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Noted pollster, public policy expert to speak Feb. 10


Last updated January 25, 2016

By Tina Underwood

Peter D. Hart, one of America’s leading pollsters and public policy experts, will speak on the Furman University campus Wednesday, Feb. 10 at 7 p.m. in Shaw Hall of the Younts Conference Center.

His talk, “The Mood of America 2016: The Presidential Race,” is free and open to the public.  It is presented by the Riley Institute at Furman.

Hart, who’ll be on campus Feb. 8-12 as a Woodrow Wilson Fellow in Residence, will examine the mood of the American electorate and what it is looking for in the next president of the United States.

Hart will be introduced by former two-term South Carolina Governor and U.S. Secretary of Education Dick Riley. Furman political science professor Dr. Brent Nelsen will moderate the question-and-answer session to follow.

Hart is regarded as one of the top analysts of public opinion in the United States. He founded Hart Research in 1971, and since 1989 has been the pollster for NBC News and The Wall Street Journal.

His political clients have included leaders in the forefront of American politics over the past half century, from Hubert Humphrey and Jay Rockefeller, to Edward Kennedy and Bill Clinton. He has represented more than 55 United States senators and 40 governors. His work with Hart Research has focused on public policy and cultural issues and has included work for clients such as the Smithsonian Institution, Habitat for Humanity, UNICEF, and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

During his time on the Furman campus, he will visit classes, meet with students and faculty in small groups and at meals, and host focus group sessions.

For more information about Hart’s talk, contact the Riley Institute at (864) 294-3546 or visit the Furman website.

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