On March 17, Loyola University Maryland partnered with the Great Talk, Inc for the Two Thousand Twenty: 20/20 Hopes and Predictions lecture. This lecture involved a panel of well-known politicians and journalists that were discussing their predictions and knowledge of the upcoming 2020 presidential election.
Great Talk, Inc is a nonprofit organization that hosts the Great Talk series, which is hosted at their Maryland partner institutions, such as Loyola University Maryland. This series consist of panels with prominent experts on each topic that engages the audience in conversation followed by a meet-and-greet reception.
The panelists included Chris Matthews, Robert Ehrlich, and Lisa Desjardins. Matthews is the host of “Hardball” on MSNBC. Ehrlich is a former Maryland governor who served for 36 years beginning in 2002. Desjardins is a correspondent for “PBS NewsHour” where she discusses news about the U.S. capital. The moderator of the panel was Dan Morhaim, a former Maryland House of Delegates representative who served for 24 years.
There were many people from the Baltimore community along with Loyola students and faculty who came to the panel and were able to discuss the topics through a vivid and respectful debate. It was mainly based on their thoughts on the upcoming presidential election in which they focused on the personality and structure of the Democratic candidates and their party.
Both Matthews and Desjardins agreed that Bernie Sanders was heading the Democratic Party. Matthews said, “Bernie practices socialism and offers freedom from student debt,” which allures college students to his side, making him one of the main candidates. Desjardins said that “Bernie Sanders begins with a humongous advantage in this pack [of Democratic candidates], not least of which is his ability to fundraise.” She said that fundraising is a key quality for candidates running.
When asking some members of the audience, there was a majority who thought that this discussion was very intellectually stimulating and interesting to listen to. Maggie Dipesa ‘20 “was glad that there were perspectives from both the left and right. It was interesting to see that both sides thought that the American character is self-reliant, and I think that really reflects [how] the struggle right now is between Democrats trying to take away from that self-reliance in America.”
To learn more about the series, visit greattalk.org.
Featured Image: Courtesy of Greyhound News
