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Podcast with Prof. Mark Rozell

Prof. Mark Rozell, GMU School of Public Policy

Prof. Rodger Smith, GMU Dept. of Communications and WGMU Faculty Advisor, interviews Prof. Mark Rozell, GMU Public Policy. This is a two part of interview with Mark Rozell, the author of nine books and editor of twenty books on various topics in U.S. government and politics including the presidency, religion and politics, media and politics, and interest groups in elections.

He has testified before Congress on several occasions on executive privilege issues and has lectured extensively in the U.S. and abroad.

Professor Rozell writes frequent op-ed columns in such publications as Roll Call and Politico. He is often asked to comment about his areas of expertise for television and in publications such as The Washington Post and Time Magazine.

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Podcast with Prof. Janette Muir

Dr. Janette Muir, Assoc. Provost, GMU

Interview with Professor Dr. Janette Muir, Associate Provost at George Mason University by Professor Rodger Smith of the GMU Communications Department and WGMU Faculty Advisor:

Here are two parts of an interview with Dr. Janette Muir, who teaches courses in Political Communication and Rhetoric and has written several articles on presidential campaigns and political activism.

Her courses tend to be highly interactive — from taking students to New Hampshire to follow presidential candidate campaigns, to involving them in convention planning for major conferences. She also facilitated a course on Inter-generational Dialogues that paired undergrad GMU students with students from the Learning in Retirement Institute at GMU.

Dr. Muir has received a GMU Teaching Excellence Award, she is a C-SPAN Fellow, past president of the Eastern Communication Association, and she is actively involved in both the National Communication Association and the American Association of Higher Education.

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Top 3 In Line For Obama Tickets

The first 3 students in line to get tickets today to see President Obama in the Center for Arts, Concert Hall were Melissa Smith, Amanda Marturano, and Michelle Sleribida. Smith arrived Wednesday around 10:45 p.m. while Marurano and Sleribida arrived shortly after at 11:00p.m. Smith is a second year graduate student at Mason and this will be her first time getting to see the President. She is a supporter and voted for him in 2008. Marturano and Sleribida are friends that came to get tickets, are supporters of the president, and will also be seeing him live for the first time.

There were hundreds of students, faculty and staff in line and even some local residents eager to obtain tickets. The tickets were given out starting at 9:30 a.m and were distributed relatively fast by a team of volunteers. Having the President on campus this close to election is a great experience for students here at Mason. Regardless of who you vote for if you already have a ticket or able to get one make sure you are at the Concert Hall tomorrow because it will be an opportunity you will not want to miss.

Romney Wins First Presidential Debate

Anyone who has followed my columns here at Mason Votes have seen that I’m not above criticizing Mitt Romney when needed. I try to be as fair as I can while holding my views. That being said, I think Mitt Romney won the first Presidential debate of 2012, and it wasn’t close.

There were no big zingers or pre-prepared moments by either man. There was just a clash of ideas and records. Romney looked engaged, energetic and in command. Every time he attacked the President, he stared him down and said, “YOU raise taxes and YOU kill jobs.” In short, it looked like he wanted to be there and was ready to fight.

President Obama, on the other hand, was the opposite. Many times he’s been criticized for being detached and ‘above it all’. That seemed like how he was acting on stage. He seemed like he did not want to be there. He had his talking points, as did Romney. But the difference was when the President attacked Gov. Romney he rebutted the Obama effectively. When Romney attacked Obama, he seemed to have no Plan B or second rebuttal to return fire. He went back to the well over and over again. The result didn’t change. Time and time again Romney would block Obama’s argument and the President would follow with either a subject change or just a reiteration of his original point. It seemed he had no response to Romney’s attacks.

Romney effectively rebuffed Obama’s charge that somehow he’d raise taxes on anybody, much less the middle class by invoking his sons. Obama kept making the claim even though Romney kept saying it wasn’t true. Near the end, Romney even quipped, “Mr. President, your entitled to your own plane and your own house, but not your own facts.” Also at points, Obama was making the case for his plan but using Bill Clinton’s Presidency as a defense. But again, Romney reminded debate watchers that it was Obama’s plan, now four years old, that’s caused our current state of affairs. “You’ve been President for four years,” Romney kept reminding us.

