Bipartisan Policy Center Announces Lineup for its Inaugural Political Summit Featuring A-List Consultants

Event to be webcast live from New Orleans with focus on Taking the Poison Out of Partisanship

WASHINGTON, Nov. 5 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The Bipartisan Policy Center (BPC) announced today an impressive lineup of political consultants, moderators and panels for its Inaugural Political Summit at Tulane University in New Orleans on November 9 and 10, 2009. The theme of this year's Summit is Taking the Poison Out of Partisanship. Top consultants from both parties will participate in panel discussions moderated by some of America's leading political journalists and analysts. James Carville and Mary Matalin will serve as Honorary Co-Chairs and Big Easy hosts.

"We see this as an opportunity to have a discussion with the country's top political consultants, who are on the front lines of the public debate in American politics," said Eileen McMenamin, BPC's Vice President of Communications. "Of course there will be ideological disagreements between the parties. Our message is: you can disagree without being disagreeable. We're not asking anyone to give up their principles; we're trying to encourage thoughtful, reasoned discourse which can lead to principled compromise."

The two-day Summit will feature four panels:

Monday, November 9th
- What's Fair in Politics? Moderated by The Aspen Institute's Walter Isaacson
Featuring Republicans Charlie Black, Jeff Larson, and Steve Schmidt; and Democrats Tad Devine, Kiki McLean, and Hilary Rosen. (2:30pm-3:45pm CST)
- Assessing the Obama Presidency Moderated by Atlantic Media's Ronald Brownstein Featuring Republicans Dan Bartlett, Bill McInturff, and Mark McKinnon; and Democrats John Anzalone, Stan Greenberg, and Larry Grisolano. (4:00pm-5:00pm CST)

Tuesday, November 10th
- Looking Ahead to 2010 and 2012 Moderated by Charlie Cook of The Cook Political Report. Featuring Republicans Tony Blankley, Alex Castellanos, and Bill McInturff; and Democrats Stan Greenberg, Steve McMahon, and Joe Trippi. (9:30am-10:45am CST)
- The Role of Media in Elections Moderated by The New York Times' Jeff Zeleny
Featuring Republicans Mark McKinnon, Steve Schmidt, and David Winston; and Democrats Tad Devine, Mandy Grunwald, and Joe Lockhart. (11:00am-noon CST)

All panel discussions will be open to the public and the press. To submit a question to one of the panels, please visit www.bipartisanpolicy.org/NOLA2009

The BPC will webcast the Summit live from New Orleans beginning Monday, November 9 at 2:30pm CST and Tuesday, November 10 at 9:30am CST at www.bipartisanpolicy.org/NOLA2009. The event will also be blogged live from the BPC website and can be followed on Twitter at @BPCBeat and #BPCNOLA. Photos and videos of the event will also be posted on the BPC website.

To conclude the Summit, the BPC will host a barbecue and charity Wii Competition with local children competing against political consultants and moderators. Proceeds will benefit The Devlin Student-Athletes for Education Center for Leadership Development. Photos from the charity event will be posted to the BPC website.

One of the goals of the BPC and its founders, former Senator Majority Leaders Howard Baker, Tom Daschle, Bob Dole and George Mitchell is to demonstrate that consensus and principled compromise can be achieved on difficult issues when policy differences are debated in a thoughtful and constructive manner. The BPC is currently conducting projects in the areas of health care, energy, national security, transportation, science, financial services and homeland security. For more information about the BPC, please visit: www.bipartisanpolicy.org.

WHO: Bipartisan Policy Center and Honorary Co-Chairs James Carville and Mary Matalin
WHAT: BPC's Inaugural Political Summit, Taking the Poison Out of Partisanship
WHEN: Monday, November 9, 2009

    Opening remarks at 2:30pm CST
    What's Fair in Politics? from 2:45pm to 3:45pm CST
    Assessing the Obama Presidency from 4:00pm to 5:00pm CST

    Opening Remarks at 9:30am CST
    Looking Ahead to 2010 and 2010 from 9:45am to 10:45am CST
    The Role of Media in Elections from 11:00am to noon CST

WHERE: Kendall Cram Room, Levin Bernick Center, Tulane University, New Orleans
Via webcast at www.bipartisanpolicy.org/NOLA2009

Members of the press wishing to attend the BPC's Inaugural Political Summit, please RSVP to press@bipartisanpolicy.org. Those interested in scheduling interviews with any of the participants, please contact Ashley Clark at (202) 637-1456 or aclark@bipartisanpolicy.org.

About the Bipartisan Policy Center:
In 2007, former U.S. Senate Majority Leaders Howard Baker, Tom Daschle, Bob Dole, and George Mitchell formed the Bipartisan Policy Center (BPC) to develop and promote solutions that can attract the public support and political momentum to achieve real progress. The BPC acts as an incubator for policy efforts that engage top political figures, advocates, academics, and business leaders in the art of principled compromise. For more information please visit our website: http://www.bipartisanpolicy.org/.

Contact: Ashley Clark, Deputy Press Secretary, (202) 637-1456, aclark@bipartisanpolicy.org