Times Online columnist Gerard Baker interviews Norman Ornstein and Thomas E. Mann at the Republican National Convention where they discussed topics ranging from John McCain's selection of Alaska Governor Sarah Palin as a running mate to how hurricane Gustav affected the convention.
Bio
Gerard Baker
Gerard Baker is United States Editor and an Assistant Editor of The Times. He joined in 2004 from the Financial Times, where he had spent over ten years as Tokyo correspondent and Washington Bureau Chief.
Thomas E. Mann
Thomas E. Mann is the W. Averell Harriman Chair and Senior Fellow in Governance Studies at The Brookings Institution.
The author of numerous books on American government, and a contributor to major magazines and newspapers like Washington Post and New York Times, Mann is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.
Mann has served as co-director (with Ornstein) of the Transition to Governing Project and senior counselor (with Ornstein) to the Continuity of Government Commission.
Norman J. Ornstein
Norman J. Ornstein is a Resident Scholar at the American Enterprise Institute for Public Policy Research. An election analyst for CBS News, he writes a weekly column called "Congress Inside Out" for Roll Call.
His work has also appeared in The New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, and Foreign Affairs, and he appears regularly on television programs like The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer, Nightline, and Charlie Rose.
He serves on the board of the Public Broadcasting Service and several other nonprofit groups. Like Mann, he is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. He lives in Chevy Chase, Maryland.
I think it's interesting how the perception of Palin changed after this interview and after her speech, but I am still shocked that such an important decision was made so fast and without a little more scrutiny. Presumably if they win the election she'll end up running for president herself after McCain. I just can't see that.