The Senior College at the University of Maine at Augusta is sponsoring an election forum Sunday featuring two political scholars and analysts.
Sandy Maisel, the chairman of the department of government at Colby College, and Mark Brewer, the acting chairman of the political science department at the University of Maine, will speak during the “Elections 2016 — Significance for Maine’s People” forum, which begins at 2 p.m. at Jewett Auditorium at UMA.
Chuck Acker, the chairman of the committee that organized the event, said he hopes the event is well attended because of the quality of the two speakers.
“These are longtime political observers who can look beyond all the rhetoric and tell us about the implications of this election for Maine,” Acker said.
Acker said the two experts would each speak for about 20-30 minutes before taking questions from the audience. It will be more informational than a debate, Acker said.
The speakers have been asked to address the platforms of both the Democratic and Republican parties and how the platforms might be implemented, depending on down-ballot election results, according to a release by the Senior College.
“With its aging population, out-migration of young people and its resource-based economy, Maine stands to be vitally affected by the outcome of the election,” the release said. “Not only is the choice of president crucial for the direction taken in all these areas, but the selection of legislators at both the national and state levels can influence the future of Medicare, Social Security, taxes, the opioid crisis and many other significant issues.”
Maisel, the former director of the Goldfarb Center for Public Affairs and Civic Engagement at Colby College in Waterville, has authored more than 20 books on politics and was once a Democratic candidate for Congress in the late 1970s.
Brewer has done research on political behavior including partisanship, links between public opinion and public policy and the interactions that exist between religion and politics in the U.S.
The forum, the first of four this academic year, is free and open to the public. The Senior College will host forums on Maine’s climate future, the economy and transportation later in the year.
Jason Pafundi — 621-5663
Twitter: @jasonpafundiKJ
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