Political Experts Available for Presidential Election Analysis and Interviews

Political Experts Available for Presidential Election Analysis and Interviews

Claremont McKenna College scholars available leading up to, on day of and after Presidential and VP Debates

CLAREMONT, Calif., Sept. 18 /PRNewswire/ --
GENERAL ELECTION

Andrew E. Busch, Professor of Government, Claremont McKenna College

Areas of expertise: Election process, American politics, national public policy, national political institutions; author, Red Over Blue: The Election of 2004 and American Politics; author, Reagan's Victory: The Presidential Election of 1980 and the Rise of the Right; media experience includes L.A. Times, Investors Business Daily, WSJ Week in Review (PBS), McLean's as well as local print and broadcast outlets.

Contact: Andrew Busch, 909-607-3382 or 909-946-9249, andrew.busch@claremontmckenna.edu

John J. Pitney, Jr., Roy P. Crocker Professor of American Politics, Claremont McKenna College

Areas of expertise: 2008 presidential and congressional elections, Sarah Palin as VP candidate, the presidency, presidential transition, Democratic and Republican parties, political leadership, American politics, Bush Administration, California politics, United States Congress; served as the acting director of the Republican National Committee's Research Department during President George Herbert Walker Bush's administration; author, The Art of Political Warfare; media experience includes NPR, The New York Times, USA Today, NBC Nightly News, ABC World News Tonight and CBS Evening News.

Contact: John J. Pitney, Jr., 951-323-0239, jpitney@cmc.edu

Frederick R. Lynch, Associate Professor of Government, Claremont McKenna College

Areas of expertise: generational politics, affirmative action, baby boomers, Obamamania (Obama candidacy as a political and social movement), Obama fatigue, universal health care, entitlement reform (social security and Medicare), inequality, immigration; author, Diversity Machine and Boomers, Obama and the AARP: Managing Generational Tensions (in progress); media experience includes NPR, The New York Times, USA Today, NBC Nightly News, ABC World News Tonight, CBS Evening News and Oprah.

Contact: Frederick Lynch, 909-607-3799, fred.lynch@claremontmckenna.edu

Ken Miller, Assistant Professor of Government, Claremont McKenna College

Areas of expertise: California politics, American politics, constitutional law, direct democracy (initiative, referendum, recall), courts; co-author, The New Political Geography of California; worked in California state capital as legislative staff; provided commentary on California's 2003 recall election; media experience includes BBC, Minnesota Public Radio and various print outlets.

Contact: Ken Miller, 909-607-2811, ken.miller@cmc.edu

U.S. ECONOMY

Gregory Hess, Vice President for Academic Affairs and Dean of the Faculty/Russell S. Bock Chair of Public Economics and Taxation, Claremont McKenna College

Areas of expertise: Financial crises, politics and economics, business cycle issues, Federal Reserve; author, Economic Conditions, Elections and the Magnitude of Foreign Conflicts.

Contact: Gregory Hess, 909-621-8117 or 909-267-8310 (cell), gregory.hess@claremontmckenna.edu

WOMEN/GENDER IN POLITICS

Catherine Allgor, Visiting Kingsley Croul Professor of American History, Claremont McKenna College

Areas of expertise: Women in government, influence of first lady (and potential first lady), gendered politics, influence of gender on election outcome, female vs. feminine values, first lady as future presidential candidate, inaugural gown fashion, etiquette in Washington, D.C.; Sarah Palin, Michelle Obama and Cindy McCain and their roles and/or influence in election; author, Parlor Politics: In Which the Ladies of Washington Help Build a City and a Government; author, A Perfect Union: Dolley Madison and the Creation of the American Nation; has spoken at White House; media experience includes CNN, NPR, New York Times, US News & World Report and various local radio and television outlets.

