League of Women Voters of Irving held 2012 State of the Vote event
Cal Jillson, political scientest at SMU's Dedman College of Humanities and Sciences, particated in a panel discussion about politics in Irving, Texas, hosted by the League of Women Voters of Irving.
By Deborah Fleck
A fundrasier for the League of Women Voters of Irving included an informative discussion on 2012 elections by three political science professors. After lunch was served at Las Colinas Country Club, Collette Vallot , community relations senior manager at TXU, introduced the professors and moderated the discussion.
The professors were: Cal Jillson (left in photo), chair of the political science department at Southern Methodist University and author of a new book called Lone Star Tarnished; James Riddlesperger (right), chair of the political science department at Texas Christian University; and Allan Saxe (center), associate professor at the University of Texas at Arlington.
They talked about the influence of Super PACs, redistricting in Texas, voting demographics, presidential power and the 2012 election. All three predicted Mitt Romney will be the Republican nominee and his running mate candidates may be Marco Rubio of Florida, Bob McDonald of Virginia or Susana Martinez of New Mexico. They also predicted Obama should win in November.
In talking about social media, Riddlesperger said his students don't read newspapers--the Internet is their source of news.
Guests asked questions about women's health care issues, and also about Obamacare, which Riddlesperger said is a complex program. But all three advocated an informed democracy where citizens learn more and get engaged. And especially at the local level, they said, where an impact can be made.
Up next for the League is a candidate forum on April 23. Visit lwvirving.org.