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Oh my (political) science!
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Race
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| Contributor | Craverguy |
| Last Edited | Craverguy Oct 02, 2008 01:35am |
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| Category | Editorial |
| News Date | Wednesday, October 1, 2008 12:30:00 PM UTC0:0 |
| Description | Last week the first-ever Libertarian candidate to participate in a televised gubernatorial debate in North Carolina could be spotted going about his usual business in the von der Heyden Pavilion before heading off to teach a class.
And if his Wednesday appearance on UNC-TV is any indication, Michael Munger, chair of the Duke political science department, is making waves and making history this year with his bid to become the governor of this state. For students and the greater University community, too, Munger's gubernatorial run pulls the political season into focus, and his third-party candidacy adds a critical dimension to the national discourse.
On the one hand, Munger has used his campaign as a platform to advocate for, among other things, state campaign and election reform that would make it easier for third-party candidates in the future to become viable alternatives to the old red and blue. Currently, North Carolina's ballot access rules are among the most stringent in the country, forcing non-major party candidates well behind the starting line before the race for governor even begins.
That said, having successfully, heroically, collected the requisite 100,000 signatures to get his name on the November ballot, Munger aims to secure at least two percent of the vote in the general election in order to guarantee the Libertarian party a place on the ballot in 2012.
On the University level, Munger's role as a gubernatorial candidate, coupled with his accessibility as a current professor, affords students unique insight into the election process. In other words, while Munger's new political role is not strictly academic, it is eminently interesting for the University.
And as the University pushes student engagement in the wider world, Munger's campaign is a prime example of faculty engagement outside the classroom, which places him among several prominent Duke affiliates with experience on the national political scene. |
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