typed, “I trust you.”

I fought to restrain an empty crying. I didn’t even have to read the telegram; I knew that Dick Pershing, my childhood and college friend, was dead. For days on the empty Pacific I could barely stand the knowledge that I would never see him again. It was the loss of someone irreplaceable, a loss of innocence, a loss of the sense of invincibility and bravado that young men have as they go to war.

Soon after, off Vietnam, we learned that Senator Eugene McCarthy and a band of college students living on peanut butter and jelly sandwiches had rocked the foundations of the political world in the New Hampshire primary, sending the message to President Lyndon Johnson that he couldn’t be president any more. Weeks later we heard of the death of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., assassinated while campaigning for justice in America. We knew that cities across the country had exploded in riots and much of Washington itself was in flames. There was war all around us and war at home.

Looks like the US is going to find itself on the receiving end of some “structural readjustment.”

The Times on tomorrow’s Super Tuesday primaries:

Mr. Edwards, despite opinion polls that suggested Mr. Kerry would dominate at the polls on Tuesday, showed no signs that he would give up his quest for the nomination. And although the Edwards campaign has rarely announced his schedule beyond the next day, it issued a press release today announcing a three-day swing through the states that will vote on March 9.

While many Democrats believe Mr. Edwards will have no rationale to continue without victories on Tuesday, the candidate suggested he would do no harm, and perhaps some good, by remaining in the race. Mr. Edwards’s aides said he wants to continue to compete at least until March 9, when his aides believe he can begin to slow Mr. Kerry’s momentum in four Southern primaries — Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi and Florida — setting up a March 16 showdown in the Illinois primary.

Kevin Drum argues that Alan Greenspan’s class warfare is even more shameful than it looks.

The Washington Post profiles Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon, lifelong activists who became the first lesbian couple to be issued marriage licenses in the United States:

‘There’s always going to be backlash,’ Lyon says, resolute. ‘If you wait for the right time, there’s never a right time.’

From her recliner, Martin chimes in. ‘You’d have an argument with me and try to storm out the door,’ she says. ‘I had to teach you to fight back.'”

The Yale Herald reports on Alyssa Rosenberg and Shaneen Ragin’s campaign for Co-Chair:

The Rosenberg-Ragin team has set goals for those improvements, including the re-opening of the Q House, the oldest African-American community center in Connecticut which was recently closed due to management issues. The two also will look into improving the Dixwell Avenue commercial area as well as increasing community policing and cracking down on speeding. As a graduate of the Parent Leadership Training Institute, Ragin believes that these improvements are all part of making the Dixwell community “a more friendly place for children.” The changes will not only affect the Dixwell community’s youth, but also Yale students, Haring-Smith noted. “If you’re leaving a party at a fraternity in the ward, you don’t want cars speeding at 80 miles an hour down Dixwell Avenue,” he said.

Another top priority for the Rosenberg-Ragin ticket is the 50-member ward committee that the elected chairs must appoint. Rosenberg believes that a diverse and representative committee is essential to a politically healthy community. “There hasn’t historically been an active ward committee system in New Haven,” Rosenberg admitted, “but I feel if one ward can set a precedent, it’s ours.”

Two days until election day.

Bush announces he’s deploying marines as a peacekeeping force to Haiti now that Aristide, at Washington’s urging, has stepped down.

Atrios notes that “terrorism” isn’t as clear-cut for CNN in Haiti.

Harvard makes a good move:

Aiming to get more low-income students to enroll, Harvard will stop asking parents who earn less than $40,000 to make any contribution toward the cost of their children’s education. Harvard will also reduce the amount it seeks from parents with incomes between $40,000 and $60,000.

Dr. Summers said that higher education, rather than being an engine of social mobility, may be inhibiting it because of the wide gap in college attendance for students from different income classes.

Hopefully this will threaten Eli pride enough to push our University to follow.