Are Today's Politicians Too Cautious? November 2, 2007

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Complete video at: http://fora.tv/2007/10/04/Presidential_Campaigns_Then_and_Now

Veteran political consultants Leslie Francis and Edward Rollins discuss overly cautious politicians, and identify how modern media has influenced the ways in which political campaigns are managed.

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Presidential Campaigns: Then and Now with political strategists Les Francis and Ed Rollins.

From debates on YouTube to the mega-budgets that candidates must raise to be viable, presidential campaigns have certainly changed since the days of Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan. Hear veteran strategists Francis and Rollins reflect on their own campaign experiences and discuss what they feel is the new paradigm in politics today. - The Commonwealth Club

Les Francis is executive vice president of Goddard Claussen Strategic Advocacy, one of America's most successful public affairs and issue advocacy firm. He is former chief of staff to then Representative and now U.S. Transportation Secretary Norman Y. Mineta. He also served as deputy assistant and deputy chief of staff to President Jimmy Carter. He is a former executive director of both the Democratic National Committee and the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee.

Ed Rollins has long been known as one of America's premiere political strategists and communications experts. He directed the most successful Presidential campaign in the history of the United States, serving as Ronald Reagan's 1984 National Campaign Director. He led the first successful bid to unseat the Speaker of the House when he orchestrated George Nethercutt's (R - WA) victory over Tom Foley. Mr. Rollins served in the administrations of Presidents Nixon, Ford, and Reagan, joining the Reagan administration as one of the President's top advisors in the role of Assistant to the President for Political and Governmental Affairs. In 1989, he became the first and only non-Member of Congress to head the National Republican Congressional Committee.

Melinda Jackson joined the SJSU faculty in 2005 after earning her Ph.D. at the University of Minnesota. Her interests center on public opinion and political participation in American Politics, with a special focus on political psychology and political identity. She has co-authored a chapter in Polls and Politics about the Nixon administration's use of public opinion polls as well as several journal articles on the role of social capital in community electronic networks.