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Hofstra had right stuff to host presidential debate

BY CHAU LAM | chau.lam@newsday.com

October 12, 2008

Hofstra University has everything the Commission on Presidential Debates looked for in a host: sufficiently large facilities, easy access to transportation and parking, adequate security, workspace for several thousand journalists and a $1.35-million fee to cover production expenses.

But it was Hofstra's program on presidential studies that made it stand out among a crowd of 16, said Frank Fahrenkopf Jr., co-chairman of the private, nonpartisan organization. "I knew of the tremendous interest already at Hofstra in presidential politics - as exhibited by the work that they've done over the years," said Fahrenkopf.

And, Hofstra, located in Hempstead, was one of only two schools in the Northeast that wanted to play host this year, which gave it a boost because the commission also looks for geographic diversity, said Paul G. Kirk, co-chairman of the group. The University of Mississippi and Belmont University in Nashville hosted the other presidential debates. "While we weren't successful this year, we tried to go to different quadrants of the country," Kirk said.

The last time two presidential candidates met in New York for a debate was in 1960 when John F. Kennedy Jr. and Richard M. Nixon greeted each other in a Manhattan television studio.

Stuart Rabinowitz, president of Hofstra, a school of 12,600 students, said the debate would undoubtedly offer students and the community the opportunities to learn more about politics and election issues.

Since 1982, Hofstra has held 11 presidential conferences to discuss the administrations of every U.S. president from Franklin Roosevelt to Bill Clinton, who gave the keynote address during his visit to the campus in 2005. Three other former presidents - Gerald Ford, Jimmy Carter and George H.W. Bush - attended Hofstra's conferences examining their administrations.

And, two years ago, Hofstra launched the Center for Presidential Studies, one of the few institutions in the country to focus on U.S. presidencies. "Nobody could suggest it was just a publicity stunt on our part," said Rabinowitz.

The David S. Mack Sports and Exhibition Complex on Hofstra's 240-acre campus will be transformed into a debate hall, Rabinowitz said. The athletics department temporarily moved out so the school could set up a media facility to accommodate more than 3,000 journalists expected to be on hand to cover the third and final debate.

This event is, after all, a television production and Hofstra had to meet all the commission's stringent guidelines.

What's next

The Commission on Presidential Debates, a nonpartisan and nonprofit group, was established in 1987.

The group's main purpose is to sponsor and produce debates for the U.S. presidential and vice presidential candidates.

The committee is made up of two chairmen, an executive director and nine boards of directors.

The commission sponsored all presidential debates in 1988, 1992, 1996, 2000 and 2004.

THE DEBATE

Sens. McCain and Obama square off for the third and final time, from Hofstra University in Hempstead. Bob Schieffer moderates.

AIRS: 9 p.m., CBS/2, NBC/4, Fox/5, ABC/7, WNET/13, News12, MSNBC, Fox News Channel, CNN, CSPAN.