Obama Romney debate October 16, 2012, Hofstra University, Hempstead, NY, Town meeting format, Moderator Candy Crowley CNN, Hofstra not neutral site
“You can fool some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time, but you can not fool all of the people all of the time.”…Abraham Lincoln
“Truth will ultimately prevail where there is pains to bring it to light.”…George Washington
“If ever a time should come, when vain and aspiring men shall possess the highest seats in Government, our country will stand in need of its experienced patriots to prevent its ruin”...Samuel Adams, 1776
The next presidential debate between Barack Obama and Mitt Romney will be held Tuesday, October 16, 2012 at Hofstra University in Hempstead, NY. The format will be Town meeting and the moderator is Candy Crowley of CNN. The audience will consist of about 80 undecided voters selected by the Gallup Organization.
From the Hofstra University website.
“Hofstra University, located in Hempstead, New York, approximately 25 miles east of Manhattan, is a dynamic private institution where approximately 12,500 students choose from more than 140 undergraduate and 155 graduate programs in liberal arts and sciences, business, communication, education and allied human services, and honors studies, and a School of Law. Hofstra University, which was founded in 1935, has more than 110,000 alumni. Hofstra offers a faculty whose highest priority is teaching excellence; cutting edge technology; extensive library resources; internships and special educational programs that appeal to students’ interests and abilities.”
http://www.hofstra.edu/Debate/debate_abouthofstra.html
From the Washington Post October 13, 2012.
“Every week after Labor Day is touted as a critical week in presidential politics. The coming week may actually live up to that characterization.
During the next eight days, President Obama and Mitt Romney will meet for their final two debates — Tuesday night at Hofstra University on Long Island and the following Monday in Florida. At that point, it should be clear whether the momentum Romney picked up from the first debate in Denver has stalled or whether he continues to gain ground against the president. In the meantime, the front-page headline in Saturday’s Columbus Dispatch should serve as a warning to Obama’s headquarters in Chicago. It read, “Romney on the rise in Ohio.”
Obama advisers were saying earlier in the past week that they believed the post-Denver Romney surge had stopped. But virtually every recent poll since Denver, here in Ohio and in other battleground states, has shown movement toward the Republican challenger. Obama may still lead in enough states to win reelection, but the margins are no longer comfortable.
On Friday night, a huge crowd filled the town square in nearby Lancaster to greet Romney and his running mate, Paul Ryan, for a joint appearance after Thursday’s vice-presidential debate. Sen. Rob Portman, who is rapidly emerging as the Romney campaign’s most valuable player for his multiple roles as Ohio point man and Obama stand-in for debate prep, joined them on stage.
Romney spoke of seeing a “growing crescendo of enthusiasm” around the country. All candidates say that in the final weeks of a campaign, but there is more than a little truth to it in this case. Republicans are energized in ways they weren’t before, still driven more by their anti-Obama feelings but increasingly happy with their nominee.
The vice-presidential debate did not change the race in any significant way. In fact, it ended up as a booster for both sides. Vice President Biden’s aggressiveness cheered Democrats who were morose after Obama’s lethargic showing in Denver. They believed Biden dominated and won. Republicans, who saw Biden as overbearing and condescending, came away convinced that Ryan proved himself more than ready to be vice president. To them, a draw was a victory.
The pressure is squarely on the president Tuesday night, given his performance in Denver. But Romney, too, needs a strong evening to cement the first. He cannot afford any backsliding. His advisers know that if, as expected, the president does a better job Tuesday, stories will inevitable be written about his bounce-back. No one expects a second mismatch.
Biden laid out the angles of attack that the president will pursue on Tuesday, including confronting Romney about his “47 percent” comment, the percentage of income he pays in taxes, the holes in his tax plan and the GOP ticket’s position on abortion — none of which Obama hit hard in Denver. The president’s challenge will be to deliver those attacks in a town hall debate that features questions from an audience, a format that generally rewards empathy over aggressiveness.”
Hofstra University hardly appears to be a neutral setting.
On October 10, 2012, Chris Matthews, one of the most biased members of the mainstream media spoke at Hofstra.
“Journalist Chris Matthews, host of MSNBC’s Hardball with Chris Matthews, discussed the 2012 election and the importance of presidential debates. Matthews told the audience at the John Cranford Adams Playhouse that the Town Hall-style debate at Hofstra University on Oct. 16, 2012 will be a pivotal event in the tight race between President Obama and Gov. Mitt Romney.”
http://www.hofstra.edu/Debate/debate_gallery_matthews101012.html
A cursory examination of the Hofstra University website reveals what can only be described as an inordinate emphasis on gay issues.
For example. On the first page of the scholarship opportunities we find:
“LGBT Activism Scholarship
In 2002, Hofstra University established an unprecedented scholarship program for students engaged in service to the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community. The program is designed to demonstrate Hofstra’s commitment to equality and support for LGBT individuals. The program also includes the Hofstra Law School Fellowships for Advocacy for the Equality of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender People, as well as the Mildred Elizabeth McGinnis Endowed scholarship for students in the humanities.”
“School of Law Scholarships”
“LGBT Rights Fellowship – The Law School supports a Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender Rights Fellowship for students interested in pursuing advocacy work on behalf of these communities.”
LGBT Studies.
“LGBT Studies focus on lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people, their history and culture, considering sexualities and genders as identities, social statuses, categories of knowledge, and as lenses that help us to frame how we understand our world. A central core of courses is complemented by interdisciplinary courses taught across campus or by specialized syllabi for students taking a course that could lend itself to LGBT studies. Currently, a minor in LGBT Studies is available as part of the Hofstra College of Liberal Arts and Sciences.”
http://www.hofstra.edu/Academics/HCLAS/LGBT/index_LGBT.cfm
And last but not least.
“LGBT STUDIES PROGRAM, HOFSTRA UNIVERSITY
and
HOFSTRA CULTURAL CENTER
present
a conference
Queer Rhetoric
The 6th Annual LGBT Studies Conference
Friday and Saturday, March 16-17, 2012
Queer Rhetoric is a relatively new field situated at the intersection of LGBT Studies, Queer Theory, Rhetoric and Cultural Studies. In short, Queer Rhetoric seeks to uncover the symbolic and performative strategies whereby queer identities have been and continue to be constructed in different times and places. Scholars working in this field locate the heteronormative occlusion of queer voices within a given cultural and social context and describe how queer voices develop a battery of technologies that offer a means of resistant expression. This conference will be the first ever devoted entirely to the subject of Queer Rhetoric. For more information click here.
Keynote Addresses will be given by:
Erik Gunderson
University of Toronto, Canada
Joseph G. Astman Distinguished Symposium Scholar
The Reluctant Queerness of Ancient Rhetoric
and
Chuck E. Morris III
Boston College
Joseph G. Astman Distinguished Conference Scholar
My Old Kentucky Homo: Abraham LIncoln is Here,
Queer, and Wants to Recruit You”
http://www.hofstra.edu/Community/culctr/culctr_events_LGBT_6th.html
A custom setting for Barack Obama.
Citizen WElls 