Arbor Update

Ann Arbor Area Community News

Election '08's Impact on Michigan: The Candidates' Positions on Energy, the Environment, and the Economy

13. October 2008 • Juliew
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Town Hall Forum
Tuesday, October 14, 7:00 – 8:30pm
Rackham Amphitheater
915 E. Washington St. Ann Arbor

The panel discussion will feature experts in the environment, energy, and economics for a discussion on how the policies of the presidential candidates will impact Michigan. They will be joined by advocates for both the Obama and McCain campaigns. Listen to the discussion, and ask your questions.

Panelists—
Democratic surrogate: Mark Brewer – State Democratic Party chair
Republican surrogate: Joe Schwarz – Former Congressman (Michigan 7th District)
Economy expert: Charles L. Ballard – Professor of Economics at MSU, Author of Michigan’s Economic Future
Energy expert: Carl Simon – Director of the U of M Center for the Study of Complex Systems, Professor of Public Policy, U of M
Environment expert: Ted Parson – Professor of Natural Resources and Environment and Professor of Law, U of M
Moderator: Jack Lessenberry, Michigan Radio’s Senior Political Analyst

The forum will be live-streamed on MichiganRadio.org. The event is free and open to the public, though registration is required. Click here to reserve your space.

The event is co-sponsored by the Center for Local, State, and Urban Policy, Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy, and Michigan Radio (91.7 WUOM in Ann Arbor)



  1. Thank goodness there are very specific issues for the panel to focus on here. With all the hate and vitriol flowing down from the republican national campaign, it’s becoming hard to want to listen to them at all lately.


       —keaz    Oct. 13 '08 - 07:28AM    #

  2. Pay careful attention to what Joe Schwarz, the Republican surrogate, has to say.

    Schwarz is a moderate Republican who represented the Seventh Congressional District in the US Congress until he was beaten in the 2006 Republican primary by Tim Walberg, a right-wing Republican.

    The Seventh District is an overwhelmingly rural district that stretches all the way from Salem Township and Scio Township in Washtenaw County to Battle Creek and the outskirts of Lansing. It was designed to be hopelessly Republican – but it isn’t any longer.

    Mark Schauer, the Democratic candidate, is ahead in the polls. A couple of weeks ago Schwarz endorsed Schauer!

    So it will be interesting to see what a Republican surrogate who has endorsed a Democrat for the seat he used to hold will say at the forum.


       —David Cahill    Oct. 13 '08 - 07:25PM    #

  3. Yes. It was designed to be hopelessly Republican. If one examines the actual boundary lines of that Seventh District it will be noticed that the City of Ann Arbor has been cleverly removed in such a manner that borders (no pun intended) on gerrymandering. Ann Arbor was handed over to John Dingell’s congressional district, thus making Ann Arbor’s vote reduced to a practical nullity for purposes of a congressional seat. Walberg’s right wing extremism may prove to be a boon for the Democratic Party if Walberg loses this election.


       —Mark Koroi    Oct. 13 '08 - 09:44PM    #

  4. I see that foreign policy has been excluded, with an exclamation point, from this debate. With good reason. The candidates are in complete agreement about who needs to be protected, at the cost of trillions of dollars, and who doesn’t.


       —$700 billion    Oct. 13 '08 - 10:58PM    #