Smart Politics Live Blogging at Andrew Kohut (Pew Research Center) Events

Smart Politics will be live blogging at two events on Wednesday, September 26th. The Center for the Study of Politics and Governance is hosting Andrew Kohut of the Pew Research Center at the Humphrey Institute:

"What to Watch in the 2008 Elections"
Much of the nation's attention focuses on the performance of the presidential candidates, with the press often scoring them as actors in a new theater production. Personality matters but there are other critical factors that may matter more in determining who Americans pick as their next president. Andrew Kohut, President of the Pew Research Center, in Washington, DC. and Director of the Pew Research Center for The People & The Press will identify the keys to the 2008 elections that many in the press miss.

Wednesday September 26
Noon—1:30pm
Cowles Auditorium
Hubert H. Humphrey Center
301 19th Avenue South
Minneapolis, MN 55455

"They Don't Like Us: Global Attitudes Toward the U.S. and other World Powers"
The U.S. and western democracies have drawn the envy of the world for their prosperity and freedom. The terrorist attacks on 9/11 and the response of the U.S. in Afghanistan and Iraq has precipitated a sharp down turn in approval and respect for the U.S. around the globe. Andrew Kohut, Director of the most extensive global surveys of public attitudes toward the United States, will report on his latest findings and their implications for America's future foreign policy. Humphrey Institute Dean and former administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development during the Clinton administration, J. Brian Atwood, will moderate this event.

Wednesday September 26
7:00pm—8:30pm
Cowles Auditorium
Hubert H. Humphrey Center
301 19th Avenue South
Minneapolis, MN 55455

Andrew Kohut is the President of the Pew Research Center, in Washington, DC. He also acts as Director of the Pew Research Center for The People & The Press and the Pew Global Attitudes Project. Kohut was President of The Gallup Organization from 1979 to 1989. Kohut is a press commentator on the meaning and interpretation of opinion poll results. In recent national elections, he has served as a public opinion consultant and analyst for National Public Radio. Kohut often comments on public opinion for television news programs including the NewsHour with Jim Lehrer. He has written widely about public opinion for leading newspapers and magazines, as well as for scholarly journals. He is a frequent op-ed essayist for The New York Times and in the past has been a regular columnist for the Columbia Journalism Review and AOL News. Kohut has co-authored four books, including, mostly recently, America Against the World (Times Books) and The Diminishing Divide: Religion's Changing Role in American Politics, (Brookings Institution Press).