Denver Press Club Hosts Panel on May 8 on Trauma of 1968 – Remembering Bobby Kennedy – Assassinated June 5, 1968

Robert Kennedy addresses a mostly black crowd
of 2,500 in Indianapolis, breaking the news of
Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination,
 April 4, 1968 | Indianapolis Monthly

The Denver Press Club is hosting a presentation and panel on the turmoil and trauma of 1968 on the year’s 50th anniversary. The year saw the assassinations of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and Bobby Kennedy.

On April 4, after King was assassinated, Kennedy, campaigning in Indianapolis, spoke to a crowd of predominately African American supporters in what was later considered his politically bravest and best speech of his career. More than 100 cities saw riots after King’s death, but not Indianapolis.

See my blog of Bobby Kennedy’s speech on the night Dr. King died here.

1968: A Year of Turmoil and Transition
Denver Press Club
1330 Glenarm Place
Tuesday, May 8
Social Hour – 5:30 pm
Panel and presentation – 6:30 pm

Bobby Kennedy in Indianapolis, April 4, 1968

Robert Kennedy won the Indiana primary on May 7. It was an important victory in his 82-day presidential campaign. But its significance pales compared to his speech in Indianapolis to a campaign crowd of supporters in a primarily black neighborhood on the night of April 4 after Martin Luther King, Jr. had been assassinated. It is considered both his most significant speech and an act of political courage that probably saved the city from disruption that swept more than 100 cities the next two nights.

A few lines from a Washington Post report of Bobby’s remarks:

What unfolded during the next six minutes, according to historians and Kennedy biographers, is one of the most compelling and overlooked speeches in U.S. political history — the brother of an assassinated president announcing another devastating assassination two months before he’d be killed, too.

“I have some very sad news for all of you, and, I think, sad news for all of our fellow citizens, and people who love peace all over the world,” the 42-year-old senator said in his thick Boston accent, “and that is that Martin Luther King was shot and was killed tonight in Memphis, Tennessee.”

There were audible gasps.

Robert Kennedy addresses a mostly black crowd
of 2,500 in Indianapolis, breaking the news of
Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination,
April 4, 1968 | Indianapolis Monthly

“For those of you who are black and are tempted to fill with hatred and mistrust of the injustice of such an act, against all white people, I would only say that I can also feel in my own heart the same kind of feeling,” Kennedy said. “I had a member of my family killed, but he was killed by a white man.”

One of Kennedy’s campaign staffers was John Lewis, who had already risked his life to defy segregation alongside King and would later become a congressman from Georgia. Lewis urged Kennedy not to cancel the speech.

“I thought Bobby Kennedy coming would have a cooling impact on the audience,” Lewis said in an interview. “He appealed to the hearts and the minds and souls of the people there — black and white.”

“He spoke in a prayerful, mournful fashion,” Lewis said.

King’s death, Kennedy said, left the black community with a choice about how to respond, whether to seek revenge.

“We can move in that direction as a country, in greater polarization … black people amongst blacks, and white amongst whites, filled with hatred toward one another,” Kennedy said. “Or we can make an effort, as Martin Luther King did, to understand, and to comprehend, and replace that violence, that stain of bloodshed that has spread across our land, with an effort to understand, compassion, and love.”

“What we need in the United States,” he continued, “is not division; what we need in the United States is not hatred; what we need in the United States is not violence and lawlessness, but is love, and wisdom, and compassion toward one another, and a feeling of justice toward those who still suffer within our country, whether they be white or whether they be black.”

A sense of grace washed over the crowd.

See Washington Post story: “That stain of bloodshed”; After King’s assassination, RFK calmed an angry crowd with an unforgettable speech

Hill and Ciruli Present Tour of the World Dictators and Hot Spots

Amb. Christopher Hill and Floyd Ciruli present at WorldDenver

One hundred and fifty WorldDenver guests joined a presentation on April 10 by Ambassador Christopher Hill and professor and pollster Floyd Ciruli on the topic of: The New Authoritarianism: Can America Meet the Challenge? Americans, especially people interested in foreign policy, are extremely concerned about the state of democracy, including in the U.S.

One of the evening’s topics was that trade, such as the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), not only supported the member countries’ economies, but aided the functioning of their democratic decision-making and collective security arrangements with the U.S. The TPP agreement was especially seen as a counter to China’s aggressive economic initiatives in Asia.

