September 11, 2009
Political strategist and Fox News commentator Dick Morris discussed the results of the 2008 presidential election at York College in February. Following his visit, Morris penned a story on college affordability that prominently features York College as an institution that contains costs by having its faculty teach a full courseload, keeping down administrative spending, and minimizing debt. You may read the entire story, posted at dickmorris.com, here.
While the cost of a college education is a complex matter, the piece is an observation by Morris. As an observer, he offers a perspective that does not necessarily consider the intricacies of the issue, including the important role that faculty play outside of their classroom instruction time. We offer this as one take on the subject from an outsider to the world of higher education whose thoughts open the door to a larger conversation.
A political consultant to Democratic President Bill Clinton for 20 years, Morris is credited with piloting the former president to a comeback re-election victory in 1996. Called “the most influential private citizen in America” by Time magazine, Morris helped steer Clinton to the center and away from the liberal policies he had pursued in his first two years in office. He is also credited with advising Clinton to sign the welfare reform bill of 1996 and getting him to back a balanced budget.
In addition to Clinton, Morris has handled the winning campaigns for more than 30 senators or governors, including Sen. Trent Lott and governors Bill Weld of Massachusetts and Pete Wilson of California.
In recent years, Morris has turned to foreign campaigns and served as chief strategist for Mexico’s reformer Vicente Fox in his upset victory in July 2000 over the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), which had ruled the nation for 71 years. He also was the chief strategist for the winning campaigns of Fernando de la Rua (Argentina), Jorge Battle (Uruguay), Chen (Taiwan) and, most recently, for Viktor Yushchenko, the Ukrainian presidential candidate who was poisoned during his campaign. He also handled the winning campaign for the new president of Mexico, Felipe Calderon.
Morris has become a familiar figure in the United States as a commentator for the Fox News Channel. He also writes a weekly column for the New York Post, Hill Magazine in Washington, D.C., and Fox News. He has written a number of books, several of which have become New York Times bestsellers. His most recent, written with his wife, Eileen McGann, is “Fleeced: How Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton, Media Mockery of Terrorist Threats, Liberals Who Want to Kill Talk Radio, the Do-Nothing Congress, Companies . . . Are Scamming Us . . . and What to Do About It.” Others include “Outrage,” “Behind the Oval Office,” “Off With Their Heads,” “Rewriting History,” “Because He Could,” and “Condi vs. Hillary.”
In November of 1999, Morris founded a website called Vote.com, where people may log on to vote on the major issues of the day. Their opinions are then emailed to their senator and congressman and to other significant decision makers. Morris and his wife also founded Legalvote.com, an online jury focus group service.
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