Forum Seeks to Go "Inside" Primary Process and Candidate Strategies
Better-informed electorate is goal of free educational event
NEW LONDON, N.H., Sept. 25, 2007 – In anticipation of the upcoming New Hampshire presidential primary, Adventures in Learning is hosting a special educational forum to explore the impact of the foreshortened primary schedule on New Hampshire's pivotal role in the process, and to discuss the candidates' campaign strategies and the thinking behind what they say and do.
The forum, entitled “Inside the New Hampshire Presidential Primary,” will be held at Colby-Sawyer College in New London on Saturday, October 20, from 10 a.m. to noon. It is part of a yearlong celebration to commemorate the tenth anniversary of Adventures in Learning, a community-based program of educational enrichment sponsored by Colby-Sawyer College for people in the Kearsarge-Lake Sunapee Region.
Admission to the forum is free, but registration is required by calling the Adventures in Learning Office at (603) 526-3690.
“The 2008 New Hampshire presidential primary promises to be one of the most remarkable and significant in recent memory,” notes Morris Edwards, chairman of the Adventures in Learning Curriculum Committee and the forum moderator. “Given what's happening in the world, selection of our nation's next leader is a crucial issue. We hope the forum will help voters to make a better-informed decision when they go to the primary polls.” It's a particularly important decision, Edwards believes, because the earlier primaries of the larger states have given New Hampshire's “first in the nation” role even greater influence.
Analyzing and commenting on the accelerated primary process and the candidate strategies will be three experienced, non-partisan speakers who are intimately involved with the New Hampshire primary. The Honorable William Gardner, New Hampshire Secretary of State, who sets the date of the primary, will lead off with a historical review of the presidential primary process and New Hampshire's traditional pivotal role within it.
Dr. Dean Spiliotes, a frequent political commentator for local, national and international print, broadcast and web-based media, will draw on his 25 years of analyzing past campaigns to identify what has previously succeeded and failed, and to assess the contrasting strategies of today's front runners in both parties and the candidates chasing them. He is the former director of St. Anselm's New Hampshire Institute of Politics.
Jon Greenberg, executive editor at New Hampshire Public Radio (NHPR), is following voters in Exeter, N.H., throughout the primary season for a series on NHPR and National Public Radio. He will use his findings from this and past primaries to explore what makes certain voters gravitate toward particular campaigns and how candidates hone their messages and outreach strategies to win support—a fascinating view of the primary from the ground up.
The forum will conclude with a Q&A session for attendees to have their questions answered directly and without political spin.
For more information, contact Janet St. Laurent at Adventures in Learning, at jstlaure@colb-sawyer.edu or by phone at (603) 526-3690.
Colby-Sawyer, founded in 1837, is a comprehensive liberal arts college located in the scenic Lake Sunapee Region of central New Hampshire. Students from 25 states and five foreign countries learn in small classes through a select array of programs that integrate the liberal arts and sciences with pre-professional experience. Visit us on the World Wide Web at www.colby-sawyer.edu.
Colby-Sawyer College, 541 Main Street, New London, N.H. 03257 (603) 526-3000
