Karl Rove, political strategist, will likely be the biggest draw at the Ath this year.
I am already hearing reports that some people plan to "camp out" for head table and I plan to be among them.
The Ath is one of our greatest resources on campus, as its director, Bonnie Snortum, points out in this month's Fortnightly.
For the new Ath attendees, a word of caution: Don't ask frequently asked questions of some of our great speakers. Anything that can be easily Google-able or checked on Wikipedia should be left out of the Ath. Come with a little expertise, or don't ask a question.
As for Rove, he's been writing quite a storm lately about this election, so here are a few articles to get you brainstorming. They are mostly courtesy of Real Clear Politics, an essential tool for government majors here at Claremont McKenna. Its founder, Tom Bevan, will also be arriving on campus the very next day.
- Here's Karl Rove on Sarah Palin
- Rove on Biden who Rove not so affectionately called a "big, blowhard doofus."
- And Rove on the myth of Obama's bipartisanship
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5 comments:
Freshmen, here are some more Ath tips and tricks:
1. It's best to have a pre-conceived idea about whether the speaker is a scum-sucking big-government leech or the last great defender of the free world. Let nothing that the speaker says give you second thoughts.
2. If you plan to ask a question, have it prepared well before you go to the Ath, regardless of the content of the speech. This will allow you to...
3. Make sure to make a grand entrance at 7:30, just in time for questions. Who actually goes to the speeches, anyway?
4. Ideally, your question should start off with a lengthy statement. Make sure that you let the speaker know just what you think of him, but also save plenty of time to tell your entire life story. If a question takes less than five minutes to ask, it's probably not even worth asking.
5. If the speaker wipes the floor with you in his answer, don't fret. After all, you can beat a hasty retreat to your blog to lick your wounds. That'll show 'em!
6. If you do ever take advantage of the head table, remember: it's your time to grandstand! Monopolize the conversation--you earned it. And don't feel bad if others seated at the table don't get a word in: they're probably just there because of big-government quotas.
Hilarious.
You could also get three job offers for actually knowing what you are talking about as I did this past summer.
But hey, better to be an anonymous turd blossom than to take an actual risk. Funny how no one criticizes the lengthy and generally unintelligible answers from the far left, but when it is a conservative that is asking a lengthy question, suddenly he's grandstanding.
Thank you for observing everything I did last semester. I'm glad to see someone pays close attention. Maybe you could start a blog about it?
Oh, and by the way, David Gergin gives the same speech at every single place he goes. Which you would know if you actually did some research.
Not to quibble, Charles, but our anonymous turd blossom seems to have encapsulated most Ath questions, regardless of politics. (Note that s/he offers both options: "a scum-sucking big-government leech or the last great defender of the free world.")
Of course, if this is intended to reference something the poster thinks you particularly have done, then disregard all I have said. I just think it applies pretty well across the board.
theresa - turd blossom's going after chuck. and she's (he?) got his style down pretty well - particularly the 5 minute requirement and the laying of a lengthy foundation at odds with reality, or the part about skipping the speech, and well... everything really.
cheers.
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