Other questions include what impact the Tea Party will have on midterm elections and shaping the GOP; whether President Obama’s campaign involvement will be a help or hindrance to Democratic candidates in the homestretch; and how hotly contested gubernatorial and state legislative races will shape the national political landscape in the coming years.
To arrange interviews, contact Peggy Binette at 803-777-5400 or via e-mail at [email protected]. Faculty contact information also is included.
** An insider’s perspective on 21st-century politicsCharles Bierbauer, dean of the university’s College of Mass Communications and Information Studies and a former political reporter for CNN, can discuss political media coverage and how it has been changed by the Internet, blogs and the 24-hour news cycle. He can address gubernatorial and key legislative races in South Carolina and throughout the nation. Bierbauer covered presidential and midterm campaign cycles from 1984 – 2000.
** Politics and the black voteDr. Todd Shaw, an assistant professor of political science, is an expert on American racial and ethnic politics, African-American politics, as well as urban and local politics. Among the areas of public policy he examines are housing policies. Shaw can address the importance of the black vote as it pertains to key races in South Carolina as well as nationally.
** South Carolina political historyDr. Lacy Ford, a professor of history and vice provost, specializes in South Carolina history, particularly the Palmetto State’s rich political history. Ford can discuss how South Carolina fits into the Southern and national political landscape. His latest book, “Deliver Us From Evil: The Slavery Question in the Old South, was released in 2009.
** Polling, public opinion and electionsDr. Robert Oldendick is a professor of political science and an expert on elections and polling. As director of the university’s Institute for Public Service and Policy Research, he oversees the operations of the institute’s survey research laboratory. Oldendick can discuss public opinion and political polling, particularly polling for the midterms and some of the challenges associated with identifying likely voters and voter turnout. He can address polling and public opinion as they apply to legislative races nationally and as well as key races in South Carolina.
** South Carolina politics Dr. Mark Tompkins, a professor of political science who has taught South Carolina politics for many years, can offer incisive commentary on candidates and the various races in the Palmetto State. He also can discuss the mood of South Carolina’s electorate and key issues for the state’s voters. An authority on healthcare reform, he can address what impact that the passage of the healthcare reform bill may have on midterm elections nationally.
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