Axelrod, Rove named honorary directors of Baker Institute’s Presidential Elections Program

David Ruth
713-348-6327
david@rice.edu

Jeff Falk
713-348-6775
jfalk@rice.edu

Axelrod, Rove named honorary directors of Baker Institute’s Presidential Elections Program

HOUSTON – (March 27, 2017) – Two of America’s premier political consultants, David Axelrod and Karl Rove, will serve as honorary directors of the first conference of the Presidential Elections Program hosted by Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy.

David Axelrod, left, and Karl Rove.

Axelrod and Rove each played critical roles as chief strategists in getting the past two presidents elected and later served in the White House as senior advisers. Axelrod, a Democrat, guided the 2008 and 2012 campaigns of President Barack Obama. Rove, a Republican, guided the 2000 and 2004 campaigns of President George W. Bush.

“This is the perfect way to kick off our new Presidential Elections Program,” said Edward Djerejian, director of the Baker Institute. “David Axelrod and Karl Rove are the cream of the crop of political consultants, and I am confident that their research and analysis will provide clarity to presidential elections in our country.”

As part of the Presidential Elections Program, the two honorary directors will select a topic for research that could include a variety of subjects ranging from the effects of money on presidential campaigns to the role of the media in the electoral process. They will then help oversee research and analysis to provide voters, candidates and political parties with a better understanding of the quickly changing dynamics of presidential electoral politics.

The Presidential Elections Program will hold a conference this fall and release a policy report that summarizes the event’s major discussions and debates. There will be two conferences held within every four-year period.

The program will adhere to the institute’s policy of objective, bipartisan and comprehensive research and analysis.

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For more information, contact Jeff Falk, associate director of national media relations at Rice, at jfalk@rice.edu  or 713-348-6775.

Related materials:

Baker Institute Presidential Elections Program: www.bakerinstitute.org/research/new-program-studies-us-elections.

Axelrod bio: www.cnn.com/profiles/david-axelrod.

Rove bio: www.rove.com/bio.

Follow the Baker Institute via Twitter @BakerInstitute.

Follow Rice News and Media Relations via Twitter @RiceUNews.

Founded in 1993, Rice University’s Baker Institute ranks among the top five university-affiliated think tanks in the world. As a premier nonpartisan think tank, the institute conducts research on domestic and foreign policy issues with the goal of bridging the gap between the theory and practice of public policy. The institute’s strong track record of achievement reflects the work of its endowed fellows, Rice University faculty scholars and staff, coupled with its outreach to the Rice student body through fellow-taught classes — including a public policy course — and student leadership and internship programs. Learn more about the institute at www.bakerinstitute.org or on the institute’s blog, http://blogs.chron.com/bakerblog.