Humphrey Institute: Convention Politics and the Fall Elections

The Hubert H. Humphrey Institute of Public Affairs at the University of Minnesota has hosted panels throughout this week on topics important to the presidential election. Today's midday panel, “Convention Politics and the Fall Elections,” featured opinions from several distinguished academics, including Ramesh Ponnuru of the National Review and Larry Sabato, Director of the Center for Politics at the University of Virginia.

Most of the subjects the panelists broached involved the conditions leading up to this election and the issues that will be the most important to voters leading up to election day. They also noted contrasts between the two conventions so far, especially the amount of energy displayed by the delegates and attendees.

The panelists were divided in their opinion of direction either campaign will take before the election. Panelist Sabato stated in his opening remarks that McCain has missed an opportunity so far by “not running against Congress,” and that he should do so soon. Panelist Ponnuru stated that he thought that “the way that McCain governs will correlate to the way he campaigns.” All panelists expressed hope that each campaign would remain focused on issues and be able to fulfill their promises.