Belnick presidential forum focuses on election and democracy’s future

Four political experts will discuss “The 2024 Election and the Future of American Democracy” in this year’s Belnick Family LaFeber/Lowi Presidential Forum.

Scheduled for Oct. 30 at 5 p.m. in Ives Hall, Room 305, the event is free and open to the public. It will also be livestreamed. Register for the livestream here.

“The race for the White House in 2024 could not be tighter,” said Douglas L. Kriner, the Clinton Rossiter Professor in American Institutions in the Department of Government in the College of Arts and Sciences (A&S).

“An incredibly small slice of voters in just a handful of states will ultimately choose between dramatically different visions for the country’s future course,” Kriner said. “To help us better understand the election and its implications for public policy and American democracy, the Belnick presidential forum brings together experts from politics, the media and across academic disciplines.”

Suzanne Mettler, the John L. Senior Professor of American Institutions in the Department of Government (A&S), will moderate the discussion.

The speakers will include:

• Jamelle Bouie, a columnist for The New York Times who covers history and politics. Bouie has also contributed essays to volumes such as “Four Hundred Souls: A Community History of African America, 1619-2019” and “The 1619 Project: A New Origin Story.”
• Molly Donlin, founder and president of Regent Strategies, a political and public affairs firm based in Washington, D.C. Its current and former clients include The American Free Enterprise Chamber of Commerce, Nikki Haley for President, and America Strong and Free Action, a political action committee.
• Nicole Hemmer, associate professor of history and director of the Carolyn T. and Robert M. Rogers Center for the American Presidency at Vanderbilt University. A columnist at CNN, she contributes to The New York Times, The Washington Post, Vox and U.S. News & World Report.
• Lynn Vavreck, the Marvin Hoffenberg Professor of American Politics and Public Policy at the University of California, Los Angeles. She is a contributing columnist to The New York Times and has written five books, including “Identity Crisis: The 2016 Presidential Campaign and the Battle for the Meaning of America.”

A question and answer session will follow.

“The New York Times’ Jamelle Bouie offers insight from the left, while Molly Donlin, a political consultant who has worked for Republican Senator Mitt Romney of Utah and the Republican National Convention, offers insight from the right,” Kriner said. Vavreck will contribute her expertise analyzing presidential elections and election outcomes, while Hemmer will help situate 2024 in a historical context and explain the rise of Trumpism against the backdrop of the conservative movement that began with President Ronald Reagan.

“We could not be more excited to bring this incredible expert panel to Cornell at such a defining moment,” he said.

The forum supports programming related to each U.S. presidential election to foster public engagement with the core issues facing the United States and the world as Americans head to the polls.

The Belnick Family LaFeber/Lowi Presidential Forum honors the teaching and scholarship of professors Walter LaFeber and Theodore Lowi and seeks to foster student engagement with American politics. It is supported by the generosity of Mark Belnick ’68.

The event is sponsored by the departments of Government and History (A&S).

This story also appeared in the Cornell Chronicle.