2008 Campaign Staffers to Visit IOP

The Institute of Politics (IOP) announced yesterday that it plans to co-host a set of discussions in mid-March featuring the senior advisers for several 2008 presidential contenders, in collaboration with the Kennedy School of Government’s Shorenstein Center on the Press, Politics, and Public Policy.

The first event of the series, “Campaign 2008: Looking Ahead,” will be held March 5 and is billed to feature advisers from the campaigns of Republican candidates including former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, Sen. John McCain of Arizona, and former Mass. Gov. Mitt Romney.

Advisers from the Democratic contenders Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton of New York, former Sen. John Edwards of North Carolina, and Sen. Barack H. Obama of Illinois will participate in the following event, scheduled for March 19.

IOP Director Jeanne Shaheen said the institute has held similar discussions at the conclusion of each election cycle since 1972. However, next month’s event is unique in that it comes long before Election Day, as many candidates are formalizing their bids.

The sessions, held in collaboration, will be moderated by ABC News Political Director Mark E. Halperin ’87 as well as Adjunct Lecturer in Public Policy at the Shorenstein Center and former presidential media adviser Mark McKinnon.

Halperin said the event will increase communication to help prevent the “freak show” of past presidential elections, which he said had been precipitated by extreme views on both sides of the political spectrum.

The goal of the event, Halperin added, is to provide the political representatives with an opportunity to engage in an “orderly” discussion at a time when the presidential campaign “is going into hyper speed.”

Shaheen said it is important for the political contenders to establish “markers”—landmarks along the campaign trail including endorsements, donations, or position papers that signal the relative strengths of presidential campaigns.

“I hope this will be one of the events that helps lay down some of those markers and sets the frame for what happens in the 2008 race,” she said.

Getting political advisers to divulge their campaign secrets in the heat of the race is unlikely, Halperin said.

“I don’t think we expect people to come in and spill their blueprints,” he added.

But much of the important campaign information is not private, according to Shaheen.

“What makes a campaign successful is how you deal with challenges that come up along the trail,” she said.

Following the two scheduled sessions in March, the IOP plans to hold discussions that will give Democratic and Republican campaign advisers a chance to talk across party lines, according to Shaheen. The discussions are also expected to include advisers from other 2008 presidential bids.

Advisers from all 2008 campaigns were invited to participate in the series, but only those currently scheduled to participate have confirmed.

Halperin said he hopes the event will help expose the negative aspects of the presidential campaign process and make the upcoming elections more substantive.

“Maybe by putting some sunshine on some of these aspects, we can push them to the fringes,” he said.