President Trump opposes multi-lateral agreements, and during the campaign, was especially critical of TPP. He withdrew the U.S. from the TPP negotiating process as his first executive order. Trump believes the pact hurt American workers and businesses. He prefers bilateral agreements and claims agreements with six are underway.

Amb. Hill and Floyd Ciruli at WorldDenver presentation

The eleven countries that were partnered in TPP have proceeded forward without the U.S. and have a signed agreement (less robust), waiting approval by their individual governments. A number of additional countries want to join, such as South Korea, Taiwan and the Philippines.

But two days after our presentation, the President realized his trade war was costing him support among farm state interests and senators and ordered his new head of the National Economic Council, Larry Kudlow, to examine a U.S. role in the TPP as an effort to promote American products. He also needs allies in Asia for his trade initiatives against China. Japan has especially been interested in America rejoining the agreement.

Dealing with the impact of trade agreements, especially with Asian economies on American jobs, is still to be addressed, but the benefit of allies is beginning to look especially important to the administration. Trade agreements not only benefit the economy, but diplomacy and national security.

The Buzz Predicted Ryan Quits

In a Colorado Politics article concerning the Republican loss of the Alabama senate race last December, I speculated “Paul Ryan Quits.”

The election has significant impact for Republicans as the 2018 contests begin. The first casualty of the Alabama result may be Paul Ryan. He sees the election, as do most political observers, as a mirror image of the 63-seat disaster for Democrats in 2010. Ryan does not intend on being the minority leader, defending the ever embattled and seldom grateful Donald Trump.

Although Ryan was never enthusiastic for Trump during the 2016 campaign, he saw the benefit of a unified Republican government. But clearly, the legislative accomplishments of the first year were, but for the tax cuts, far more modest than expected. And even tax reform is not yet producing political benefit.

Ryan’s timing reinforces the gloom the Republican House Majority faces under the leadership of President Trump. It also highlights what was already clear – legislative accomplishments in 2018 are done!

Supporters of Majority Leader McCarthy and Majority Whip Scalise have been maneuvering for weeks in anticipation of Ryan’s decision. Both of them get along better with Trump than Ryan, which is good because if they are in the minority, defending Trump and the administration from investigations will be a full-time job. And, of course, the Democrats will be looking to make their record for the 2020 election.

Speaker Paul Ryan announces he will not run for re-election,
April 11, 2018 | Saul Loeb/AFP/Getty Images

Kennedy and Stapleton Frontrunners in Early Race

A couple of recent polls show Cary Kennedy, former State Treasurer and Denver chief financial officer, and Walker Stapleton, Bush scion and current State Treasurer, the frontrunners for governor leading their respective parties, with a third or more of voters undecided.

The early polls measure name identification and media covered events. Among the Democrats, Kennedy surged from the pack and caught up to the earlier frontrunner, Congressman Jared Polis, due to winning decisively the party caucus in February and a gaggle of March county conventions.

Assuming Mike Johnston doesn’t just plan to fade away, the race won’t really shake out until political punches are thrown and shots fired at and after the April state convention. Johnston has considerable money for the two-month battle. Nor will Polis give up his chance to be governor without putting up an expensive fight. The alternative is the likely end of his decade-long quest to have political influence equal to his wealth and ambitions.

Stapleton’s campaign’s sudden shift from petitions to convention delegates adds an element of drama to the April 14 state convention (4,200 Republicans assembling in Boulder). But, Stapleton is still the frontrunner for the nomination. His advantage derives from the Republican establishment’s belief that he has the best chance to win the governorship in what will likely be a friendly Democratic year. But, Vic Mitchell with advertisements already up and Doug Robinson on the attack against Stapleton are ready for a high-profile brawl. Although her early campaign was late and weak, some still consider Cynthia Coffman the best statewide candidate. These races will also kick into high gear at the state conventions.

Kelly Gone?

The Buzz asked “Tillerson Gone?” on December 5, 2017. He was fired by a tweet on March 13, 2018. The speculation has now shifted to General John Kelly as it is now clear he has a reduced role in President Trump’s current White House operation.

Trump’s “throw away the script” moment in West Virginia is a part of announcing his new comfort with the job of president after the first year. He’s going now with more gut instincts. The removal of National Security Advisor H.R. McMaster is a part of the new Trump.

