The political event featuring former Democratic Gov. Howard Dean, and former Republican Sen. Rick Santorum, at Northwestern on Tuesday will mostly resemble a traditional candidate debate, according to new details provided by the presidents of College Democrats and College Republicans, who are cosponsoring the event.
Dean and Santorum will each give short opening and closing speeches and also alternate responding to questions. After both politicians have answered a question, there will be a rebuttal by the original speaker. The event will last about 10 questions.
The questions will be culled from student suggestions submitted before and during the debate. Adam Goodman, the director of NU’s Center for Leadership, will moderate the 90-minute event.
Goodman, a McCormick professor, pledged to ensure that Dean and Santorum “focus on real issues that affect college students and the rest of the country.”
“What I bring is my facilitation skills in terms of getting the two participants to really engage with each other,” he said. “I see my role as not letting Howard Dean or Rick Santorum off the hook in terms of what students are really trying to drive at and the questions that they provide to me.”
Dean, a former governor of Vermont, was a leader in the race for the Democratic presidential nomination in 2004 before losing to John Kerry. Santorum lost his bid for a third Senate term in 2006 and is now widely considered to be laying the groundwork for a presidential run in 2012.
This is the first time in recent history that College Democrats and College Republicans have collaborated, and Dean and Santorum are close friends, said Brittany Bull, president of College Republicans. Instead of podiums, the politicians will speak from couches in a “living room setting,” organizers said.
“I’d like for us to have a debate that feels like we’re talking with each other,” Goodman said.
But both speakers have made controversial statements and garnered their share of partisan hate in the past. Dean has referred to the GOP as a “Christian party,” while Santorum has compared gay marriage to a relationship consisting of “man on dog.”
Organizers said they will ensure that Tuesday’s event focuses on issues important to college students, Bull said.
Students may submit questions for the politicians on the event’s Facebook event.
