CHARLOTTESVILLE, VA – On Thursday, Jan. 24, the Batten School and UVA’s Center for Politics brought together a diverse group of political figures for the 20th annual American Democracy Conference as part of the ongoing National Symposium Series on Democracy. The conference featured keynote remarks by Terry McAuliffe, former Governor of Virginia, and Karl Rove, former chief of staff to George W. Bush, and a panel discussion moderated by Batten’s Christine Mahoney, professor of public policy and politics and director of SE@UVA. Panelists included Paul Begala, Democratic strategist and CNN political analyst; Jamelle Bouie, New York Times opinion columnist and CBS News analyst; Kate Obenshain, former Republican Party of Virginia chairwoman and Fox News and CNBC analyst; and David Ramadan, former Republican member of the Virginia House of Delegates.

“It has become expected these days that people with diverse political viewpoints will engage in partisan attacks rather than civil and substantive dialogue,” said Jeff Chidester, director of external affairs at Batten. “The American Democracy Conference did a great service in facilitating the kind of dialogue needed by an informed citizenry – and desired by so many today. We are proud to be in partnership with the Center for Politics on this series of events, and hope it continues to elevate the national discourse.” The topic of discussion for panelists was President Trump at the midterm of his presidency, and on day 34 of the longest government shutdown in U.S. history, audience members were especially interested to hear the panelists’ views on the current stalemate. While opinions varied on the root causes of the shutdown and the compromises needed to reopen, the speakers remain hopeful that a negotiation between Democrats and Republicans will occur. A full recording of Thursday’s event is available here. This was the second part of the 20th annual American Democracy Conference, the first having taken place last November in Washington D.C. Part one of the conference featured remarks from Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX), House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff (D, CA-28), and expert panels reacting to the midterm and looking ahead to 2020. A recording of that conference is available here.