Campaign Managers Will Spar Over 2000 White House Race

The masterminds of the Bush, Gore, McCain, Bradley and Nader presidential campaigns will gather this weekend at the Institute of Politics (IOP) for a three-day conference to rehash the details of the 2000 election.

Participants in the conference--including political journalists and analysts--will pick apart the nuances of the election for political junkies fascinated by campaign strategy.

A transcript of the panel discussion will be gathered into a book; since 1972 the IOP has published a similar transcript after every presidential election.

"It's useful because everyone has been given some time and distanace after the campaign," said Richard L. Berke, a political journalist for the New York Times. "And this one will be particualrly interesting because it was such a contested race and the unusual circumstances surrounding the election."

Participants will include Theresa Amato, Donna Brazile, Rick Davis, Gina Glntz, and Karl Rove, campaign managers for Ralph Nader, Al Gore '69, John McCain, Bill Bradley and George W. Bush, respectively.

ABC Broadcaster Mark E. Halperin '87, who attended the last conference in 1996, said even for an esperienced reporter like himself, the conference will offer unique insights.

"Almost without any analogue, it's the best record of what the campaign managers have been doing out of the view of the public and out of the view of the media," he said. "Even if you're a reporter like me, that covers the campaign day to day, there are ceratin things that that campatin managiers hold back, and certain connections that no one can really mke until after the fact, with everyone sitting in the same room."

Boston Globe columnist David Nyhan '62 will make remarks at tonight's formal dinner in the posh Loeb House, the official opening of the Campaign Decision Makers Conference.

Nyhan said he thinks the dinner will be a lighthearted opening to a weekend filled with intense political debate.

"It's like a post-Cold War conference, the Warsaw Pact versus the NATO Pact," he said. "At least the opening dinner will be an evening of convivality."

An open forum with the campaign managers will be held on Friday afternoon at the IOP and panel participants will also be available to meet with the public Friday morning over breakfast from 8-9am.

The conference is usually held in December, but because of election 2000's length, this year's conference had to be pushed back.

IOP Director David Pryor, a former Arkansas senator, said he is not worried that time has made the participants any more mellow about the election.

"When these people get togheter they will jog each other's memories satisfactorily," he said. "This weekend we're going to talk about everything."