Bill Kristol, Mark Shields say Republicans will win

Two of the brightest minds in American politics debated national hot topics and forecasted results of the midterm elections Monday night.

Although Bill Kristol and Mark Shields stand on opposite sides of the political spectrum, they agreed on one prediction — Republicans will take control of the House of Representatives in November.

Kristol is a prominent conservative voice, the founder and editor of The Weekly Standard and a regular contributor on the Fox News Network.

Shields has worked on the Democratic side of Washington for decades and is a weekly contributor to PBS NewsHour.

The pair visited as the Frey Foundation’s Distinguished Visiting Professors in the College of Arts and Sciences.

A crowded Memorial Hall listened in on a conversation moderated by Hodding Carter, professor of leadership and public policy and former State Department spokesman for President Jimmy Carter.

He introduced the pair as “two of the best political journalists in the nation, unmasked and with the gloves off.”

The discussion was dominated by the midterm elections.

Kristol and Shields agreed that Republicans would win a majority of seats in the House of Representatives, and possibly the Senate.

The duo plunged into a discussion of the rapidly changing political landscape of the past few years. Kristol likened it to the political atmosphere of the 60s and 70s when uncertainty ruled the political scene.

Shields agreed that today’s politics are highly fluid and people will vote based on how their life is going at the moment.

This, he said, along with a slumping administration, is why Republicans will capture the House next month.

“The Obama administration looks as if their puppy just died,” Shields said.

He went on to say that the Democrats will bear the burden of the poor morale of the country.

But he said he was hopeful that the 2012 presidential election will see a resurgence of the Democratic movement that showed so much promise in 2008.

The two also debated the merits of the Iraq war. Kristol argued that the U.S. should stay the course.

“Our enemy’s patience is not exhausted,” he said.

But Shields countered, saying the war no longer had the support of U.S. citizens.

“If a country is not willing to fight a war, it shouldn’t send an army.”

Contact the University Editor at udesk@unc.edu.