Carville and Matalin to lead all-day Tulane discussion on election ...

WASHINGTON - If you want to figure out why President Barack Obama won a second term and a possible prescription for Republican redemption in 2016, a trip to Tulane University next Thursday might help. Democratic strategist James Carville, who will co-host the all-day discussion with his Republican strategist wife, Mary Matalin, says he's curious himself what Republican participants will offer up after Republican Mitt Romney's loss depressed and mystified the GOP faithful.

Carville said the election didn't provide many surprises -- given that polls generally showed Obama had the advantage in the key swing states.

What did surprise him, Carville said, was that turnout of young people and minorities - who cast their votes for Obama by large margins - increased over 2004, despite supposed disenchantment within their ranks over the president's first term.

The Tulane event, called "Beyond the Ballot, a Government in Transition," is sponsored by the Washington-based Bipartisan Policy Center. It's the 4th annual Tulane post-election summit.

"Now that we have a tradition, many of the top political warriors look forward to coming to New Orleans for the Tulane event," said Jayson Grumet, president of the Policy Center. As always, he's encouraging participants to follow the lead of hosts Carville and Matalin by engaging in spirited partisanship, while providing real-world explanations on what actually happened in Election 2012 and why.

The event is free but advance registration is requested at this website: http://bipartisanpolicy.org/events/nola2012

Among the speakers are: former Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott, R-Miss, now a lobbyist; Former Agriculture Secretary Dan Glickman, a Democrat; Sara Taylor, a political aide to President George W. Bush; Brett O'Connell, a senior aide for Michelle Bachman's presidential campaign; and Kiki McLean, a Democratic strategist.

To explain who voted for Obama and who voted for Romney are pollsters Whit Ayres, a Republican, and Stan Greenberg, a Democrat.

Media participants include Jonathan Capehart, an opinion writer for The Washington Post; John Harwood, chief Washington correspondent for CNBC; Margaret Hoover, a TV political analyst and author; and Charles Mahtesian, national politics editor for Politico.

Also speaking are Tulane University President Scott Cowan, Harvard University's Institute of Politics Director Trey Grayson and Melissa Harris-Perry, a Tulane professor and host of a MSNBC weekend show.

Source: http://www.nola.com/politics/index.ssf/2012/11/carville_and_matalin_to_head_a.html

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