Students in AP (Advanced Placement) U.S. Government and Politics classes and the Directed Study, “The Election” listened to polling experts and a political consultant ahead of the presidential election in November.

The speaker events consisted of virtual webinars with Emerson College Polling Executive Director Spencer Kimball and Communications Director Camille Mumford, election consultant Frank Luntz and an in-person visit from political strategist David Simas (Rowan ’24).  After hearing a brief description of the individual speaker’s background and their opinions on recent election trends, attending students and faculty were able to ask the experts questions.

Rex Grube ’25, who takes AP U.S. Government and Politics, said the goal of Kimball and Mumford’s visit was to learn about the complicated polling process.

“There’s a lot more that goes into the polling process than what it seems like on the surface because it’s really easy to just look at a poll and look at the numbers and think that’s it,” Grube said.  “But when you really get into it, they have to do a lot of different processes to make sure that their polling is accurate. It was really interesting to learn how it’s developed over the years to become more accurate, too.”

Avery Kim ’25 said he enjoyed  the opportunity to learn from specialists in the political field, especially Luntz.

“I find [the meetings] very interesting, and I think it is very cool that the school is able to bring such significant experts in the election field,” Kim said. “I also really appreciate that they had an enthusiasm to talk to us, especially Frank Luntz. He very much enjoyed talking to us  and even respected our questions and our opinions.”

Edward Ward ’25 said that although he did not share many of the opinions that Luntz shared during the meetings, he still found the speaker to be cordial and articulate when expressing them.

“The Zoom with Frank Luntz was incredible. I’ve never disagreed with someone more and still found them so likable and knowledgeable,” Ward said.  “Ideologically speaking he and I are very different, But I found him to be restrained when he did bring up something partisan and he articulated it in a way that was direct and logical.”