ARIA SERIOUS?

Over the weekend, Senator Ted Kennedy celebrated his 77th birthday at the Kennedy Center. Singing "Happy Birthday" to him was Aria Serious friend mezzo-soprano Denyce Graves, mezzo-soprano Frederica Von Stade , folk singer James Taylor and America's newest baritone, President Barack Obama. One thing is for certain, he sure sings with enthusiasm. But you can tell he's new at this whole opera thing because he broke the golden rule: never, ever, stand in front of the soprano. Not even if you're the P rez . -- Edward

I know it is a minor issue, especially considering this country is fighting two wars and facing an economic crisis of historic proportions, but I was lying awake last night wondering which candidate supports the arts? For me, someone who works in the arts, this is a personal matter; I don't want to be facing my own personal sub-prime mortgage crisis. To find the answer, I first went to the campaign websites of Senator McCain and Senator Obama. I was unable to find any statement from McCain on his website concerning the arts. Obama has, under the heading "Additional Issues", a statement on the arts, which you can read by clicking here . One issue of note, at least for us, is the subheading "Attract Foreign Talent" which is essentially a plan to streamline the visa process for foreign artists put in place after 9/11. Obtaining visas is a daunting task and can take months of work. Looking further, the Arts Action Fund publishes a "scorecard " on the cand...