Marian Miner Cook
Athenaeum

A distinctive
feature of social and
cultural life at CMC

 

Can the Republican Party be Saved?

Fri, April 2, 2021
Dinner Program
Oren Cass, Mona Charen, and John Wood, Jr., panelists; Jon Shields, moderator

In the wake of the Capitol insurrection, a second impeachment of Trump, and losing control of the House, Senate, and White House, what will become of the Republican Party? Will it be convulsed from within for its soul? Will it become even more gripped by prejudice and conspiracy theory? Or can it transform into a multi-ethnic party of the working class? Leading a panel discussion on the future of the Republican Party, Jon Shields, professor of government at CMC, will be joined by Oren Cass, executive director of American Compass and former domestic policy advisor for Mitt Romney’s presidential campaign, Mona Charen, journalist and policy editor at The Bulwark and former speech writer for Nancy Reagan, and John Wood, Jr., national ambassador for Braver Angels and former vice chairman of the Republican Party of Los Angeles County. 

Oren Cass is the executive director of American Compass, whose mission is to restore an economic orthodoxy that emphasizes the importance of family, community, and industry to the nation’s liberty and prosperity. From 2015 to 2019, Cass was a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute, where his work on strengthening the labor market addressed issues ranging from the social safety net and environmental regulation to trade and immigration to education and organized labor. Prior to his time at the Manhattan Institute, Cass held roles as the domestic policy director for Mitt Romney’s presidential campaign in 2012, as an editor of the Harvard Law Review, and as a management consultant in Bain & Company’s Boston and New Delhi offices.

Mona Charen is a columnist, journalist, political commentator, and writer. She often writes about foreign policy, terrorism, politics, poverty, family structure, public morality, and culture. Charen wrote for National Review magazine, where she was an editorial assistant starting in 1979. Later she joined the staff of First Lady Nancy Reagan as a speechwriter. She subsequently worked on President Ronald Reagan's staff, in the White House Office of Public Liaison and in the Office of Communications. She currently is the policy editor of The Bulwark, a nationally syndicated columnist, and host of The Bulwark’s Beg to Differ podcast. 

John Wood Jr. is a national ambassador for Braver Angels, whose mission it is reduce American political polarization and to promote productive conversation across ideological lines. A former vice-chairman of the Republican Party of Los Angeles County, Wood is a musical artist and a respected writer and speaker on subjects including racial and political reconciliation. In 2014, Wood ran against Maxine Waters for her seat in California's 43rd Congressional District.

Jon Shields, associate professor of government at CMC, will moderate the conversation.

This panel discussion is sponsored by the Salvatori Center for the Study of Individual Freedom in the Modern World at CMC.

 

View Video: YouTube with John Wood, Jr., Oren Cass, Mona Charen, Jon Shields

Registration

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Marian Miner Cook Athenaeum

Claremont McKenna College
385 E. Eighth Street
Claremont, CA 91711

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