UAlbany Hosts Election Night Political Experts

Contact(s):  Catherine Herman (518) 956-8150

ALBANY, N.Y. (October 31, 2008) --  The 2008 presidential contest is in its last week, and with the rhetoric hot and the outcome historic no matter which way the votes go, this election is bound to be the most watched and analyzed in years.

The University at Albany will host an election night panel of political experts, pundits, faculty and students who will, in real time, debate and analyze the night's election trends and results. Media is invited, Tuesday, Nov. 4, 8 p.m.- midnight, Milne Hall 200 and 215 on the Downtown Campus.

"We have a great lineup for election night so I am looking forward to an informative and fun evening at Rockefeller College," said Jeffrey Straussman, dean of Rockefeller College of Public Affairs and Policy.

Program
Milne Hall Room 200:
8-9 p.m. Panel discussion moderated by Jeffrey Straussman, dean of Rockefeller College of Public Affairs and Policy.
9 p.m.-midnight. Students and faculty monitor election results on multiple screens.

Milne Hall Room 215:
8 p.m.-midnight. Students, faculty, and staff gather around a big screen for streaming Internet results.

Election Night Panelists:
Alethia Jones is an assistant professor for the public administration and political science departments at Rockefeller College. She earned her doctorate in political science at Yale University (2005). Her primary teaching and research interests are in the fields of American politics, particularly urban and ethnic politics, and the politics of the policymaking process. She studies the role of politics and policy in integrating immigrant communities into U.S. society.  

Adam Kress served as the lead direct marketing consultant for Friends of John Kerry/Keeping America's Promise (John Kerry's leadership PAC).  Kress led communication strategy efforts for the 2006 election cycle and managed content for both johnkerry.com and keepingamericaspromise.com.  He also spearheaded and launched the official John Kerry podcast, was communication liaison for Lawyers Keeping America's Promise (chaired by Cam Kerry) and played a major role in online fundraising and GOTV efforts.  Kress holds an MPA in government, politics and policy studies from Cornell University and currently is a political science doctoral student at Rockefeller College.
 
Michael J. Malbin is a UAlbany professor of political science who specializes in campaigns and elections (especially the role of money in politics) as well as the politics of the U.S. Congress. He teaches the University at Albany's "Washington Semester" program and is executive director of the Campaign Finance Institute, an independent nonpartisan think-tank in Washington D.C. Malbin has been a reporter for National Journal, resident fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, and has held staff appointments on Capitol Hill and the executive branch. He has also been a member of the National Humanities Council, visiting professor at Yale and guest scholar at The Brookings Institution.

Frank Mauro is the executive director of the Fiscal Policy Institute, a nonpartisan research and education organization that focuses on the tax, budget, economic and related public policy issues. Prior to joining FPI in February 1993, Mauro was deputy director of the State University of New York's Nelson A. Rockefeller Institute of Government.  He previously served as director of research for the last major revision of the New York City Charter and, before that, as secretary of the NYS Assembly's Ways and Means Committee. He was also the founding director of Assembly Speaker Stanley Fink's Program Development Group and, in 1975, of the Assembly Office of Research and Analysis.  He twice received the Air Force Commendation Medal for his work in the field of race relations.

Bruce Miroff is a professor of political science who specializes in the presidency, political leadership, American political theory, and American political development. He earned his undergraduate and graduate degrees at the University of California, Berkeley.  His books include Icons of Democracy:  American Leaders as Heroes, Aristocrats, Dissenters, and Democrats (1993), Second Edition (1998), Debating Democracy: A Reader in American Politics (with Seidelman and Swanstrom), Second Edition (1999).   His most recent books are The Liberals� Moment: The McGovern Insurgency and the Identity Crisis of the Democratic Party (2007), The Democratic Debate (Fourth Edition, 2007), and Debating Democracy (Sixth Edition, 2009).

Jennifer Stromer-Galley is an assistant professor in UAlbany's Department of Communication. Her research interests include the political uses of new communication technology, including blogging, campaigning through the internet, and citizen's political talk. Her teaching expertise includes political campaigning, presidential and legislative communication, public opinion, the internet and politics, and deliberative democracy. She is also webmaster for the League of Women Voters of Albany County. She received her doctorate from the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Pennsylvania.

David Smingler, a 1970 graduate of UAlbany, has served as an aide in the State Senate for nearly 32 years.  His assignments have ranged from opening the office of a freshman Senator to managing information systems for the Majority Leader.  He is currently a policy analyst for Senator Hugh Farley, also a UAlbany alumnus and a professor emeritus at the School of Business.

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