| Every year, the University at Buffalo has a Distinguished Speakers Series that features a select number of speakers every year who are important people, ranging from politicians to authors. Al Gore and Michael Moore have been past speakers, along with Tom Brokaw, Jimmy Carter, Colin Powell and many others.
The list of speakers won't be finalized until the end of July for the rest of the series, but one date is already set and was leaked to the press: John Edwards will be taking the same stage with Karl Rove in late September to have a debate centered on the issues being talked about on the presidential campaign trail.
Bob McCarthy of The Buffalo News wrote about this today:
GOP strategist Karl Rove and former Democratic vice presidential candidate John Edwards will debate the issues of the presidential campaign Sept. 26 as part of the university's Distinguished Speakers Series, The Buffalo News has learned.
...
Matching up such well-known political figures as Edwards and Rove will make the event all the more interesting, he added. Edwards, a former senator from North Carolina, is a household name because of his bids for the presidency in 2004 and this year's contest, as well as his role as Sen. John F. Kerry's vice presidential running mate in 2004.
Rove, often dubbed "Bush's brain" from his days as President Bush's chief political adviser, has become even more visible since leaving the White House as an analyst for Fox News and a frequent contributor to the op-ed pages of the Wall Street Journal.
Neither Rove nor Edwards was available Thursday for comment.
The 8 p. m. debate would lead off the lecture series, which has featured such major figures as former Vice President Al Gore and the late Tim Russert of NBC News.
I attended two Distinguished Speakers Series events last year: Ishmael Beah, author of A Long Way Gone, and Steven Levitt, author of Freakonomics.
When we attended those events last fall, you were given a card to vote for the speakers you would like to see as part of the series for 2008-09. Karl Rove was on there (I didn't vote for him). I don't remember seeing John Edwards' name on the list, but I will certainly enjoy this debate.
If you are in the area, I recommend you attend at least one event that is part of the Distinguished Speakers Series. It is one of the best ways to see high-profile people come to Western New York. |
