(Vanderbilt has a campus broadcast facility with a dedicated fiber optic line for live TV interviews and a radio ISDN line)
McCain Needs Game-Changer: Campaign and polling expert John Geer says Barack Obama should strive to look presidential and avoid major mistakes in the remaining two presidential debates, while John McCain needs a game-changing event to shake up the race. However, with economic troubles looming, that could be difficult for the GOP nominee. Geer, a political scientist who studies campaigns, public opinion and negative ads, says that McCain has faced much longer odds in his life, so no one should count him out.
e-mail: john.g.geer@vanderbilt.edu
Media-Driven Perceptions Add Layer to Debate: Has the economic crisis given Barack Obama’s poll numbers a big boost? Does the town-hall format provide John McCain an advantage at the Belmont debate? These interpretations of circumstance by the media could significantly impact the public’s perception of how the candidates fare in the debate, says Vanessa Beasley, an expert on political rhetoric and media and politics. The associate professor of communication studies is tracking the effect of news coverage and blogs on the 2008 presidential campaign.
e-mail: vanessa.b.beasley@vanderbilt.edu
Oratory Trumps Ideology for Some Voters: John McCain and Barack Obama should pay as much attention during the debates to their speaking skills as to their stances on issues, according to research by political scientist Christian Grose. He co-authored a study that evaluated a candidate’s rhetorical style two ways, sophistication of speech and quality of emotional connections, such as optimism and inspiration in the tone. The study showed that highly educated voters are more likely than those with fewer years of schooling to be influenced by complex speech. Grose studies Congress, campaigns, Southern politics and the effect of race in elections.
e-mail: christian.grose@vanderbilt.edu
New Deal Revisited: American historian Gary Gerstle, co-author of The Rise and Fall of the New Deal Order, will be watching how the presidential candidates discuss the government’s response to the current economic crisis. The Great Depression was the last economic crisis of this magnitude and the government’s response entailed a far greater degree of involvement in economic affairs than would have been tolerated before. Also, the Depression intersected with a presidential election, similar to today, and immensely complicated the task of implementing an economic recovery program.
e-mail: gary.gerstle@vanderbilt.edu
More Details Please: John McCainmust convince Evangelical Christiansand working-class Americans that Sarah Palin, with herempathy and good political instincts,will bemore than window dressing in a McCain administration, says political scientist Carol Swain.She adds that Barack Obamaneeds to show white voters that he has the experience to lead. Bothneed to address illegal immigration and the impact that it has oneducational, health care and social servicesexpenditures at all levels of government, says Swain, who is also a law professor.
e-mail: carol.swain@vanderbilt.edu
Experience Factor: Presidential historian Thomas A. Schwartz expects John McCain to sharpen his foreign policy attack on Barack Obama, portraying him as hopelessly naive and misguided in his understanding of a dangerous world. McCain will continue to try to portray Obama and the Democrats as a party that would have accepted defeat and genocide in Iraq, talk to the worst international villains – Ahmadinejad, Castro, Chavez – with no preconditions, and not have the necessary will to fight the war on terror. For his part, Obama will just continue to link McCain to Bush, and emphasize the economic crisis that occurred on the Republicans’ watch.
e-mail: thomas.a.schwartz@vanderbilt.edu
Economic Issues to Freeze Health Care Plans? Wall Street is changing everything. Can consumers afford a health care plan that places the burden to pay for care on their shoulders? And can the government afford another multi-billion dollar government plan for health care? There may be some rethinking to do here, says David Osborn, Ph.D., director of Vanderbilt’s think tank Health Care Solutions Group and 20+ year health care industry veteran and consultant.
e-mail: david.osborn@vanderbilt.edu
Independents have shaped 2008: According to the latest polls, over 40 percent of Americans self-identify as independents–neither Democrats nor Republicans. Independents in the United States span the ideological spectrum, but the thing they share in common is their distrust with the extreme partisanship that dominates D.C. How have independents shaped the 2008 presidential election? Both McCain and Obama have benefitted from their support. Omar Ali, author of In the Balance of Power, is a historian of independent politics in the United States.
e-mail: omarhali@vanderbilt.edu
For a full list of election experts and news coverage, visit ElectionVU 2008.
Media Contact: Ann Marie Deer Owens, (615) 322-NEWS
annmarie.owens@vanderbilt.edu