Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump will face off in a debate at the National Constitution Center on Tuesday. With polls showing a tight race, Harris aims to prove her readiness for the presidency, while Trump looks to stop her momentum.
Both candidates present themselves as change agents, though their visions for the future sharply differ. This debate offers Harris her best chance to confront Trump's attacks and solidify her image as a leader capable of uniting the country.
Faculty experts at the George Washington University are available to offer commentary, insight and analysis on this matter. If you would like to speak with an expert, please contact GW Media Relations Specialist Team at [email protected].
Generalists
Peter Loge is the director of GW’s School of Media and Public Affairs. He has nearly 30 years of experience in politics and communications, having served as a deputy to the chief of staff for Sen. Edward Kennedy during the 1995 shutdown, a VP at the US Institute of Peace in 2013, and held senior positions for three members of the U.S. House of Representatives. Loge currently leads the Project on Ethics in Political Communication at the School of Media and Public Affairs and continues to advise advocates and organizations.
Todd Belt is the director of the Political Management Program at the GW Graduate School of Political Management. Belt is an expert on the presidency, campaigns and elections, mass media and politics, public opinion, and political humor. In addition to his expertise, Belt is co-author of four books and helps to run GW’s political poll, which recently shared new findings.
Christopher Warshaw is an associate professor of political science at the George Washington University, and is an expert on redistricting, American politics, representation, public opinion, as well as state and local politics. Warshaw evaluates the links between public opinion, elections, and political outcomes in city and state governments, as well as the U.S. Congress. He also examines how political institutions, such as term limits or direct democracy, influence political representation.
Reverend Professor Quardricos Bernard Driskell an adjunct professor of religion and politics at the GW Graduate School of Political Management, as well as a policy influencer and federal lobbyist. With nearly ten years of government relations experience, he has worked for two patient voluntary health associations where he advanced the patient voice into policy and research deliberations through services to Congress, Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and National Institutes of Health (NIH).
Casey Burgat is the director of the Legislative Affairs program at the Graduate School of Political Management and host of its Mastering the Room podcast. Prior to joining GSPM, Burgat was a Senior Governance Fellow at the R Street Institute where his research focused on issues of congressional capacity and reform. Burgat co-authored Congress Explained: Representation and Lawmaking in the First Branch, a textbook on all things Congress.
Imani M. Cheers, an associate professor of digital storytelling, is an award-winning digital storyteller, director, producer, and filmmaker. As a professor of practice, she uses a variety of mediums including video, photography, television, and film to document and discuss issues impacting and involving people of the African Diaspora. Her scholarly focus is on the intersection of women/girls, technology, health, conflict, agriculture, and the effects of climate change in sub-Saharan Africa. Cheers is also an expert on diversity in Hollywood, specifically the representation of Black women in television and film.
Lesley Lopez is the director of Public Relations and Communications program as well as an Assistant Professor at the Graduate School of Political Management. Lopez is an expert in media relations, digital storytelling, content creation, inclusive strategic communications and coalition building, and writing. She has served as a journalist, founder of a boutique PR firm, Chief Communications and Marketing Officer for the political start-up Run for Something, head of global communications for the U.S.-China Business Council and the Director of Communications for the Democratic Legislative Campaign Committee. She also is currently a state delegate in the Maryland General Assembly, representing District 39, and serves as Deputy Majority Whip.
Historical Context
Matt Dallek, a professor at GW’s Graduate School of Political Management, is a political historian with expertise in the intersection of social crises and political transformation, the evolution of the modern conservative movement, and liberalism and its critics. Along with four co-authored books, Dallek is the author of Birchers: How the John Birch Society Radicalized the American Right, which explores the history and influence of America’s right-wing activism.
Immigration Policy
Elizabeth Vaquera is the inaugural director of the Cisneros Hispanic Leadership Institute and an Associate Professor of Sociology and Public Policy and Public Administration at the George Washington University. Vaquera's research focuses on vulnerable and diverse groups, particularly Latinos/as and immigrants. Her work has analyzed the character and importance of immigrant status, race, and ethnic identity in outcomes such as education, health, and emotional and social well-being. In addition to an extensive body of work published in leading peer-reviewed journals, Vaquera is the co-author of several books, the most recent of which, Education and Immigration, examines the educational experiences of immigrants and their children living in the U.S.
Cori Alonso-Yoder is an Associate Professor of Fundamentals of Lawyering at the GW Law School. Alonso-Yoder is nationally recognized scholar on immigration legislation and the impacts of state, local and federal laws on immigrant communities. She specializes on the health policy of immigration.
Education Policy
Dean Michael Feuer is an education policy professor and former president of the National Academy of Education. He can discuss the idea of dismantling the Department of Education and what that would mean for public schooling.
