HOFSTRA HOSTS 2008 Presidential Debate

STORY BY MIRANDA GATEWOOD
Cover Photo by Brian Ballweg

On October 15, Nassau County’s Hofstra University, the largest private college on Long Island—became the epicenter of world news. Hofstra is unique in being one of few institutions in the country with a focus on presidential studies. That, coupled with its prime location, made it the ideal host to the third and final 2008 Presidential Debate. Bob Schieffer, CBS News chief Washington correspondent and “Face the Nation” host, moderated the debate, televised live around the world. It was this debate, which focused on the economy and domestic policy, that the real-life Joe Wurzelbacher—“Joe the Plumber”—made his debut as an arguing point to whom the candidates addressed on economic policy, taxes and health insurance.

For a year, University president Stuart Rabinowitz, J.D., a Networking® magazine David Award honoree in 2006, prepared the suburban Hempstead campus for the volume of visitors it would receive at a price tag of $3.5 million. The debates were presented by the non-partisan Commission on Presidential Debates, but were sponsored locally by several major benefactors, all of them Hofstra alumni. John Miller, a philanthropist and 2005 Networking® magazine David Awards honoree, is vice chair of the Long Island Community Foundation, a division of New York Community Trust, the nation’s largest community foundation, with a fund in his name.
Rabinowitz received support from Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) vice chair and his wife—Sondra and David S. Mack—for whom the David S. Mack Sports and Exhibition Complex was named. And, Peter Kalikow, whose finesse in real estate and six-year tenure as chair of the MTA number among his accomplishments. He funded the Chair in Presidential Studies at Hofstra as well as The Peter S. Kalikow Center for the American Presidency. They are both named for him.

The debate was the culmination of many presidential conferences held at Hofstra which began with President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s administration as the topic of the first conference in 1982. Each succeeding presidency was studied through conferences. The eleventh and most recent, “William Jefferson Clinton: The ‘New Democrat’ from Hope,” was held from November 10 to 12 in 2005.
This past January, Rabinowitz announced the launch of Educate '08: Dialogue, Democracy and the ’08 Debates, a yearlong series leading up to the debate. According to Rabinowitz, it has been “a comprehensive, in-depth series of lectures, academic coursework, events and public programs about the issues of this election, history and politics while encouraging engagement in the democratic process.” The Peter S. Kalikow Center for the Study of the Presidency, the Center for Civic Engagement, the Hofstra Cultural Center and the National Center for Suburban Studies, as well as all of the schools and colleges of Hofstra University, were the centers of the Educate ‘08 series.

Hofstra’s David S. Mack Sports and Exhibition Complex, seen by millions of TV viewers only as a dark cavern, was transformed into debate hall. The adjacent Physical Fitness Center was revamped to serve as a Media Filing Center for thousands of journalists. Rows of flat-screen monitors simulcast the debate from the building next door. The media room, a gymnasium, was carpeted, decked with colorful banners and outfitted with telecommunications equipment and workspaces for journalists from around the country and around the world. The open floor forward of the rows of tables for journalists known as “Spin Alley” was where senators and governors—some of whom had their own bids in for presidential nomination—gave their take on the debate to reporters and camera crews.

One concurrent event on campus outside the Student Center was the live taping of MSNBC’s Hardball with Chris Matthews. His guests on the October 15th 5 PM show were Newsweek’s Howard Fineman, senior Washington correspondent and columnist; and Roger Simon, chief political columnist of politico.com. New York Governor David Paterson gave a 7:20 PM live interview.

Some of the Educate ’08 series speakers during the year and week culminating in the debate included activist and writer Gloria Steinem, former Governor Mario Cuomo, Dr. Sashi Tharoor, former Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations and Atlantic Record recording artist Jason Mraz, who performed in a “Rock the Debate” free concert.

The Commission on Presidential Debates (CPD) controlled all aspects of presidential and vice-presidential debate production, as they have since 1988. Only a few hundred tickets were made available to Hofstra in the days immediately prior to the debate and those tickets were earmarked for students who received them through a lottery.

Rabinowitz, along with all administrators and faculty, watched the debate from an on-campus silmulcast in order to make more seats in the hall available to students.