Maxwell School News and Commentary

"Some people will make hay while the sun shines," says University Professor James Steinberg. "If people have an interest in doing business with Trump, they may want to do it now."

"If there was a year in which I'd be suspicious of polling numbers, this would be it,” Grant Reeher, professor of political science, tells CNY Central. "The reason is that the models of likely voters have to come from somewhere, and usually they use previous midterms. 2018 is nothing like 2014." 

"Is it [President Obama's memo] going to help a lot? I don’t think so, given the country is so polarized," says Grant Reeher, professor of political science and director of the Campbell Public Affairs Institute. "But it could help get people who would vote Democratic anyway to actually turn up."

William C. Banks, professor emeritus of public administration and international affairs, says "There are no Justice Department rules that limit the investigation in the pendency of an election. Mr. Mueller is simply going about his day and lugging the law and facts to where they need to go."

This summer, Maxwell convened Minnowbrook at 50, an anniversary conference on the same hallowed ground. For most who attended, the times seemed no less volatile, and deciding how public administrators and scholars meet an era’s challenges proved anything but simple.

"New York has some of the most restrictive laws that govern our elections of any state in the country" says Margaret Susan Thompson, associate professor of history and political science. She adds that New York is "one of the few states that doesn't have early voting and one of the few states that has very restrictive rules on changing on one's party registration," concluding that the state's electoral laws are "outdated."

"If something big is revealed—an impeachable offense by the president—that could be a significant factor in creating a blue (Democratic) wave," says Grant Reeher, professor of political science and director of the Campbell Public Affairs Institute. On the other hand, he says, if the investigations end with nothing really significant or new "it gives power to President Trump's narrative that it has all been a witch hunt, which could give Republicans a boost."