More losers.

This week we noted the demise of ED ‘08, the Eli Broad and Bill Gates backed outfit that bet $60 million that education would be a big issue in this presidential campaign. Not just a big issue. But an issue that they could direct towards a corporate model, that both the Republicans and the Democratic Leadership Council types would love and support.

Broad and Gates got former Colorado governor and LAUSD boss, Roy Romer to head it up. They got the likes of the Business Roundtable to sign on.

But it ended up having no traction. And last week it died.

But who are some of the other losers in this election campaign?

I don’t want to suggest that Obama’s election is a done deal. Lots more work has to be done in the remaining weeks. But some of today’s tracking polls have Obama opening a 12 point lead on the fading McCain/Palin ticket. The McCain campaign has pulled out of Michigan (maybe) and it is looking grim in Ohio and Pennsylvania.

This has been a surprise for many. Actually, it has been a surprise to most. And even those Democratic right-wingers who claimed support for Obama must now be awfully disappointed that their Republicrat education agenda has had about as much traction in the Obama campaign as has the agenda of ED ‘08.

Head over to Democrats for Education Reform. This bunch even had the chutzpah to claim early on that Obama supported their program of vouchers. They knew it was an absolute lie. But since their exclusion from the Democratic Convention (where 10% of the delegates were teacher union members) and limited to a few cocktail parties at fancy hotels in Denver, their web site has been about as active as a Republican precinct worker in Michigan.

Whitney Tilson, a hedge fund manager (oops!) and a backer of DFER, is another loser. He claimed to back Obama, but spent much of his time attacking Obama’s main education adviser, Linda Darling-Hammond. She’s still there.

And you shouldn’t forget Andy Rotherham over at Eduwonk. Last year, some were speculating that he might be a choice for Education Secretary in a Democratic administration. Good luck on that. Rotherham handed over his blog to the Republicans (although you’d hardly notice the change) during the heart of the election campaign back in July.

All these characters thought that the time was ripe to push their agenda of vouchers, private charters and most importantly, teacher union trashing. But as we approach November 4th and the dust begins to settle, the winners and losers are becoming clearer. The AFT and the NEA are positioned rather well. Some others? Not so much.