President Trump “tears up the script” to blast Democrats on immigration,
April 5, 2018 | Doug Mills/The New York

The more comfortable Trump is in the job, the less he needs Kelly’s viewpoint or restraint. However, Trump realizes Kelly’s resignation will be seen as a major loss, much greater than Cohen, Tillerson or McMaster – so it must be finessed. Expect Trump to attempt to choreograph a removal that tamps down the criticism as much as possible.

Also see: The Buzz: Tillerson Out

Denver Press Club Hosts Panel on Trauma of 1968 – Remembering Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. – Assassinated April 4, 1968

The Denver Press Club hosts a presentation and panel on the turmoil and trauma of 1968 on the year’s 50th anniversary. One of the most shocking events was the death of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Lorraine Motel, April 4, 1968
Photo: afrikanblackcoalition.org

On April 4, King was assassinated on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tennessee at about 6:00 pm in front of his fellow civil rights colleagues, Ralph Abernathy, Jesse Jackson and Andy Young. King’s death sparked days of riots in more than 100 American cities and helped spur the last significant civil rights legislation, the Fair Housing Act, signed by President Johnson on April 11, 1968.

See my blog of Dr. King’s final speech here.

1968: A Year of Turmoil and Transition
Denver Press Club
1330 Glenarm Place
Tuesday, May 8
Social Hour – 5:30 pm
Panel and presentation – 6:30 pm

9News: Will Unaffiliated Voters Affect the Governor’s Race?

Brandon Rittiman of 9KUSA and I did an interview and analysis of the potential impact of unaffiliated voters on the 2018 governor’s primary on June 26.

One Republican candidate, Vic Mitchell, already has an advertisement on air that points out his lack of name identity and extols it as reflecting his “non-politician” status in the race. It is an effort to appeal to Republican partisans who would like a political outsider as their nominee, but also be attractive to the thousands of unaffiliated voters who will be encouraged to participate in the primary for the first time in history.

Vic Mitchell TV ad | YouTube screen grab

Every active unaffiliated voter will receive the ballot of both parties and can vote their preference (only one party vote allowed).

Out of the 1.2 million unaffiliated voters, it’s not known how many may vote and for which party. Polling and some experience with midterm elections suggests the following assumptions:

• Turnout for partisans in this primary should be higher because of the competitiveness in both parties and the money being spent to encourage support for particular candidates.
• Unaffiliated voters, who tend to vote at lower rates in general elections than partisans, will be solicited by many campaigns and have the convenience of a mail-back ballot. Voting will also have a “first time” novelty value and publicity.
• If a third of unaffiliated voters participated (about 40% to 50% of partisans are expected), they would vote about 2-to-1 in the Democratic primary vs. the Republican primary. In rough numbers, if 300,000 unaffiliated voters were motivated to vote, about 200,000 would vote in the Democratic primary and 100,000 in the Republican.
• At present, about a third of partisans say they are still undecided. That percentage would be higher among unaffiliated voters. Hence, for many unaffiliated voters there is a dual challenge for candidates to get them to vote at all and then for the candidate.
• Like partisans, they are divided among liberals (a growing group in Colorado), moderates (the largest group) and conservatives.
• Unaffiliated voters have particular barriers to politics. They don’t participate in party activities, don’t receive or pay attention to partisan communications, and often don’t even like the parties. Their lack of participation can reflect a view that politics is not that important or it’s a corrupt and corrupting business. Also, in general, they don’t know the candidates or nominating system.

Both parties are going to target unaffiliated voters. Democrats may have the most incentive because recent growth in the state has leaned toward the liberal side and registered unaffiliated. The outside-type candidates will be especially active, such as Vic Mitchell and Jared Polis (who already represents many unaffiliated voters in Boulder, Larimer and Jefferson counties).

1968: A Year of Turmoil and Transition. Where Were You?

The Denver Press Club is hosting a presentation and panel titled, “1968, A Year of Turmoil and Transition,” on May 8. Nineteen sixty-eight was the year the Baby Boomers came of age. The oldest members of the cohort were 22, four years out of high school, four years into the draft, the music, the drugs, the Pill, the attitude about authority.

What were you doing? It’s time to remember what you were doing when you heard the big events and what did it mean to you. Leave a comment below or #1968Remember on Twitter. The list will be published and some used in the panel.

I use the following chart in my Korbel School class on Public Opinion and Foreign Policy. The Vietnam War was the event that made public opinion critical in foreign policy decision-making, witnessing President Lyndon Johnson announcing on March 31 his bombing pause and decision to not run for re-election. Opinion was turning against the war and especially against him.

