Center for Political Participation

Plans to internationalize the novel outreach program are under consideration

MEADVILLE, Pa. – April 21, 2009 – More than 140 participants—a record number of high school students and their teachers, Allegheny students, staff and faculty—will gather on Allegheny’s campus on Wednesday, April 29 to be part of the fifth annual Model Campaign USA.

Model Campaign USA is a regional competition sponsored by the Center for Political Participation that examines lessons learned in the semester-long program on the art and ethics of political campaigns.

“Involvement in electoral politics is arguably the foundation for many other types of civic engagement,” said Professor Daniel Shea, who directs the Center for Political Participation at Allegheny College. “We have seen that students who participate in education outreach activities such as Model Campaign USA develop skills and interests that can lead to a lifetime of civic responsibility and, in turn, create a stronger democracy.

“In fact, the program’s success is now prompting us to consider expanding it internationally,” Shea added. “I’m convinced that the expertise we’ve developed in teaching and engaging young Americans about political participation through Model Campaign USA can readily be transferred to politically inexperienced populations in expanding democracies.”

How Model Campaign USA Works
Model Campaign USA is designed with two specific goals in mind. First, it is meant to serve as a standard for teaching students how to run ethical campaigns, as opposed to the “win-at-all-costs” attitude. Second, by utilizing a hands-on learning and teaching approach, the Center for Political Participation hopes to inform students about the campaign process as a way to spur life-long involvement in politics.

Aided by top Allegheny College political science student-coordinators, area high school students meet regularly throughout the spring term to learn to design their own campaigns.
The weekly sessions cover “how-to” topics ranging from managing and reacting to crisis situations and writing press releases, to specialized responsibilities such as managing campaign budgets.

The culminating experience of the semester takes the shape of a fast-paced, mock campaign event, in which teams compete in a series of face-to-face challenges as they race to “win their districts.”

Among other activities, students will prepare a television ad and a campaign speech and attend a roundtable discussion with campaign consultants. The teams will be judged and given awards in categories such as effort, growth as a team and overall performance.

For more information, contact Center for Political Participation Coordinator Mary Solberg at (814) 332-6201.

“Hot Shots of the 2008 Election”

MEADVILLE, Pa. – March 17, 2009 – The Center for Political Participation (CPP) at Allegheny College will host a daylong conference, “Hot Shots of the 2008 Election,” on April 2 to explore lessons learned by young political operatives during the 2008 election.

“On both sides of the political aisle, races in 2008 were among the most intriguing in American history. That young people played an important role in the election is indisputable, but the nuts and bolts of what they did and how they did it has yet to be carefully explored,” said Daniel Shea, professor of political science and director of the CPP.

“We’re excited about this opportunity to talk to young campaign professionals to hear about their experiences firsthand. The stories they’ll share will have practical value for those pursuing any number of professions, not only politics but also public service, business, management, marketing, communications and journalism.”

Sarah Simmons, strategy director for senator and 2008 presidential candidate John McCain, will present the event’s keynote lecture, “Future Stars: What’s Ahead for Young Campaign Activists,” at a reception and dinner at 5:45 p.m. in the Tillotson Room of the Tippie Alumni Center.

Earlier in the day, beginning at 2:30 p.m. in the Campus Center, a group of young professionals who worked in the key battleground states of Pennsylvania, New York, Ohio, Maryland and New Hampshire will present a series of workshops on topics that include direct mail, grassroots organizing, finance and law, and campaign commercials.

At 4:30 p.m. in Henderson Auditorium of Quigley Hall, CPP Research Fellow and Assistant Professor of Political Science Melissa Comber will moderate a panel discussion titled “Impact and Implications: The Role of Youth in Campaign Consulting.” Specific topics will include political operatives’ experiences on choosing a candidate, working on the campaign trail and, when their efforts were successful, their candidate’s transition to office.

Panelists and workshop presenters are:

• Jon Black, RNC field operative working with several U.S. Senate races; a 2005 graduate of Allegheny
• Dan Conant, North Country field coordinator for the New Hampshire Democratic Party; a 2007 graduate of Allegheny
• Adam Fogel, Right to Vote director of FairVote, Center for Voting and Democracy, Takoma Park, Md.; a 2007 graduate of Allegheny
• Ryan Meerstein, John McCain 2008 Ohio State director; a 2003 graduate of Allegheny
• Ashlee Rich, former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani’s lead pollster, now working as a senior research analyst for the Tarrance Group; a 2005 graduate of Allegheny
• Ben Swanekamp, regional coordinator, New York State Senate; a 2008 graduate of Allegheny
• Jason Torchinsky, partner with HoltzmanVogel PLLC, which specializes in campaign finance, election law, lobbying disclosure and issue advocacy groups. Campaigns & Elections magazine named Torchinsky a “Rising Star of Politics” in 2007.