Dr. Joshua L. Glazer is an associate professor of education policy who co-wrote a book about charter schools and vouchers, called Choosing Charters: Better Schools or More Segregation?. He has also done research in low income school districts in Tennessee. He can address proposals related to school choice and voucher initiatives, as well as the idea of turning Title I program funding (for lower-income school districts) into block grants for the states to fund vouchers.
Dr. Dwayne Wright is an assistant professor of higher education administration as well as an attorney and GSEHD's Director of DEI Initiatives. He can address the privatization of student loans for higher education as well as the removal of DEI initiatives and certain language (such as nonbinary) in schools.
Dr. Doran Gresham is an assistant professor of special education and disability studies. He can address the proposal to move funding for the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) into no-strings block grants to the states. He can also address the desire to undo the shift in Title VI that looked at discipline for disparate impact (i.e. considering if a school disproportionately punished minority students).
Dr. Mary DeRaedt, clinical assistant professor of counseling and human development, teaches in the school counseling program and prepares trauma-informed and developmentally focused school counselors. She teaches courses in play therapy, trauma and crisis intervention, child and adolescent development, family therapy, and human sexuality. She can comment on the mental health ramifications on students and school staff regarding the proposed requirement for school staff to out LGBTQ students to their parents, as well as the laws against using a student’s preferred pronouns without parental consent.
Climate Policy
Gaige Kerr, is a senior research scientist and professorial lecturer in the department of environmental and occupational health at the GW Milken Institute School of Public Health. He researches ambient air pollution, and projects he has led span topics ranging from understanding the emission sources of pollution to assessing the health impacts experienced by populations, with a special emphasis on understanding associated ethnoracial and socioeconomic disparities.
Robert Glicksman, J.B. and Maurice C. Shapiro Professor of Environmental Law at the George Washington University Law School. Professor Glicksman is a nationally and internationally recognized expert on environmental, natural resources and administrative law issues. Professor Glicksman could speak to the law and policy introduced, the organization it would require of governments to implement new ways of protection, and risk regulation.
Media Coverage
Frank Sesno serves as the director of Strategic Initiatives and Professor at the GW School of Media and Public Affairs as well as as the Executive Director of the George Washington University Alliance for a Sustainable Future. An Emmy-award winning journalist, Sesno’s diverse journalism career spanning four decades includes more than two decades at CNN as a White House correspondent, anchor, Sunday talk show host, Washington Bureau Chief, and Special Correspondent. While serving in those roles, he covered presidential campaigns and political conventions, superpower summits, arms negotiations, conflicts in the Middle East and Latin America, and major historical events such as the impeachment of Bill Clinton, the 9/11 terror attacks, and Barack Obama’s historic inauguration as America’s first Black president in 2009.
Jesse J. Holland is an assistant professor and the associate director of the GW School of Media & Public Affairs. He is an award-winning journalist and the author of the first novel featuring comics’ most popular black superhero, The Black Panther. He is a former Race & Ethnicity writer for The Associated Press, having been recognized as one of the few reporters to be credentialed to cover all three branches of the American government during his career: the White House, the Supreme Court and Congress.
Healthcare
Jeffrey Levi, a professor of health policy and management at the GW Milken Institute School of Public Health. His work focuses on the intersection of public health, the health care system and the multi-sector collaborations required to improve health.
Anne Reid, is a lecturer in the Health Policy and Management Department at the GW Milken Institute School of Public Health. She can talk about the state of medicare and the impact this could have on the election. Watch here as she talks about the future of these programs.
Leighton Ku, a professor of health policy and management and Director of the Center for Health Policy Research at the GW Milken Institute School of Public Health, is a health policy researcher and public policy analyst. He is an expert in national and state health reforms, and how to improve access to affordable health care for vulnerable populations. Watch here as he talks about healthcare reform and the implications of the election.
Sonia Suter is a professor of law at the George Washington University Law School and founding director of the Health Law Initiative. She is an expert on issues at the intersection of law, medicine, and bioethics, with a particular focus on reproductive rights.
Sara Rosenbaum, is the Emeritus Professor of Health Policy and Management, and previously served as founding Chair of the Milken Institute School of Public Health Department of Health Policy at George Washington University. She is a nationally recognized expert on health care access for vulnerable populations and reproductive rights. She most recently worked on an amicus brief urging the Supreme Court to protect health and uphold the Emergency Treatment and Labor Act.
Homeland Security
Rohin Sharma is the Senior Middle East/Terrorism Analyst, US Army; Faculty Member, Homeland Security Program at the College of Professional Studies. He is an expert in Homeland Security and Political Violence and Terrorism. He was recognized as a subject matter expert in his field and served seven years as a US Army Intelligence Officer.
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