The Stentor

Issue date: 11/6/08 Section: News

Media Credit: Kathryn Appelhans Lily Reid Holt Memorial Chapel [Click to enlarge]

Sponsored by The John and Christine Gates Center for Leadership and Personal Growth, a panel of three Lake Forest College professors offered non-partisan political information to over 100 people in the Lily Reid Holt Memorial Chapel on the evening of Oct. 29. Siobhan Moroney, professor of politics, Linda Horowitz, professor of communications and Carrie Nordlund, professor of politics, provided students, many who will be voting for the first time this year, with political perspective in a dialogue entitled, "The U.S. Presidential Election 2008: What's at Stake?"

Although the panel agreed that what is at stake in this election is essentially the same as what is at stake in every other presidential election, this year's presidential candidates Barack Obama and John McCain, are inviting voters to make a choice between experience and change, in an election climate that is different from recent ones.

"In the past, the Republican Party was always very organized…yet, this year the Democratic Party is highly organized and the Republicans are having issues holding it all together," Moroney said. "[Another surprise] is that historically, it has not been considered a good campaign strategy to bring in new voters, yet this year it is an approach that is working for the Obama campaign," Moroney added.

Obama has used the internet and other forms of modern communication to reach youth and appears to have a monopoly on 18-24 year old voters, as polls show that two out of every three young voters claim that they will vote for Obama.

"Obama is very dependent on the youth vote and if those votes do not show up we will have an electoral map that looks very different," Nordlund said. The possibility that Obama may not have a lock on the youth vote due to factors such as the Bradley Effect is a fear that some Democrats have. Nordlund described the Bradley Effect as the case in which white voters claim they will vote for a black candidate but change their mind in the voting booth and choose a white candidate instead. "The psychological factors are huge," Nordlund said. However, the discussion of the Bradley Effect in the media would most likely assist the Democratic Party. "[The Bradley Effect] allows the media to talk about race without mentioning race," Nordlund said.

Continued...

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