Dialogue Across Difference

While the spotlight remains on the presidential race, the upcoming congressional elections will play a pivotal role in determining which policies the next president can successfully pass. Majority party control in both the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate is up for grabs. Join University of Minnesota Associate Professor and congressional scholar, Kathryn Pearson, alongside congressional expert Professor Wendy J. Schiller, director of the Taubman Center for American Politics and Policy at Brown University, as they explore the high-stakes battle for control of Congress and what we can expect in the upcoming elections.

As election day approaches, the presidential contest remains unpredictable. Joe Biden’s unexpected decision to drop out of the race and pass the torch to Kamala Harris has energized the Democrats, but will it be enough to lead them to victory, or will Donald Trump make a return to the Oval Office? Democratic campaign strategist Rebecca Pearcey and Republican consultant Kirsten Kukowski analyze the high-stakes strategies and challenges each party faces in the 2024 election.

Support by Black and Latino voters for Democrats has declined somewhat in polls and in recent elections, raising questions about the scale, possible sources, and broader implications for American party politics. How does the current moment compare to the past? Is this part of a general shift away from the Democratic Party and towards Republicans by conservative and working class voters? And to the extent that changes are afoot, what might explain them?

Daniel HoSang, Alvin Tillery, and Chloe Thurston, leading experts on political ideology, voter behavior, and racial politics, join the conversation.

Helping low income Americans move up economically remains an important challenge for policy makers. This is especially true in rural America. Robert Doar, President, American Enterprise Institute, visits to discuss today's conservative responses to poverty and limited economic mobility. His visit is part of the Conservative Voices at the Humphrey School series with Vin Weber and Larry Jacobs

About this series:

"Conservative Voices at the Humphrey School" will highlight prominent conservative thinkers and public officials from a variety of policy areas and backgrounds. The series is presented by the Center for the Study of Politics and Governance whose mission is to generate dialogue across difference by stimulating vigorous and civil debate. Prior guests include Ramesh Ponnuru (Senior Editor, National Review); Aimee Guidera (Secretary of Education, Virginia); and Stephen Hadley (National Security Advisor, George W. Bush).

Can the United States continue to conduct free and fair elections? Richard Hasen, the Gary T. Schwartz Endowed Chair in Law and Director of the Safeguarding Democracy Project at UCLA School of Law and Jennifer Morrell, partner at the Elections Group, will consider risks to the fair counting of ballots and the prospect that some voters and candidates may not accept election results as legitimate

You can find a list of nonpartisan election information resources from Jennifer Morrell here: https://z.umn.edu/NonpartisanElectionResources

As the Democratic Party gathers in Chicago for its national convention, its prospects in the 2024 elections are dampened by its loss of the working class and the center of the American electorate. Author and editor-at-large at Talking Points Memo John Judis dissects the sources of this abandonment and how Democrats can avoid political disaster in the days ahead.

The momentous 2024 elections will be awash with reporting on existential questions about our democracy as well as relentless polling numbers and campaign intrigue. Minnesota native James Hohmann, a respected editorial writer and columnist at the Washington Post, joins us to help break down the inside stories of the 2024 elections.

Stephen Hadley, former National Security Advisor to President George W. Bush, discusses China, Russia/Ukraine, and the Middle East in a conversation moderated by former Congressman Vin Weber and Professor Larry Jacobs.

Women will be a driving force in the epic elections in 2024 for president and congress. Anna Greenberg, one of the premier political consultants in the country, joins Professor Kathryn Pearson to pinpoint the critical issues and dynamics at play.

Anna Greenberg has worked on numerous prominent Democratic campaigns including those of Minnesota Senators Tina Smith and Amy Klobuchar. She won the “Pollster of the Year” award from the American Association of Political Consultants and has served on the boards of two premier survey research organizations - the Roper Center for Public Opinion Research and the American National Election Study. Greenberg received a BA in Government from Cornell University and Ph.D. in Political Science from the University of Chicago.

Finding common ground in Washington is rare and urgent. Rob Portman has a record of passing more than 200 bills that were signed into law by Presidents Obama, Trump, and Biden. His leadership is exemplified by the 2021 infrastructure bill that builds an economic lifeline to the future, support to defend Ukraine’s freedom in the face of growing Republican resistance, and courageous defense of his son’s decision to come out as gay. In conversation with moderator Larry Jacobs, Rob Portman will draw on his three decades of experience working for two Republican Presidents and serving in Congress as a Republican Representative and US Senator to identify his approaches to achieving bipartisan progress.

About the Series:

The Nakasaka Dialogues stimulate conversations about the state of public life and encourage progress toward our shared bonds.

This event series is made possible by a generous contribution from Humphrey School of Public Affairs alumnus Kiyoshi Nakasaka.