The list is just a brief selection on the events of the year, many of them accompanied by great acrimony and violence.

Leave your memories in the comment section or #1968Remember.

Denver Press Club
1330 Glenarm Place
Tuesday, May 8
Social Hour – 5:30 pm
Panel – 6:30 pm

Panel Selected for National Polling Conference on Marijuana

The American Association for Public Opinion Research (AAPOR) will hold its national conference for the first time in its 71-year history in Denver this May. Its opening panel on the legalization of marijuana is co-sponsored with the University of Denver-based Crossley Center for Public Opinion Research at the Korbel School. The panel for AAPOR members is open to the public and will be held May 15 at 5:00 pm at the Sheraton Denver Downtown Hotel.

The panelists include the director of the Quinnipiac poll and a leading pollster from California, which just legalized marijuana. The Colorado perspective is provided by pollsters and experts knowledgeable of the state’s 5-year experience with legalized recreational marijuana.

Public Opinion and Legalization of Marijuana

May 15

5:00 pm

Reception Follows

Sheraton Denver Downtown

AAPOR and the Crossley Center for Public Opinion Research sponsor a panel on Marijuana, Public Opinion and Legalization.

Doug Schwartz – Quinnipiac University Poll, director, moderator
David Metz – President of FM3 pollsters in California
Rick Ridder – Campaign manager, pollster (international), Colorado
Skyler McKinley – Former Deputy Director of Colorado Office of Marijuana Coordination, Colorado government affairs AAA
Floyd Ciruli – Professor at Crossley Center, pollster

Denver Press Club Hosts 1968: A Year of Turmoil and Transition

People say that 2018 is a year of such extraordinary political chaos and disruption that it must be unique in American history. Only the Civil War seems to compare. But, 1968 saw even more violence, turmoil and disruption.

• War: 500,000 troops in Vietnam, anti-draft riots, closing down campuses, peace with honor
• Race: MLK assassinated, urban riots, Black Panthers 
• Politics: Democratic Party in disarray, “The whole world is watching,” Southern strategy, George Wallace, Richard Nixon
• Polarization: war, race, drugs, feminism, generational gap

The Denver Press Club will host a presentation and panel titled, “1968: A Year of Turmoil and Transition,” on May 8 at 6:30 pm with social hour beginning at 5:30 pm.

I am blogging on the major events of 1968, starting with Vietnam and presidential politics.

Read blogs:
Walter Cronkite Calls Vietnam a Stalemate
March 1968: The Political Hinge

Republicans Riding Tandem With Trump

Presidential approval eight months out from the President’s first midterm election is an instructive, if not predictive, indicator of the election results in the House of Representatives. President Trump is at the low among presidents since Harry Truman and appears unable to stay on a message of accomplishment. The White House’s constant controversies and chaos are making recovery very difficult. And although eight months is a long time in the politics of the digital age, Trump and Republican congressional leadership should be worried.

As the table below shows, presidents tend to lose seats in their first midterm election, regardless of their popularity.

The midterm vote historically is a check on the incumbent president and his party. Voter turnout is lower. Passion and turnout enthusiasm is usually with the out-party. Presidents have a hard time translating their popularity (especially if only with a base of their party) to lower profile Senate and especially congressional candidates. Over the past 21 midterm elections, the incumbent presidential party has lost an average of 30 seats in the House.

Trump, of course, has little support beyond his base. Could the Republicans lose 30 to 50 House seats? Yes!

President Trump | Alexander Shcherbak/TASS

Looking at the chart shows the great presidential debacles.

• Johnson – 47 seats lost (1966), Vietnam, riots
• Ford – 48 seats lost (1971), Watergate, pardon
• Clinton – 55 seats lost (1994), rocky start and health care collapse
• Obama – 63 seats lost (2010), Tea Party formed and Obamacare

Analysis needs to go seat-by-seat, but Nancy Pelosi only requires 23 seats after the win in Pennsylvania’s 18th. Thirty seats are very doable.

See The Buzz:
Democrats could retake the House
Republican nightmare: President Clinton, Majority Leader Schumer and Speaker Pelosi

New White House Casting Call – Sound Bites, Conflict and Strong Views

The new White House team being assembled by an energized Donald Trump (more comfortable after a year into his presidency) looks like a Fox News casting call. If you like conflict as the President obviously does, this is your crew. The new members – Bolton and Kudlow – have an advantage no members of the first White House staff enjoyed – Trump sees them regularly on Fox News and CNBC. He recognizes them and hears their voices defending his policies and his behavior. Another Fox News contributor, Joseph diGenova, almost made the new team, but was out at the last moment.

