2008 Election

The youth vote will play an important role in this year's presidential election and Vanderbilt University students will be tuning in to Thursday's vice presidential debate at a group viewing on campus. Read More

Candidates on the November ballot in Middle Tennessee – in contests ranging from president to state lawmaker – have been invited to meet the Vanderbilt community, including the university's neighbors, at a Sept. 25 picnic on Olin Lawn. Read More

The New York Times best-selling author Stephen Mansfield and Vanderbilt Divinity School Dean James Hudnut-Beumler bring a discussion, "Race, Religion and Politics: Evangelicals, Conservatives and Liberals Look for Common Ground," to Vanderbilt University Wednesday, Oct. 1, at 6 p.m. Read More

Community leaders, educators and a hip-hop artist will gather at Vanderbilt University to discuss hip-hop, the presidential election and the youth vote Thursday, Sept. 25, at 6 p.m. in the multi-purpose room at The Commons Center. Read More

Susan J. Carroll, professor of political science at Rutgers University, will present a lecture on Monday, Sept. 22, at 4:10 p.m. in Room 118 of the Bishop Joseph Johnson Black Cultural Center at Vanderbilt University. Read More

Vanderbilt University expert available to talk about images of women in media Read More

Political psychologist and author of Your Money And Your Life: The High Stakes for Women Voters in '08 and Beyond, Martha Burk, is coming to Vanderbilt Law School to talk about the political issues impacting women. Read More

Republicans should kick off their convention in a most unconventional and memorable manner. Instead of singing God Bless America and blasting Democrats, Republicans should ascend the stage with their heads bowed and collectively plead for God\'s mercy and forgiveness. Read More

With a sagging economy, an unpopular war and a Republican president with limited public support, it would be easy to write off John McCain\'s chances of being our next president. Read More

Charlie Cook, publisher of The Cook Political Report and a highly respected expert on national politics, will lecture at Vanderbilt University at 5:30 p.m. on Wednesday, Sept. 10. Read More

With the national polls continuing to show a close race, the stakes of the upcoming Democratic convention are huge for Barack Obama and the Democrats. Read More

If they hope to win the White House in November and retain control of Congress, the Democrats must emerge from their convention with a party platform that adheres to traditional values while addressing the concerns and worries of Wal-Mart shoppers who fret about the rising costs of flour, milk and sugar. Read More

Vanderbilt University's 2008 Elections course will meld rigorous academic research with real-world politics as two former U.S. representatives join renowned political scientists John Geer and Bruce Oppenheimer to team-teach one of the university's most popular classes. Read More

The recent controversy about whether Wal-Mart Stores Inc. unlawfully pressured employees to vote against Democrats in November is another instance of the increasing erosion of free expression in the workplace, according to Bruce Barry, a Vanderbilt professor and author of a book on this subject. Read More

Vin Weber, former Minnesota congressman and one of Washington's most respected political strategists, will join the Vanderbilt University faculty as an adjunct political science professor. Read More

This fall Democratic campaign strategists might want to target traditionally Republican congressional districts with heavy casualties in Iraq, according to research by two Vanderbilt University political scientists. While many political pundits have attributed the unpopularity of the Iraq war to a congressional landslide for the Democrats in 2006,… Read More

Despite what seems like an exhaustive and never-ending primary season for the Democratic presidential candidates, the process actually worked, says Distinguished Professor of Political Science John Geer. The race between Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama has essentially come down to a tie, and the superdelegates are fulfilling their role. Read More

John McCain and Barack Obama, the likely presidential nominees for the GOP and Democrats, will need to run negative ads as they seek to define each other in the general election campaign, says Vanderbilt political scientist John Geer. He and colleague Bruce Oppenheimer are preparing to teach a course on the 2008 elections in the fall. Read More

While some Democrats fear that the increasingly negative tone in the protracted battle for the Democratic presidential nomination will hurt the party\'s chances in November, a Vanderbilt University political scientist anticipates just the opposite. Read More

A central fact of the 2008 nomination process is that many citizens are undecided or have weakly held preferences. Read More