ITHACA, N.Y. -- Newswise — Nationally known politicians, pundits and partisans will visit the Cornell University campus this fall for an election-season debate and lecture series presented by the student group Cornell Mock Election 2004 Steering Committee. The first major event will be a public debate between David Corn of The Nation and Rich Lowry of the National Review on Sept. 14 in Statler Hall Auditorium.
The fall lineup includes a Third Party Presidential Debate, a labor outsourcing debate, and lectures by: Sandy Berger, former national security adviser under President Bill Clinton; Alan Keyes, a Republican U.S. Senate candidate in Illinois; and U.S. Rep. Barney Frank (D-Mass.). The series concludes with an online mock election in which Cornell students can cast their votes for the 2004 presidential election.
The Mock Election Steering Committee comprises about 40 students, from all parts of the political spectrum. Their goal is to motivate students about the election issues and to urge them to vote. "We're trying to give students opportunities to think about the issues and to stimulate dialogue," said Michael Zuckerman '06, the president of Mock Election. "Hopefully they will register and vote in the real election."
The idea for Mock Election grew from a humble seed, said Zuckerman, who with other students spent this past summer organizing the series. "Initially we thought about just having an online poll, but that idea snowballed into a very large program," he said. "I am pleasantly surprised that it has turned out this big."
The group, which is assisted by Cornell's Office of the Assemblies, has an up-to-date Web site, MockElection.cornell.edu, and it is currently developing more debates and lectures for the fall.
The lineup, to-date, for the lecture and debate series follows:
Sept. 14 -- Face Off: A Partisan Publication Debate Between David Corn and Rich Lowry, Statler Hall Auditorium, 7 p.m. David Corn, the Washington editor of The Nation and author of The Lies of George W. Bush will face Rich Lowry, editor of The National Review and author of Legacy:
Paying the Price for the Clinton Years. Tickets will be available for Cornell students and the general public beginning Tuesday, Sept. 7, at the Willard Straight Hall Ticket Office. All tickets are free and there is general admission seating. (The event is co-sponsored by the Cornell University Program Board.)
Sept. 22 -- Republican Keynote Lecture: Alan Keyes, James Law Auditorium, Schurman Hall (evening, time to be announced). Two-time presidential candidate Keyes is now the Republican candidate for the U.S. Senate seat from Illinois.
Sept. 30 -- Presidential Debate screening at Willard Straight Hall Theatre, 8 p.m. The televised debate will be shown in the Cornell Cinema Theater.
Oct. 4 -- Congressional Debate in the Memorial Room of Willard Straight Hall, noon to 1 p.m. U.S. Rep. Maurice Hinchey (D-N.Y.) takes on his Republican challenger (yet to be determined).
Oct. 6 -- Third Party Presidential Debate in James Law Auditorium, Schurman Hall. 8 p.m. Green Party candidate David Cobb, Socialist Party candidate Walt Brown, Libertarian Party candidate Michael Badnarik and Constitution Party candidate Michael Peroutka will square off in a rare debate among third-party hopefuls.
Oct. 15 -- Outsourcing Debate: Richard Trumka vs. Tom Donohue, 305 Ives Hall, from 11.a.m. to noon. Trumka, the secretary-treasurer of the AFL-CIO, squares off against Donohue, president of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, on the merits and problems of outsourcing labor.
Oct. 18 -- Congressional Lecture: U.S. Rep. Barney Frank, at a place and time to be announced.
Oct. 20 -- Book Signing and Debate: Bill Press, a political analyst on MSNBC, and Ronald Kessler, a former Washington Post reporter, will sign their books in the afternoon at the Cornell Store on campus. Press has written Bush Must Go: Top Ten Reasons Why Bush Does Not Deserve a Second Term, and Kessler has authored A Matter of Character: Inside the White House of George W. Bush. There will be an evening debate between Press, the former host of CNN's "Crossfire," and Kessler at a time and place to be announced.
Oct. 21 -- Sandy Berger, President Clinton's former national security adviser, will lecture in Statler Hall Auditorium; time to be announced.
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