The conference is free and open to the public, but spaces are limited and advanced registration is required. Register by March 30. For more information call CPP Project Coordinator Mary Solberg at 814-332-6202.

About Keynote Speaker Sarah Simmons

When keynote speaker Sarah Simmons, now 34, began working for McCain’s presidential campaign in January 2007, she didn’t envision being out of a job by July. But with the Arizona senator’s run for the White House reeling and out of cash, Simmons was forced into a summer and fall hiatus before the “Comeback Kid” brought her back on board.

To turn things around, she implemented a disciplined political strategy based largely on polling results. Managing television and radio messaging, Simmons focused her energy on developing the campaign’s message and delivering that message to key voter groups.

In 2006 Simmons was deputy strategist for Arnold Schwarzenegger’s re-election as governor of California. She also served as an associate director in the Office of Strategic Initiatives in the Bush White House and was a senior project director for Public Opinion Strategies, where she managed survey research. In 2007 Campaigns and Elections magazine named Simmons a “Rising Star of Politics.”

About the Allegheny College Center for Political Participation
The Center for Political Participation is dedicated to fostering an appreciation for the vital link between an engaged, active citizenry and a healthy democracy. To that end, the center seeks new strategies and mechanisms for promoting political participation among all citizens, with a particular focus on young Americans.

The Center for Political Participation opened on October 18, 2002 with the goals of helping all Americans better understand the importance of political action and getting involved. The center has established programs for three audiences: our students (campus activities), scholars nationwide (scholarly research), and citizens of the wider community (educational outreach).

The Center for Political Participation at Allegheny College sincerely appreciates all submissions to the proposed “Cyber Scrapbook: Reflections of Youth on the 2008 Election.”

Unfortunately, there were not enough submissions to the project to make it a success. The Cyber Scrapbook, therefore, will not be published at this time.

The Center for Political Participation, however, is honoring its promise to give away an IPod Touch to three people who participated in the project. The winners were randomly selected. They are:

Kathleen Casto of Greensboro, N.C.
Niick Gazett of St. Cloud, Minn.
Kenny Kinlund of Tecumseh, Neb.

Congratulations to the winners!

Although the proposed project did not work, it was heartening to see the passionate response so many people had to the 2008 election. Keep that spirit alive!

MEADVILLE, Pa. – Nov. 11, 2008 – The Center for Political Participation at Allegheny College will host a special post-election event, “Full Disclosure: The Media and the 2008 Election,” on Nov. 20.

“With the results of the presidential contest still fresh, we expect that Allegheny’s conference about the role of media in the historic 2008 election will facilitate a lively discussion among media professionals, college newspaper editors, students and members of the community,” said Daniel M. Shea, professor of political science and director of the Center for Political Participation at Allegheny College.

E.J. Dionne Jr., a widely syndicated Washington Post columnist, will present the conference keynote address, titled “Election 2008: What Exactly Happened and What Will It Mean?,” at 7:30 p.m. in Ford Chapel. Dionne will discuss the long-term implications of the election, what we can expect from the new administration and how the extraordinary economic events that are going on now could leave a mark on our politics for years, even decades, to come.

While Dionne’s presentation will offer a national perspective on the meaning of the 2008 election, journalists representing print, broadcast and new media from across the country will participate in a roundtable discussion, titled “The Role of the Media in the 2008 Election,” at 4:30 p.m. in the Vukovich Center for Communication Arts.

Participating in the roundtable with Dionne will be Mark Naymik, political reporter at the Plain Dealer; Kate Phillips, online politics editor at The New York Times; Tom Waseleski, editorial page editor at the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette; and Jacqueline Policastro, evening news anchor with CBS affiliate WSEE-TV, Erie.

Also as part of the conference, college newspaper editors from Pennsylvania, Ohio and New York will meet earlier in the day to discuss how the election played out on their campuses. Mary Solberg, program coordinator for the Center for Political Participation, and Penni Schaefer, Meadville Tribune reporter and advisor to Allegheny’s college newspaper, will facilitate the student workshop, which is titled “Campus Political Activism in 2008.”