The issue of healthcare was also a major topic. The President actually said he’s grown “fond” of the term Obamacare. Romney ravaged Obamacare on it’s Medicare cuts and the advisory panels all while defending his own plan in Massachusetts as being acceptable because it was done at the state level. Obama attempted to defend the law by citing positive aspects like covering preexisting conditions and allowing young people to stay on their parents’ plan. Again though, when Romney retorted saying those parts are in his plan too, Obama seemed dumfounded. He even used a private clinic in Ohio to defend the government centered plan. The President just seemed unable to defend his record while also being unable to effectively land any punches on Romney’s plans.

You may chalk up the Romney debate win to a challenger’s momentum or Romney’s vast debating experience. You could even say Obama may have been rusty. All of these excuses may or may not have been a factor. Regardless, this was the first clash of ideas from the two men vying for the Oval Office and on this night it was Mitt Romney that looked like he wanted it and was willing to fight for it. Barack Obama seemed unsteady, aloof, and disconnected from not only the debate but from America’s problems, for which he does not have a sufficient plan to fix.

*The views and opinions expressed are solely those of the author.

MasonVotes Presidential Debate Watch Liveblog

Stay tuned for a liveblog of tonight’s Oct. 3, 2012 Presidential Debate.

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Thank you for coming to tonight’s Mason Votes Debate Watch Party. Join us again Oct. 11 for the Vice Presidential Debate Watch Party here in the JC Atrium.

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Jim Lehrer thanks everyone and says, “Goodnight”

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Who do you think won tonight’s debate? Post your answers on the MasonVotes facebook page at facebook.com/masonvotes.

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Stay after the debate and be part of the live crowd for the NBC4 live broadcast from GMU JC Atrium during their 11:00pm news coverage.

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Candidates now at closing statements.

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20 minutes remaining in the first presidential debate.

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Candidates now speaking about the Affordable Health Care Act.

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Candidates now talking about Medicare.

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Good sized crowd tonight in the Johnson Center Atrium watching the debate.

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Candidates still talking about their differences on doing something about the deficit.

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Question to the candidates, “What are your differences in tackling the deficit?”

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Post your reactions to tonight’s debate on the MasonVotes.gmu.edu web site in the comments section of the Debate Watch liveblog post.

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Pizza has arrived. Pick up your FREE Slice at the Mason Votes Kiosk.

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The discussion has moved to the Affordable Care Act or also referred to as “Obamacare”.

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The debate will begin at 9pm EST.

Jill Stein: Green Party

Jill Stein, Presidential Candidate for Green Party

Jill is a Green Party Presidential Candidate, a “mother, physician, longtime teacher of internal medicine, and pioneering environmental-health advocate,” as stated in her biography on her campaign website.

She co-authored, In Harm’s Way: Toxic Threats to Child Development as well as Environmental Threats to Healthy Aging. These are two widely-praised reports that Dr. Stein has used to promote green local economies, clean power, sustainable agriculture, and freedom from toxic threats, especially concerning health threats to children. She realized politicians were not working to prevent these areas when she became an advocate for the environment in 1998. Jill Stein worked to create a “Secure Green Future” ballot initiative which worked towards speeding up renewable energy use in Massachusetts in 2008.

Dr. Stein was born and raised in Illinois, graduated magna cum laude from Harvard College in 1973 and from Harvard Medical School in 1979. She currently lives in Lexington, Massachusetts with her husband, a fellow physician. She is the mother of Ben and Noah Stein, who recently graduated from college.

http://www.jillstein.org/

President Obama to Campaign at the Center for the Arts

On Friday, October 5, 2012 at the Center for the Arts, Concert Hall, a grassroots event will occur with President Barack Obama sponsored by Obama for America.

This event is free and open to the public; however, tickets are required. Ticket distribution will begin at 9:00 a.m. on Thursday, October 4, in the lobby of the Center for the Arts, Concert Hall. Tickets will be distributed on a first come first serve basis. A limited number of tickets are being made available to the Mason community. One ticket will be distributed per person with a Mason student, faculty or staff ID.

Cameras are allowed, however, no signs or banners are permitted. Attendees should limit personal items and not bring bags, backpacks or purses. Once filled, the Center for the Arts, Concert Hall doors will close.

Romney’s Mission in the First Debate

Mitt Romney has a unique opportunity tonight to make a direct appeal to voters and contrast sharply with the sitting President of the United States.

