September 30, 2004

Seattle Columnist Joel Connelly Delivers Luncheon Address at 21st Annual Frank Church Conference Oct. 6

Joel Connelly, longtime columnist for the Seattle Post-Intelligencer, will deliver the luncheon address for the 21st annual Frank Church Conference on Public Affairs at noon, Oct. 6, in the Student Union Jordan Ballroom at Boise State University. The evening speaker, at 7 p.m., is former U.S. Sen. George McGovern. Both addresses are free and open to the public. Lunch is $25; call 426-2941 to reserve a seat. Connelly writes the thrice-weekly “In the Northwest” Seattle Post-Intelligencer column. He served as the newspaper’s Washington, D.C., correspondent and national correspondent for 17 years before assuming his present duties. Connelly has covered American presidential politics since the 1988 election, the year that the West Coast — the “Left Coast” to Wall Street Journal editorialists — began to count in U.S. presidential campaigns. Connelly also had numerous one-on-one interviews with Bill Clinton during the 1990s. A native of Bellingham, Wash., Connelly is a graduate of the University of Notre Dame with a master’s degree in political science from the University of Washington. He coauthored the 1998 book “Andrus: Confessions of a Western Politician” and is coauthor of three other books. The conference, titled “The American Presidency: Principled Leadership in a Time of Turbulence,” also features two panel discussions. The morning panel, at 10 a.m., will look at “Character and Competence in the American Presidency” and is moderated by Frank Church Distinguished Professor Keith Allred. The afternoon panel, at 2 p.m., will address “Presidential Leadership in Time of War,” and is moderated by Greg Raymond, director of the Boise State Honors College and next year’s Frank Church Distinguished Professor. -30- Contact: Garry Wenske, Executive Director, Frank Church Institute, (208) 426-2942, GarryWenske@boisestate.edu  Media Contact: Kathleen Craven, communications and marketing, (208) 426-3275, kcraven@boisestate.edu