The roundtable discussion and Dionne’s evening presentation are free and open to the public.

Panelist Profiles

E.J. Dionne Jr.
E.J. Dionne Jr. is a widely syndicated Washington Post columnist, a regular political analyst for National Public Radio, and a frequent guest on the “Chris Matthews Show” and “This Week with George Stephanopoulos.” Acclaimed for his keen insights into the competing philosophies of American politics, Dionne often participates in TV and radio debates as the liberal counterpart to David Brooks, William Kristol and others. He believes that America is about to enter a new progressive era featuring reform in government and renewed civic activism. Dionne spent 14 years with the New York Times, reporting on state and local government, national politics and news from around the world, including stints in Paris, Rome and Beirut. In 1990 Dionne joined the Washington Post, covering national politics. His book “Why Americans Hate Politics” won the Los Angeles Times book prize and was a National Book Award nominee. Dionne’s op-ed column is syndicated to more than 100 newspapers. His new book, “Souled Out: Reclaiming Faith & Politics After the Religious Right,” was published in February 2008. His other books include “They Only Look Dead: Why Progressives Will Dominate the Next Political Era” and “Stand Up, Fight Back: Republican Toughs, Democratic Wimps, and the Politics of Revenge.” He also is the series co-editor to the Pew Forum Dialogues on Religion and Public Life, which include the recent publications “Lifting Up the Poor: A Dialogue on Religion” and “Poverty and Welfare Reform, and One Electorate Under God?: A Dialogue on Religion and American Politics.”

Mark Naymik
Mark Naymik is the political reporter for The Plain Dealer in Cleveland. He began working for the newspaper in 2000, becoming politics writer in 2001. Since then, he has covered local and state races, as well as gubernatorial and presidential elections. Previously, Naymik worked for three alternative weekly newspapers in Philadelphia and Cleveland. He graduated from the University of Dayton with a degree in English and spent three years in public relations before entering journalism.

Kate Phillips
Kate Phillips is the online politics editor for The New York Times, writing for and editing The Caucus, the politics news blog. In 1995 she joined the newspaper, serving in various editing roles, including two stints in the Washington bureau. Between those assignments, she was the New York political editor from late 1999 through mid-2002, supervising coverage of Hillary Clinton’s first Senate run, the latter years of the Giuliani Administration in New York, and government coverage in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks. She was acting health editor for The New York Times in the latter part of 2003, and later became the deputy op-editor through the 2004 election. She worked as an editor on the national desk through part of 1996, during the transitional period in late 2000 until President Bush’s inauguration, and also during the early part of 2004. Before joining The Times, she worked in various editing positions at New York’s Newsday from 1989 until it folded in July 1995, when she was the city editor. Before that, she was a reporter and editor at the Times-Union (now defunct) in Rochester, N.Y., and the Fort Myers News-Press in Florida. She was a Nieman fellow at Harvard University in 2002-03. A native of Pittsburgh, Phillips now lives on Capitol Hill.

Jacqueline Policastro
Jacqueline Policastro is the Washington bureau chief/evening news anchor at the CBS affiliate WSEE-TV, Erie, Pa. During this year’s presidential race, she traveled to Denver and St. Paul to cover the Democratic and Republican National Conventions. As Washington bureau chief, she has covered Congress and the White House, with a focus on Pennsylvania federal politics. Policastro worked for Associated Press Television and the ABC News bureau in Washington. Also, she worked for the Fox News channel in New York City. A graduate of Boston University, she earned a bachelor’s degree in broadcast journalism and political science. She attended Boston University’s journalism programs in Sydney, Australia and Washington, D.C. She is a Paul Miller Washington Fellow.

Daniel M. Shea
Daniel M. Shea is a professor of political science at Allegheny College and director of the Allegheny College Center for Political Participation. Shea has a bachelor of arts in political science and American studies from the State University of New York at Oswego and a master of arts in campaign management/applied politics from the University of West Florida. He earned a Ph.D. in political science from the State University of New York at Albany. Shea has written or edited 12 books on the American electoral process. His most recent project, “Living Democracy” (Prentice Hall, 2007), is a text on American government designed to inspire students and help them experience the impact of government in their daily lives. In 2007 Shea also edited, with John C. Green, “The Fountain of Youth: Strategies and Tactics for Mobilizing America’s Young Voters” (Rowman and Littlefield).

