Dartmouth '78 Campaign 2008 Panel

The panel discussion will take place on Saturday, June 14, 9:00 am Filene Auditorium, Moore Hall.

		Campaign 2008 from a Dartmouth '78 Perspective Rob Gifford --- arm-chair activitist, political theorist will moderate the panel. After 30 years in high-end business consulting Rob is contemplating a second career in elective office. More information on the panelists below. Dan Reicher -- A lifelong Democrat in the Roosevelt tradition. Dan served for eight years in the Bill Clinton Administration. Rob Portman -- A lifelong Republican in the Rockefeller tradition, Rob served from 1993 to 2005 in the U.S. Congress, representing his hometown of Cincinnati. Ann McLane Kuster -- A grass-roots political activist/lawyer raised in a prominent political family in New Hampshire, Annie went to the 2004 DNC Convention in Boston for John Kerry and will be a pledged delegate to the 2008 DNC Convention in Denver for Barack Obama. Jim Bassett -- A NH lawyer and former candidate for Congress, Jim helped revive the candidacy of John McCain in the 2008 New Hampshire Presidential Primary.
Dan Reicher

• Dan Reicher worked his way up to the #3 position at the Department of Energy, responsible for alternative-energy policy for the entire country. Dan launched a successful alternative-energy financing venture with Scott Brown '78, then ventured West in 2007 to San Francisco to manage the Google Foundation, where he hosts political candidates of every star and stripe.

• President George W. Bush nominated Rob Portman in 2005 to be the U.S. Trade Representative and then in 2006 to be Director of the Office of Management and Budget. Last year, Rob Portman returned home to Ohio to spend time with his growing family. National pundits such as David Brooks of The New York Times have speculated that Rob is a "logical choice" for John McCain’s short list for Vice President on the GOP ticket.

• Ann McLane Kuster was the 2nd NH supporter to sign on to the Obama campaign in December 2006; Annie served on the NH Statewide Steering Committee and as Co-Chair of NH Women for Obama, campaigning frequently with Barack and Michelle Obama and their family.

• Jim Bassett worked with a small group of dedicated supporters to raise the funds and fanfare necessary to keep McCain on the Road to the White House. Jim served as Chair of Conservationists for McCain in New Hampshire.

We will think good thoughts about other 78s in politics, including John Carney, running for governor of Delaware, and Andy Peterson, a state legislator in NH.

Required reading: As a resident of the hills of East Tennessee, I offer a link to my synopsis of Virginia Senator James Webb's primer on the proud, independent-minded Appalachian voters, (who have much in common with the proud, Live-Free-or-Die New Hampshire voters). Any candidate who doesn't understand the culture described in Webb’s book Born Fighting is at a disadvantage.

Had Hillary won the nomination, a VP possibility might have been Indiana Senator Evan Bayh, a Virginia Law School classmate of Tom Ostertag, Steve Thompson, and other '78s and, as you can see via this link, a high school classmate of several more 78s.