Rowan Political Experts to Provide Democratic Convention Commentary in Boston and Philadelphia

July 21, 2004

Rowan University Political Science Professor Dr. Bruce Caswell will continue his ?on the ground? observations of the presidential campaign process as at the site of the Democratic Convention in Boston, Mass. Having been on the scene at the beginning of the primary season in Iowa, Caswell will be available for phone and live interviews throughout the convention. He can vividly describe the scene and the convention process, including the caucuses and delegate meetings that culminate in the Democratic candidate?s nomination for president.

Caswell has served as research director at the Institute for the Study of Civic Values, a nonprofit education and research foundation, and as urban planner, policy analyst and intergovernmental relations specialist with the Office of the Secretary, U.S. Department of Health, Education and Welfare. Caswell earned his doctoral degree in political science from Rutgers University and was a New Jersey Faculty Fellow at Princeton University. He holds an undergraduate degree in sociology from the University of Chicago and a master?s degree in city planning from the University of Pennsylvania.

A specialist in political participation, urban and state politics, campaign finance, and American populist thought, Caswell has provided media commentary for Philadelphia commercial public broadcasting news programs. He is comfortable in live and recorded interview formats for broadcast media and with prior notice, can be available for live or phone interviews with print reporters.

Contact Dr. Bruce Caswell for interviews at 267-312-3352 (cell) or via email at caswell@rowan.edu.

Although previously considered the last step in the presidential nomination process, National Conventions now serve as the opening bell of the general election, according to Dr. Larry Butler, Rowan University political science professor and author of the forthcoming book, Claiming the Mantle: How Presidential Nominations are Won and Lost Before the Votes are Cast. Butler can share his thoughts with local media on the new role of the conventions and the impact they have on presidential elections.

Butler has inside knowledge of the campaign trail, having studied presidential and congressional elections for 15 years and provided election forecasting and analysis to various groups in the Washington, D.C., area. He currently teaches courses at Rowan in American government, Congress, campaigns and elections, the Presidency, political science research methods, and political parties and interest groups. Butler taught similar courses at the University of Richmond.

He earned a doctoral degree in politics from Princeton University, master?s degrees in political science and economics from George Washington University and George Mason University, respectively, and a bachelor?s degree in economics from Washington & Lee University.

Butler is comfortable providing commentary for print and broadcast media, with extensive experience as a live, in-studio political commentator for Philadelphia/South Jersey radio and television outlets.

Contact Dr. Larry Butler for interviews at lbutler@usa.net or by phone at 856-256-4500, x3985.

Dr. Carl Hausman, chair of the Journalism & Creative Writing Department at Rowan University, is adept at reading the hidden messages in political rhetoric and is willing to share his opinions with local media during the upcoming speech spectacular otherwise known as the Democratic and Republican National conventions. Author of the book, Lies We Live By, Hausman has a lot of advice for voters who want to make an educated choice prior to the election, including 10 Warning Signs that the messages they are reading, seeing or hearing are propagandist in nature.

?Most political advertising is propaganda in that it leaves something out and it attempts to mislead in some ways,? says Hausman, author of about 20 instructional and non-fiction books on the media, media ethics and small business. ?Political advertising has developed its own technique which isn?t necessarily fair, but almost everybody uses it and almost everybody plays the game because if they don?t someone else will. Basically it?s finding the half-truth you can distort the most.?

Hausman holds a doctoral degree in journalism from the Union Institute & University and completed a post-doctoral research fellowship at New York University. He earned an undergraduate degree in political science at the State University of New York and a master?s degree at Antioch University.

He has discussed media-related issues on a wide variety of national, regional, and local television and radio news and talk shows, including The O'Reilley Factor, ABC's World News Now with Anderson Cooper, and CBS's Capitol Voices.

Contact Dr. Carl Hausman at Rowan University at 856-256-4359 or hausman@rowan.edu.