Maxwell School/Public Agenda Policy Breakfast: Paul Begala

April 2008

PAUL BEGALA

Amidst the heat of the Presidential primary campaigns, Paul Begala, political commentator for CNN and former counselor to the Clinton Administration, shared his very candid and pointed views on the 2008 presidential election. Begala spoke with great humor and little reserve about the campaign strategies employed by the Clinton and Obama campaigns, the pitfalls associated with balancing the role of the popular vote with superdelegates in the Democratic Party nomination process, the importance of placing energy independence and security higher on the national agenda, and the candidates' position on the looming fiscal crisis.

The Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, founded in 1924, is the premier academic institution in the United States committed to scholarship, civic leadership, and education in public and international affairs. Maxwell is home to Syracuse University’s social science departments and to numerous nationally recognized multidisciplinary graduate programs in public policy, international studies, social policy, and conflict resolution. Maxwell's graduate program in public administration—the first of its kind—is ranked consistently the best in the nation.

Public Agenda's mission is to strengthen our nation's democratic capacity and its ability to tackle tough issues by ensuring that the public's thinking—in all its complexities and contradictions—is understood by leaders, and by fostering the best possible conditions and opportunities for the public to engage in the problem-solving process. Public Agenda is a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization founded in 1975 by social scientist and author Daniel Yankelovich and former Secretary of State Cyrus Vance.