Contact: Catherine Allgor, 951-684-0044, catherine.allgor@ucr.edu

WAR IN IRAQ

P. Edward Haley, W.M. Keck Foundation Professor of International Strategic Studies; Director, Center for the Study of the Holocaust, Genocide, and Human Rights, Claremont McKenna College

Areas of expertise: U.S. foreign policy with an emphasis on the Gulf, great power relations and Arab-Israeli and Israeli-Palestinian conflicts; author, Strategies of Dominance: The Misdirection of U.S. Foreign Policy (Woodrow Wilson Center, 2006); author, Strategic Foreign Assistance: Civil Society and International Security (Hoover Institution, 2006), numerous op-eds and radio and television interviews, including commentary on President Bush and Iraq and President Bush's State of the Union Address for NPR's Morning Edition.

Contact: P. Edward Haley, 909-445-0866, ehaley2@verizon.net

Elizabeth Spalding, Associate Professor of Government, Director of the Washington Program, Claremont McKenna College

Areas of expertise: American foreign policy, U.S. role and goals in the war on terrorism, what should candidates be thinking about as they campaign, what now with War on Terrorism and War in Iraq, presidency and foreign policy; regularly called upon by organizations and publications to comment on lessons learned from U.S. involvement in various foreign conflicts; based in Washington, D.C.

Contact: Elizabeth Spalding, 202-607-0749, elizabeth.spalding@claremontmckenna.edu

RELIGION

Gaston Espinosa, Associate Professor of Religious Studies at Claremont McKenna College; Co-Editor, Columbia University Press Series in Religion and Politics; President, La Comunidad of Hispanic Scholars of Religion at the American Academy of Religion

Areas of expertise: Religion and the 2008 Election, Obama and religion, race and religion, Latino religion and the 2008 election, Evangelicals and the 2008 election, religious right, religion and the American Presidency; author, Religion, Race, and the American Presidency; author, Religion and the American Presidency: From George Washington to George W. Bush; author, Latino Religions and Civic Activism in the United States; author, Mexican American Religions: Spirituality, Activism, and Culture; provided direct insight on religious and Latino issues to for the Obama and McCain 2008 presidential campaigns; met with Obama faith outreach coordinator and McCain Latino faith outreach coordinator in California; contributed to the Rebranding the Democratic Party all-day symposia as expert on religion and Latinos; media experience includes LA Times, Washington Post, Chicago Tribune, Dallas Morning News, Christian Science Monitor, Boston Globe, BBC World News, NPR, and the National Press Club. He is working on a book on Religion and the 2008 Presidential Election.

Contact: Gaston Espinosa, 909-621-8395, gaston.espinosa@cmc.edu (prefers email)

Stephen T. Davis, Russell K. Pitzer Professor of Philosophy, Claremont McKenna College

Areas of expertise: How religion affects a voter's choice on Election Day, how religious Americans want their president to be, religion and politics, role of candidate's religious choices, philosophy of religion.

Contact: Stephen Davis, 909-607-2827, stephen.davis@cmc.edu

SUPREME COURT ISSUES

Ralph A. Rossum, Salvatori Professor of Political Philosophy & American Constitution, Director of The Rose Institute of State and Local Government, Claremont McKenna College

Areas of expertise: U.S. Supreme Court, future of Supreme Court, future Supreme Court and lower level federal court appointments; served as deputy director of Bureau of Justice Statistics (BJS), U.S. Department of Justice from 1983 to 1984; author, Federalism, the Supreme Court, and the Seventeenth Amendment: The Irony of Constitutional Democracy.

Contact: Ralph Rossum, 909-607-3392, ralph.rossum@claremontmckenna.edu

IMMIGRATION

Roderic Camp, Philip M. McKenna Professor of the Pacific Rim, Claremont McKenna College

Areas of expertise: Immigration, Mexican politics, religion and politics in Latin America; contributing editor for Microsoft Encarta and World Book Encyclopedia; Senior Associate, Center for Strategic and International Studies, Washington, D.C.

Contact: Roderic Camp, 909-607-4138, roderic.camp@claremontmckenna.edu

Source: Claremont McKenna College

CONTACT: Bryan Cohen of Colehour+Cohen, +1-206-388-8215,
bcohen@colehourcohen.com, for Claremont McKenna College; or Dorothy Buchanan,
Public Affairs of Claremont McKenna College, +1-909-477-9764,
dorothy.buchanan@claremontmckenna.edu

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