Being good on TV is the way to get into this White House. But, a TV talking head may not be good for White House policymaking.

• Pundits talk in sound bites. Trump criticized H.R. McMaster’s long explanations. Two minutes is too long. Hold the background and complexity. Pictures and maps are preferred.
• TV commentators make a case. They bring a well-established point of view. Trump is unlikely to hear much about the alternatives or the other side of an issue.
• The President claims to like conflict. TV pundits will give it to him. They tend to argue against strawmen, other pundits and other cable channels. He will also get more chaos. This group likes to start new controversies.
• They often represent the outer edge of their expertise. Their views are frequently polarizing, and they join Coulter, Limbaugh, Hannity, and Fox and Friends in reinforcing Trump’s particular and often peculiar take on events, people and issues.

Trump may not be in office long enough, but these men could easily migrate to State and Treasury. Confirmation hearings would be interesting.

Colorado Politics: Will a Wave From D.C. Wash Over Colorado?

The recruiting is mostly done, the fundraising is well underway and the campaigning, especially in competitive districts, has started. The table is set for the fight for the U.S. House of Representatives.

History of midterms for a new president is not good, and the early indicators for Donald Trump are not good. In a commentary for Colorado Politics, the state’s leading political website, I examine the possibility of a wave coming out of Washington in favor of the Democrats that could roll over not only the most vulnerable Colorado federal official up for re-election, Mike Coffman, but the Republican ticket from governor down to the state legislature. I also describe the national dashboard, a snapshot of indicators as to the direction of national politics. Colorado Politics published “Will a wave from D.C. wash over Colorado?” on March 23, 2018.

The ever controversial Nancy Pelosi now only needs 23 more Democrats to win control of the House after the victory in Pennsylvania’s 18th District. Although it is clear that her time as head of the Democratic caucus is nearing a conclusion, she remains a powerful force. Democratic candidates in swing districts can get political mileage by denouncing her as Conor Lamb did to help him win the Pennsylvania House seat, yet still take money from the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC), which she helps fund. Read more…

Hickenlooper and Ciruli Talk Water

At the January Colorado Water Congress (CWC) statewide conference, Governor John Hickenlooper and Floyd Ciruli talked water politics in 2018. The conversation called for bipartisan leadership to secure Colorado’s water future – in what will be a political transition from Hickenlooper’s eight year of leadership.

Hickenlooper and Ciruli Call for

Bipartisan Leadership on Water Solutions

Photo: CWC

Colorado’s water leaders are contacting candidates for governor, legislature and county commission to provide information on the status of the state’s water challenges. Local utilities and other regional and agricultural water providers are providing information and offering conversation on Colorado’s need for more supplies, storage and conservation.

As Ciruli and Hickenlooper discussed, considerable progress has been made the last decade in water planning and projects. We don’t want to lose the momentum or let political polarization gridlock process.

Read CWC March update here

Public Opinion and Sanctuary Cities

Many large U.S. cities and some states, such as California, have adopted versions of “sanctuary” policies that protect immigrants that the U.S. immigration authorities believe should be deported.

Recently, President Trump, Attorney General Jeff Sessions and conservative media have been excoriating California in general and the mayor of Oakland in particular for sanctuary city policies.

Although the public is very skeptical of Trump’s wall (60% oppose, CBS poll, 3-2018), generally favorable toward DACA (80% support DACA remaining) and supportive of undocumented immigrants having a path to citizenship (support ranges from 60% to 80% depending on wording), it is very divided on sanctuary cities. The President and Republicans know it and believe Democrats will lose on the issue – they may be right.

In a recent CBS News poll, the public is closely divided on sanctuary cities.

Generally, whenever the conversation turns to crime or criminals, support of illegal immigrants drops. Blanket non-compliance with federal authorities on immigration law enforcement is a risky policy for the Democrats.

The Public is Down on the NRA and Up for Gun Restrictions

Since the school shooting in Parkland, Florida, polls appear to reflect a decline in support for the National Rifle Association (NRA) and an increase in support for more restrictive gun laws.

The Gallup poll has queried public favorably toward the NRA since 2000. In fact, during the Obama administration years, the NRA’s reputation improved, with more than half the public giving it a favorable rating, But, a few polls during the last few months show a decline.

