CAMBRIDGE, Mass. -- Dr. Eslinger and three tenth graders were able to attend a debate between Steve Jarding and Tom Schaller entitled "2008: Presidential Politics and the South."  Jarding is a professor at Harvard who has a wealth of experience working various campaigns and Schaller, professor at UMBC and a long-time friend of Dr. Eslinger, recently wrote the book, Whistling Past Dixie: How Democrats Can Win Without the South.

CCSC sophomores Rachel Jean-Louis, Courtney Johnson, and Dina Theodore were thrilled to be in the audience while these two high profile analysts explained and explored two major theories on how Democrats can win the next presidential election.  Ignore the south or make it a priority?  Jarding and Schaller informed, engaged, and periodically entertained the 70 in attendance, most of whom were Harvard graduate students. 

The debate brought up questions about race, communication paths, statistics, campaign dollars, and many other topics.  As Schaller urged the candidates to target certain states and argued that the country's so-called "realignment" was ineffective, stating that, "if that is realignment, then I'm a power forward for the New York Knicks," Jarding's high powered words offered that the nation should not ignore the individuals in areas that are less exposed to the real issues facing America.  Schaller's proposed strategy to go after non-southern states was explained in a metaphor about picking fruit, which Jarding sarcastically responded, "I don't undertand what you just said."  As the two went back and forth, Jean-Louis smiled and stated, "They're rashy!"  They loved Schaller's comment about adopting the "Nike strategy": Just do it!  Besides the wonderful lunch, the three CCSC students were welcomed by the community and very glad to be a part of the afternoon.