From left to right: Karl Rove, Howell Rains, Doug Schoen
Panelists
Sir Harold Evans
Sir Harold Evans, editor-at-large of The Week magazine, is the author of the critically acclaimed They Made America: From the Steam Engine to the Search Engine: Two Centuries of Innovators. Before moving to the United States in 1984, Evans served as the prize-winning editor of The Sunday Times of London and The Times. He served as president and publisher of Random House trade group and as editorial director and vice chairman of U.S. News & World Report, the New York Daily News, The Atlantic Monthly, and Fast Company. He resigned from the latter position in January 2000 to begin full-time work on two major writing and television projects building on the success of his bestselling history The American Century. Evans was honored with a knighthood in the Queen’s 2004 New Year’s Honors list for services to journalism.
Howell Raines
Howell Raines was executive editor of The New York Times from 2001 to 2003, in which time he instituted programs intended to increase diversity and revive advocacy journalism. Raines started at The New York Times in 1978, and served as the bureau chief for both London and Washington, D.C. After winning the Pulitzer Prize for Feature Writing in 1992, he was named the editorial page editor, a position he held until 2001. Since leaving the Times, he has published a memoir, The One That Got Away, and is now the media columnist for Condé Nast Portfolio.
Karl Rove
Karl Rove was the architect of George W. Bush’s 2000 and 2004 presidential campaigns, and from 2001 to 2007 was the president’s senior advisor and deputy chief of staff. Of Rove, columnist Michael Barone said, “No presidential appointee has ever had such a strong influence on politics and policy, and none is likely to do so again anytime soon.” Prior to the 2000 campaign, he was the president of Karl Rove & Company, an Austin, Texas-based public affairs firm whose campaign clients included 74 candidates for governor, Senate, and Congress in 24 states. He is a frequent contributor to Newsweek, the Wall Street Journal, and Fox News.
Doug Schoen
As a research and strategic consultant to Bill Clinton’s “War Room,” Doug Schoen helped to pioneer overnight polling. For more than 20 years, Schoen has created winning messages and provided strategic advice to numerous political clients in the U.S. and to heads of state around the world. He was named Pollster of the Year in 1996 by the American Association of Political Consultants. Schoen was a founding partner of Penn, Schoen & Berland, the political consulting firm. He is the author of the recently published book, The Power of the Vote: Electing Presidents, Overthrowing Dicators, and Promoting Democracy Around the World, and has contributed columns to several publications, including The Washington Post, RealClearPolitics, and The Huffington Post.