In a national Marist poll in early March 2018, only 38 percent were favorable toward the NRA, with 51 percent unfavorable. Sixty percent believe the NRA has too much influence over politicians and 54 percent believe Republicans in Congress are afraid of the NRA (Quinnipiac University poll, March 2018).

The standard question that the Gallup poll has asked for many years shows a significant spike upward in Americans who support more strict “laws covering the sale of firearms.” As of March of this year, after the Parkland shooting, an all-time high of 67 percent of the public support the “more strict” position – much higher than in December 2012 after the Newtown, Connecticut shooting (58%).

AP: King Assassinated in Memphis – 1968

Martin Luther King, Jr., “I’ve been to the mountaintop,”
 April 3, 1968 | YouTube screen grab

Fifty years ago during the year that traumatized Americans, one of the most tragic events was the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. at 6:00 pm, April 4, on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel.

King gave a very emotional final speech the night before to Memphis civil rights and sanitation workers and his preacher colleagues, which spoke of his premonition that death was coming.

“I don’t know what will happen now; we’ve got some difficult days ahead…but it really doesn’t matter to me now.”

“King paused. ‘Because I’ve been to the mountaintop,’ he declared in a trembling voice. Cheers and applause erupted. Some people jerked involuntarily to their feet, and others rose slowly like a choir. ‘And I don’t mind,’ he said, trailing off beneath the second and third waves of response. ‘Like anybody I would like to live – a long life – longevity has its place.’ The whole building suddenly hushed, which let sounds of thunder and rain fall from the roof. ‘But I’m not concerned about that now,’ said King. ‘I just want God’s will.’ There was a subdued call of ‘Yes!’ in the crowd. ‘And he’s allowed me to go to the mountain,’ King cried, building intensity. ‘And I’ve looked over. And I have s-e-e-e-e-e-n the promised land.’”

“King’s eyes were brimming now and a trace of a smile crossed his face. ‘And I may not get there with you,’ he shouted, ‘but I want you to know tonight, [“Yes!”] that as a people we will get to the promised land!’ By now the crowd was clapping and crying and preachers were closing in behind him. ‘So I am happy tonight!’ King exclaimed, rushing into his close. ‘I’m not worried about anything! I’m not fearing any man! Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord!’ He broke off and ‘stumbled sideways into a hug from Abernathy,’ writes Branch. ‘The preachers helped him to a chair, some crying, and tumult washed through’ the Temple.”

Lorraine Motel, April 4, 1968 | afrikanblackcoalition.org

King was pronounced dead an hour after the shooting. A wave of riots broke out in more than 100 cities. It was the greatest occurrence of civil disorder since the Civil War and saw more than 45 deaths and 15,000 arrested.

April 7 was declared a day of national mourning.

Forty-three years later, President Barack Obama dedicated a four-acre park and monument on the National Mall to King.

“Out of a mountain of despair, a stone
of hope.” Martin Luther King, Jr.
memorial in Washington, D.C.,
Aug. 22, 2011 | National Park Service

The New Authoritarianism and the Challenge to the West

“Favoring or enforcing strict obedience to authority, especially that of the government at the expense of personal freedom.”

Authoritarianism is on the rise and security, democracy, human rights and trade are in danger. For more than 70 years, America and the alliance system it helped create around the globe have supported a world order that has seen unprecedented levels of prosperity, the worldwide spread of democracy, advances in human rights and an absence of major power conflicts.

Those conditions are challenged today by authoritarian leaders. Most importantly, America’s leadership of the alliance system that promoted trade, democracy and collective security is missing, causing a massive crisis of confidence among the world democracies as they face new challenges not seen since 1930s.

Ambassador Chris Hill and pollster Floyd Ciruli will address this new dangerous rise of powerful and aggressive authoritarian leaders, the danger to democracy and what should be America’s response.

Ambassador Hill leads the office of global engagement at the University of Denver and is a professor of diplomacy. He was dean of the Korbel School for International Studies for seven years. Ciruli is a Korbel School professor teaching public opinion and foreign policy and the director of the Crossley Center for Public Opinion Research.

Where

WorldDenver forum on April 10, 2018 at the Lakewood Country Club.

When

April 10, 2018

5:30 pm MDT-7:30 pm MDT

Tickets

Register here

Directions

Lakewood Country Club
6800 W. 10th Ave
Lakewood, CO 80214

Event Details

5:30 pm-6:15 pm: Networking Reception
6:15 pm-7:30 pm: Presentation and Q&A