Tom Waseleski
Tom Waseleski has been the editorial page editor of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette since 2003. He joined the newspaper in 1983 as a roving reporter for the state staff, writing stories about the people, politics and government of Pennsylvania. Two years later, he became state editor and was responsible for general coverage of the state. In that role, he supervised Post-Gazette bureaus in Harrisburg and Washington, D.C., and oversaw the Pennsylvania Poll, the newspaper’s public opinion research analysis. Waseleski was named associate editor at the Post-Gazette in 1990, beginning work as an editorial writer and a member of the editorial board. He has received numerous regional, state and national journalism awards. For 10 years, he was the Post-Gazette’s co-producer on two weekly public affairs shows, “The Editors” at WQED-TV and “KD/PG Sunday Edition” at KDKA-TV. Waseleski is active in the National Conference of Editorial Writers, for which he serves as vice president and a former convention chair. He is a former president of the Pennsylvania Associated Press Managing Editors and a former Pittsburgh chapter president of the Society of Professional Journalists. He graduated in 1977 from the University of Pittsburgh, where he majored in English writing.

MEADVILLE, Pa. – Nov. 4, 2008 – “Elections are democracy’s feast, but for decades young Americans were content to sit at the side table, off in the corner. Not this time,” said Daniel M. Shea, professor of political science and director of the Center for Political Participation at Allegheny College. “They’re at the head table, demanding their share. Make no mistake about it—young voters have changed the course of American history.”

Shea points to the high levels of engagement among young citizens, which range from voting to volunteer work to keeping informed. Twice as many of those under 30, for example, turned out in Democratic and Republican primaries and caucuses in 2008 than in 2004. And, on both sides of the isle, their share of the vote increased in almost every contest. In the Iowa Democratic caucus, a key state for Barack Obama, the share of those under 30 rose from 17 percent in 2004 to 22 percent in 2008. In Georgia it climbed from 11 percent to 18 percent; in New York from 8 percent to 15 percent; and in Oklahoma from 9 percent to 14 percent.

“We often think of young voters as only playing a key role in the Democratic contest,” said Shea. “But in the California GOP primary, young voters carried the day for John McCain.”
Beyond the mushrooming levels of involvement among young voters, Shea also suggests they have changed the very nature of campaigning in America.

“Facebook, MySpace, YouTube, BlackPlanet and much else, this tech-savvy generation has forever redefined the way candidates reach voters and the way activists make a difference.”
Shea also noted the high level of knowledge among young voters.

“I dare say that no other cohort of young voters has ever been better informed, more knowledgeable about the candidates and issues than young voters in this election. Apathetic, indifferent, unaware? Not this time.”

Daniel M. Shea
Professor of Political Science
Director of the Center for Political Participation at Allegheny College

An expert on American electoral politics, especially as it relates to young voters, Shea is a reliable resource for journalists worldwide, having provided insight to reporting for news organizations including the Associated Press, Agence France-Presse, Gannett and McClatchy, as well as for specific publications including The New York Times, Washington Post, Philadelphia Inquirer, Post-Gazette, Roll Call, Minneapolis Star Tribune, Dallas Morning News, Campaigns & Elections, Salon.com and others.

Shea has written or edited 12 books on the American electoral process. His most recent project, Living Democracy (Prentice Hall, 2007), is a text on American government designed to inspire young Americans to become more engaged in the political process. In 2007 Shea also edited, with John C. Green, The Fountain of Youth: Strategies and Tactics for Mobilizing America’s Young Voters (Rowman and Littlefield).

In 2002 Shea founded Allegheny College’s Center for Political Participation, which is dedicated to fostering an appreciation for the vital link between an engaged, active citizenry and a healthy democracy.

He teaches courses in American politics, parties and elections, Congress, the presidency, research methods, politics of the media, and pop culture and politics, as well as seminars in civic engagement and the contemporary election process.

Shea has served as a professor at Lafayette College and the University of Akron and has worked in politics with the New York State Assembly. He has a bachelor of arts in political science and American studies from the State University of New York at Oswego and a master of arts in campaign management/applied politics from the University of West Florida. He earned a Ph.D. in political science from the State University of New York at Albany.

To arrange an interview with Professor Shea, please call the Center for Political Participation at (814) 332-6202 or the Allegheny College Office of Public Affairs at (814) 332-6755 or (814) 397-9959.