McCain or Obama?

As Nov. 4 draws near, students are preparing to vote in what, for many, will be their first presidential election. In the accompanying video, we asked students about which candidate they plan to support and how they are making their decisions.

Of course, students aren’t the only ones interested in the election. As Professor Larry Sabato is fond of saying, “Politics is a good thing.” If that’s true, then there are plenty of good things happening around the University, where the study of politics is thriving.

Around Grounds: A Political Sampler

Larry J. Sabato’s Crystal Ball ’08
Run by the University’s Center for Politics, this site analyzes the presidential, Senate, House and gubernatorial elections and claims to provide the “Web’s most accurate political analysis.”
http://www.centerforpolitics.org/crystalball/

Woodrow Wilson Department of Politics
This department’s recent newsletter includes articles about graduates involved in this year’s elections and the role of race and gender in American politics.
http://www.virginia.edu/politics/

The Miller Center of Public Affairs
“A national meeting place for engaged citizens, scholars, students, media representatives and government officials to research, reflect, and report on issues of national importance to the governance of the United States, with special attention to the central role and history of the presidency.”
http://millercenter.org/
The Miller Center recently conducted a National Discussion and Debate Series.

Explorations
The latest issue of this publication about research at UVA turns its attention to some of the University’s leading thinkers about politics and the electoral process.
http://oscar.virginia.edu/explorations/

The Sorensen Institute for Political Leadership
This non-partisan organization is “dedicated to improving political leadership in Virginia, thereby strengthening the quality of governance at all levels of government.” Currently, 16 Sorensen alumni are in the Virginia General Assembly (two in the Senate, 14 in the House of Delegates).
For more about the institute, see Virginia Magazine’s Spring 2007 feature article.
http://www.sorenseninstitute.org/

NBC Today Show
The Today Show sent Luke Russert to UVA for a report on the youth vote’s impact on the election.
Watch it here