OU will briefly become the center of the ongoing campaign finance debate when U.S. senators John McCain and Russ Feingold appear on campus Monday.The two authors of the well known proposed McCain-Feingold Bill, dealing with reforming how political campaigns collect soft or unregulated money, will be a part of The Future of American Politics series set to begin next week.The series will also feature a dinner presentation by Pulitzer Prize-winning author and presidential historian Doris Kearns Goodwin."I am certainly pleased that we are able to kick off our series of guest speakers on the future of American politics with three such outstanding and insightful commentators on contemporary American politics as John McCain, Russ Feingold and Doris Kearns Goodwin," said OU President David Boren in a statement.McCain and Feingold will speak at a town-hall style meeting at 2 p.m. Monday in the Oklahoma Memorial Union Ballroom on the importance of campaign finance reform in the future of the American presidency. The meeting is open to the public, however, seats are limited and will be on a first-come basis. Additional seats will be available in Meacham Auditorium where overflow seating will be able to watch the meeting on closed-circuit television."There is no better learning experience than interacting with the movers and shakers of American public life," said OU Speakers' Bureau chairman Kyle Harper in a statement. The Speakers' Bureau is sponsoring the series with the assistance of the Office of the President and the OU President's Associates program.The series is expected to continue with appearances by U.S. Sen. Joseph Lieberman, former Reform Party Presidential candidate H. Ross Perot and several leading journalists. These events are expected for later on in the semester and are in the scheduling process, said OU Press Secretary Jeff Hickman.UOSA President Chris Kannady said the series will give OU students the chance to participate in discussions that could affect the future of American politics."These are all people who impact domestic policy now," Kannady said.McCain and Feingold were a bipartisan pairing that greatly influenced the recent presidential election. McCain, a Republican from Arizona, challenged George W. Bush for the Republican Party nomination last spring. Feingold, a Democrat from Wisconsin, was the only Democratic senator to break party ranks on dismissing the charges against former President Bill Clinton during the 1999 impeachment trial.The senators teamed up to write the much-discussed McCain-Feingold Bill out of a mutual concern with the effects of money upon the American political process."It's just amazing the quality of speakers we get," Kannady said.To learn more visit www.senate.gov/~mccain/.hello there & you too
