Six local political consultants will lead a panel discussion at the College of Charleston titled, “Inside Campaigns 101: What to Expect and How to Get Involved.”  The event will take place on Tuesday, Nov. 10, from 4:30 – 6:00 p.m. in the admissions auditorium located in the Robert Scott Small Building.

This bi-partisan panel, sponsored by the Palmetto Project, the Department of Communication and the Department of Political Science, includes three Republican and three Democratic campaign strategists:

Kelley Adams, principal, Integrated Strategies, LLC, served as general election director for S.C. Campaign for Change and was state director for Hillary Clinton for President from 2007-2008.
Phil Bailey is executive director of the S.C. Senate Democratic Caucus. The S.C. Senate Democratic Caucus was organized nearly 25 years ago and plays an important role in the historic issues facing South Carolina.
Lachlan McIntosh, founder, McIntosh Consulting, has twice been elected a delegate to the Democratic National Convention and proudly serves as a Democratic officer for his local precinct. In 2008, McIntosh Consulting won 80 percent of its races, including Anne Peterson Hutto’s upset victory for the South Carolina State House. Lachlan played instrumental roles for former South Carolina Governor Jim Hodges, former U.S. Senator Fritz Hollings, Charleston Mayor Joe Riley, and former vice presidential nominee John Edwards.

Chris Allen, managing director, Jim Dyke and Associates, has extensive experience in communications and campaign management. Chris served as South Carolina political director for the John McCain 2008 presidential campaign where he built upon his previously established statewide network of grassroots, political and business leaders. In 2006, Chris joined Senator McCain’s Straight Talk America PAC after serving for four years as a personal aide and advisor to Governor Mark Sanford.
Wesley Donahue, owner, Under the Powerlines, specializes in political website development, online campaign marketing, social networking, Web advertising, online fundraising, netroots development, organization, and activation, and high-quality Web video. Donahue is the editor of Political Net News and co-founder of SCTweets.com. In 2006, he served as deputy campaign manager for Mike Bouchard for U.S. Senate.
Rod Shealy, consultant, ran the Republican primary campaign of Andre Bauer for lieutenant governor in 2006. In 2004, he scored a huge upset when his candidate for the statehouse, Nathan Ballentine, beat House majority leader Richard Quinn Jr.

Following brief presentations by the panelists, the forum will conclude with a question-and-answer session open to all members of the audience. The event is free and open to the public.

“Our students have a great interest in local political campaigns. This event is an opportunity to expose students to the way in which campaigns function and how students can get involved ” said Philip Jos, chair of the Department of Political Science. “We are delighted to have this distinguished group of panelists on campus.”

For more information on this event.
The Palmetto Project is a private, non-profit initiative designed to put new and creative ideas to work in South Carolina. Led by the belief that every problem faced by communities in our state is being solved by someone somewhere, we bring together citizens, corporations and government agencies to find good ideas and put them to work statewide.

The Department of Political Science serves almost 400 undergraduate majors and supports a variety of interdisciplinary programs as well as graduate programs in public administration and environmental studies. The department is housed in the School of Humanities and Social Sciences.

With one of the largest undergraduate majors at the College of Charleston, the Department of Communication enrolls more than 800 students in its undergraduate and graduate programs. Students in the department study such topics as political communication, interpersonal communication, journalism and public relations. The department is housed in the School of Humanities and Social Sciences.