Sunday Morning Wake-up Call host Sean McCord talks to Professor Paul Freedman of the UVA Department of Politics and frequent political commentator. Professor Freedman talks about this unprecedented campaign season, how we got here, and where we’re going.
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Rick speaks with Paul Freedman, an Associate Professor in the Department of Politics at the UVa who and commentator for ABC News, and Jeffrey Jenkins, Associate Professor and Director of Graduate Studies at UVa’s Miller Center, about how current political systems could be improved.
In today’s show, we share comments and reflections from the UVa Faculty Roundtable concerning Race and Gender in Politics.
Last Thursday, the Miller Center of Public Affairs hosted the UVa Faculty Round Table on Race and Gender in Politics. Sponsored by the University of Virginia’s Arts & Sciences Magazine, the forum was moderated by Douglas Blackmon, the Atlanta bureau chief for the Wall Street Journal. The panel included UVa faculty members, Paul Freedman, Brian Nosek, Lynn Sanders, Vesla Weaver and Nick Winter.
Moderator, Douglas Blackmon called this point in time “an extraordinary moment in American history and American discourse,” while Associate Politics Professor Paul Freedman referred to this time as “Christmas” for political scientists because of the multicultural base of the presidential candidates.
Freedman said the implicit message in political advertising is the important element of political ads. An example of this was a 2006 Republican ad run in Tennessee, concerning Democrat, Harold Ford, Jr. Freedman said, the ad included “a white woman who claimed to have had met Harold at the Playboy Party and she suggested that he call her, the ad concluded with the text on the screen, Harold Ford…’he’s just not right.’ And many people suggested that the implicit message was, ‘he’s just not white.'” Freedman added this year’s election has seen less of these types of messages.
In today’s show, adapted from an article recently published on the Oscar Web site written by Brevy Cannon, we look at the research of University of Virginia politics professor Paul Freedman which suggests that the ever-growing barrage of political ads actually contributes to citizen education and engagement, and only rarely have negative impacts.
Television viewers may instinctively reach for the remote control when yet another political ad airs during a commercial break, but those who stay tuned may reap some surprising benefits…
Stayed tuned for a bonus announcement at the end of the podcast…
