Herman Cain to Address W&L Mock Convention
NOTE: Herman Cain cancelled his scheduled appearance at the Mock Convention on Friday, Feb. 10, telling organizers he had lost his voice earlier in the day.
Former Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain will address Washington and Lee University’s Mock Convention on Friday, Feb. 10, 2012.
Cain dropped out of the race in December but was the GOP frontrunner before allegations of sexual harassment and infidelity derailed his campaign. Former chairman and CEO of Godfather’s Pizza, Cain ran as a Tea Party candidate from Georgia.
Cain will address Mock Convention at the evening session on Friday. He joins former Utah Governor Jon Huntsman as one of two former 2012 candidates. Cain and Huntsman top off an impressive array of speakers, including the opening night speech by Gov. Mike Huckabee, presentations by Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell and U.S. House Majority Leader and Virginia Rep. Eric Cantor, former Tennessee Sen. Fred Thompson, and former Oklahoma Rep. J.C. Watts. The Convention also includes a debate between Ann Coulter and James Carville, as well as a keynote address by former Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour.
Mock Convention is a three-day event that will feature speeches by other distinguished politicians and analysts. The event will culminate in the students’ prediction of the Republican presidential nominee.
W&L’s Mock Convention is a quadrennial tradition in which students pick the presidential nominee for the party out of power. Nearly the entire student body, roughly 99%, research potential candidates, track polls, and gather on-the-ground data. This year, the students have correctly picked the outcome of the New Hampshire, South Carolina, Florida, and Nevada races. With only two incorrect predictions since 1948 and an overall accuracy rate of 75%, Mock Con has been called “the most realistic” exercise of its kind by Newsweek magazine.
After incorrectly selecting Hillary Clinton as the 2008 Democratic nominee, the students are eager to prove their skills in the upcoming convention. Speakers of Cain’s caliber solidify the convention’s credibility and will ensure that in 2012, the W&L Mock Convention will reaffirm its place as “the biggest and boomingest” of student political organizations (TIME Magazine).
Schedule of Events
Thursday, Feb. 9
5 p.m. — Debate between Ann Coulter and James Carville, moderated by POLITICO’s Mike Allen and Wall Street Journal’s Kelly Evans
7 p.m. — Opening Address by Gov. Mike Huckabee
Friday, Feb. 10
10 a.m. — Parade through Lexington
1 p.m. — Session One, featuring speeches by Rep. Shelley Moore Capito and Virginia GOP leaders Gov. Bob McDonnell, Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli and U.S. House Majority Leader Eric Cantor
7 p.m. — Session Two, featuring speeches by Mr. Herman Cain, Gov. Jon Huntsman, Rep. Thaddeus McCotter, Rep. J.C. Watts
Saturday, Feb. 11
10 a.m. — Session Three, featuring speeches by Rep. Bob Goodlatte, Gov. George Allen, Sen. Fred Thompson and Attorney General HenryMcMaster
3 p.m. — Session Four, featuring keynote address by Gov. Haley Barbour and the Roll Call of the States, with the final prediction of the nominee
CONTACTS:
Kali McFarland ’12
mcfarlandk12@mail.wlu.edu
(757) 404-1214
Katy Stewart ’13
stewartk13@mail.wlu.edu
(704) 560-2120
Jeffery G. Hanna
Executive Director of Communications and Public Affairs
jhanna@wlu.edu
(540) 458-8459
