White House correspondent at Flagler College

Historic City News has learned that US News and World Report White House correspondent Ken Walsh would be the next guest speaker as part of the 2012 Forums on Government and Public Policy lecture series.

Comparing campaign supporters in today’s era of politics to “rabid sports fans”, Walsh will share his views on the upcoming Presidential election and what he believes we can expect. Walsh is also the author of “The Presidency” column and writer of a daily blog called “Ken Walsh’s Washington” at usnews.com.

“Watching a campaign when the country is this polarized is something,” Walsh told reporters. “We’ve been polarized as a nation for quite a long time — but the hardening of the sides seems to be even greater.”

Walsh is no stranger to American politics. He joined the US News and World Report in 1984 as a congressional correspondent and has covered the presidency, presidential campaigns and national politics since 1986.

“The new normal of American politics is stalemate, gridlock and no compromise,” Walsh said. Walsh believes Obama’s platform of looking towards the future will be a bit tougher to swallow in 2012 than it was in 2008.

“Obama took the approach of hope and change in 2008 but that turned out to be much more difficult than he expected,” said Walsh. “In 2012, people seem much more cynical and I believe turnout will be much less than 2008 so it will be interesting to see what happens.”

The Walsh presentation, “Election 2012: Continuity or Change?”, will be held in the Lewis Auditorium at Flagler College located at 14 Granada Street, and will commence at 7:00 p.m. on October 9th.

Forums are free and open to the public thanks to the generosity of speakers who donate their time in support of the series. Seating is on a first-come, first-served basis. Sign language interpreters are provided.