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Trojans Assess Obama Administration

  • Trojans Assess Obama Administration
  • Dan Schnur, director of the Jesse M. Unruh Institute of Politics, moderator Catalina Camia ’86 and Susan Estrich, the Robert Kingsley Professor of Law and Political Science at the USC Gould School of Law
  • Photo/Dave Scavone

By Cheryl Arvidson on June 8, 2009 7:51 AM

A group of 150 USC alumni and prominent Trojans gathered at the Brookings Institution in Washington, D.C., on May 21 to hear a panel of experts assess the early accomplishments of the Obama administration and offer their prognosis for its future.

In his welcoming remarks, Scott M. Mory, associate senior vice president for alumni relations, called the event “a compelling reminder of USC’s dynamic presence in our nation’s capital.”

He then turned the podium over to USA Today political editor Catalina Camia ’86, who moderated a discussion between two of USC’s leading faculty members: Susan Estrich, the Robert Kingsley Professor of Law and Political Science at the USC Gould School of Law, and Dan Schnur, director of the Jesse M. Unruh Institute of Politics.

Despite being political polar opposites, Estrich, who managed Democrat Michael Dukakis’ 1988 presidential campaign, and Schnur, a GOP strategist who headed Sen. John McClain’s 2000 presidential bid, agreed that Obama’s early initiatives, coupled with disarray in the Republican Party, bode well for a second presidential term.

“I think the Republican Party is in for a longer challenge than the next four or eight years,” Schnur said.

Estrich and Schnur also weighed in on the imminent retirement of Supreme Court Justice David Souter. As it turned out, Estrich correctly predicted that Obama would nominate Judge Sonia Sotomayor of the 2nd District Court of Appeals in New York to replace Souter.

On the issue of health care reform, both Schnur and Estrich predicted that President Obama probably will succeed in getting Congressional approval for some sort of health care reform measure by the end of this year. Yet, as Estrich pointed out, health care reform will be incredibly expensive, due to the “unbelievable deficits” created by the bailout and stimulus initiatives.

“The reality of the situation is, how do you come up with a plan that protects all of us with the best health care in the world, but also expands it to those who [at present have none],” Estrich said.

According to Schnur, the biggest difference between now and the failed 1994 Clinton effort at health care reform is that spiraling costs have put the business community “in a different position.”

“You don’t need the whole business community on your side, you just need to split them,” he said. Schnur believes the winning compromise will include individual mandates requiring everyone to have health insurance, but no public-provided alternative to the existing private insurance market.

Following the panel discussion, Camia, Estrich and Schnur joined the attendees for a reception with four USC deans: Howard Gillman of USC College; Jack H. Knott of the School of Policy, Planning, and Development; Robert K. Rasmussen of the USC Gould School of Law; and Ernest J. Wilson III of the USC Annenberg School for Communication. Each dean said that his school considers Washington an important part of the USC learning experience.

“D.C. is one of our key cities outside of California. We have a number of our alumni here in private law firms, business and government,” Rasmussen said. “I’m proud of the willingness of our alumni to support our school even though we are 3,000 miles away.”

Gillman said that for the second year, the College is sending one of its 15-member undergraduate student teams to Washington to study nuclear proliferation as part of a new initiative called “Problems Without Passports,” and he anticipates that Washington will be a regular part of that summer program in years to come.

Knott noted a number of USC alums, led by Labor Secretary Hilda Solis MPA ’81, are serving in the Obama administration. SPPD offers a semester in Washington for undergraduates in partnership with George Washington University.

Addressing the domestic and international policy issues facing the journalism industry, Wilson expressed his goal of positioning the USC Annenberg School as “a thought leader in these areas.”

“A number of colleagues have come up … and said the situation is so challenging now that Annenberg needs to step up,” Wilson explained. “They say, if not Annenberg, then who? And if not now, then when?”

Among the USC alumni at the event was Stacy Hope ’98, immediate past president of the USC Alumni Club of the Nation’s Capital. With 4,100 USC alumni in the D.C. metropolitan area, the Washington alumni club is one of the most active outside Southern California.