Romney doesn’t have the problem that Ronald Reagan had coming into a debate. A good portion of Americans can envision him as President. What Romney must do is do everything he can to contrast and show the American people why Barack Obama is unfit to remain in the Oval Office based on the results of his first four years. This will require Romney to be forceful and attack the President. He doesn’t have to be mean, just resolute and not allow Obama to distract and distort.

One can bet that we’re going to hear Obama take swipes at Romney’s personal biography. Be it his Bain Capital record or his taxes, the President will focus a lot of his energy on attacking Romney personally. Romney must push back forcefully against this line of attack. John McCain didn’t directly deliver a defense to the “Bush’s third term” attack line until the final debate and the line stuck through Election Day. This cannot happen to Romney. I don’t think calling Obama a liar would be a smart idea, but Romney should absolutely make it clear that these attacks are offensive and untrue. He could also throw in a line about the Obama advisor that attacked his wife too. Frame the President’s campaign as a character assassination gambit, and make it clear he will fail. There shouldn’t be a false Obama attack line that isn’t met with a pushback twice as hard.

For people who favor Romney to be more conciliatory and work on his humanity, I would disagree. It’s too late for likeability to be improved, even if it was unfairly tarnished to begin with. Now is the time for issues and drawing a distinction on policy. This debate is on domestic issues, so Romney should only need to hammer home the point that there is not a single economic statistic that is better now than it was in January of 2009. We are not better of than we were when Barack Obama took office. That point alone should do mountains of damage to Obama. It’s an attack he cannot defend besides blaming President Bush, which Romney can attack as blame shifting.

The key is to be strong. Many conservatives are antsy about Romney’s supposedly being gun-shy and not going for Obama’s throat. Romney needs to put those critics to rest tonight. He needs to be as forceful and motivated as we’ve ever seen him. He has to act like he wants this job and that the future of America is hanging in the balance, because it is.

*The views and opinions expressed are solely those of the author.

First Presidential Debate Tonight

Tonight at 9 PM Eastern, the first of the 2012 Presidential debates will take place at the University of Denver. Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney will debate incumbent President Barack Obama in what many see as the most anticipated first debate in some time.

Romney comes in slightly trailing the President and vying for some kind of moment to knock the Obama out of his lead. The conventional wisdom seems to be that debates rarely make that much difference, accept when something unusual or dramatic happens. Ronald Reagan’s “There you go again” line against Jimmy Carter, Michael Dukakis’ timid answer on the death penalty, or President George H.W. Bush’s glancing at his watch as Bill Clinton made an emotional appeal to a voter. These unscripted moments are what might make tonight’s debate matter.

In debates that include a sitting President, the challenger usually gets a bump due to the fact that he’s on the same stage as the leader of the free world. However, that only provides the spotlight. What Romney does with that time in the spotlight is what will determine how effectively he takes advantage of this opportunity.

President Obama comes into these debates with a slight lead but his advisors are feverishly trying to downplay expectations on the off chance Romney does well and wins the debate. They have made comments building up Romney’s debating prowess and experience and saying how difficult it is to be a sitting President in these forums. Playing the expectations game isn’t new or surprising, and the Obama team is taking no chances.

The debate will focus on domestic issues, which should also give the Obama team pause. It’s there that Romney would have the most chances to attack the President on his handling of an economy that’s still sluggish. Some politicos have stressed Romney’s need to look more human and conciliatory, while others have stressed a need to attack Obama and forcefully make the case that he is not the right man for the job.

In the 90 minutes the two men will have tonight, one thing is certain: This will be the first opportunity for tens of millions of Americans to see and hear, unfiltered, unedited, the men who vie to be their leader the next four years.

1-on-1 with Mason Votes: SEP Presidential Candidate Jerry White

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WOEeN6hAdXY&feature=g-upl[/youtube]

Recently, Socialist Equality Presidential candidate Jerry White visited Virginia to speak at Northern Virginia Community College. Before his speech he stopped by the George Mason campus to deliver a 1-on-1 interview with Mason Votes reporter Nathan Moore.

The interview covered such diverse topics as the relevance of Russian revolutionary Leon Trotsky’s theories in the world today to the SEP’s policies that would benefit college students and free them from debt.