Jan.21, 1998
						      Contact:Dan Heuchert
							      (804)924-7676

	POLITICIANS, CONSULTANTS, JOURNALISTS, SCHOLARS
	WILL GATHER TO EXAMINE CLEAN CAMPAIGNING

	A national program to teach politicians how to win elections
without resorting to negative or unethical campaigning will take a
step closer to reality Jan. 29-31 with an all-star conference at the
University of Virginia.
	The Thomas C. Sorensen Institute for Political Leadership will
host a "Conference on Campaign Conduct" to develop a curriculum for
the program, which later will be tested with political candidates.
Participants in the conference include current and former
office-holders, campaign professionals, journalists and academics.
	The conference will open Thursday, Jan. 29 with a keynote
speech by former U.S. Sen. and Connecticut Gov. Lowell P. Weicker.
	On Friday, work sessions will be held on "Financing
Campaigns," "Candidates and the Press," "Campaign Advertising," and
"The Role of Ethics in Political Campaigns." Each formal presentation
will be followed by small group discussions among the participants.
	On Saturday, they will review the previous day's activities
and attempt to reach a consensus on the program's curriculum.
	"We do not want, at the end of the conference, to have one of
those familiar 'calls for change,'" said William H. Wood, director of
the Sorensen Institute. "We want to find a practical way for people to
run for office and not turn off the electorate."
	The list of participants includes a carefully chosen balance
of Republicans and Democrats, insiders and outsiders. Among the
politicians expected to attend: newly elected Virginia Lt. Gov. John
H. Hager; former state Attorney General Mary Sue Terry, a former
gubernatorial candidate; former Virginia State Senate leader Hunter B.
Andrews; state Del. Jerrauld C. Jones, chair of the Virginia
Legislative Black Caucus; state Del. Jean Cunningham; Katherine K.
Hanley, chair of the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors and president
of the Virginia Municipal League; and Norfolk mayor Paul D. Fraim.
	 Journalists include Ron Faucheux, editor and publisher of
Campaigns and Elections magazine; Charlie Mahtesian of Governing
magazine; Ellen Nakashima, Virginia political reporter 
for the Washington Post; and Jeff Schapiro, political reporter and
columnist for the Richmond Times-Dispatch.
	Others expected to participate include Becky Cain, president
of the League of Women Voters of the United States; Walter DeVries,
director of the North Carolina Institute of Political Leadership;
Curtis B. Gans, director of the Committee for the Study of the
American Electorate; Christopher Gates, president of the National
Civic League; Anne Mervene, coordinator for the Michigan Political
Leadership Program; political consultant Alan Secrest, co-owner of the
polling firm Cooper and Secrest; and Marta Tellado, director of the
National Issues Project at the University of Maryland Academy of
Leadership.
	(A complete schedule and list of program participants are
attached).
	"They were chosen because they have previously demonstrated a
willingness to think about these topics and search for pragmatic ideas
to help candidates," Wood said.
	The two-and-a-half-year Project on Campaign Conduct began in
1997 with a $410,000 grant from the Pew Charitable Trusts.
	"Our premise is that most people who go into politics really
want to do what's right," Wood said. "The program would be designed to
teach candidates how to win elections while campaigning in a manner
that elevates, rather than denigrates, the democratic process. You can
win by campaigning ethically, and when that happens, voters are a lot
less cynical about the process."
	The conference will lead to a two-and-a-half day pilot program
to be tested this year on a group of first-time state and local
candidates, which will include case studies of winning campaigns that
displayed good campaign conduct. Once the program is tested and
refined, it could be used by public-spirted groups around the nation.
	The Sorensen Institute, established in 1993, is a bipartisan
center for political leadership that runs programs for business, civic
and educational leaders in Virginia who want to become involved in the
political process. One of the few such centers in the country, it
maintains a strong focus on ethics.
	The Philadelphia-based Pew Charitable Trusts support nonprofit
activities in the areas of culture, education, the environment, health
and human services, public policy and religion. Among the nation's
largest philanthropies, the Trusts support a broad range of
strategically targeted social investments designed to advance
knowledge and translate it into effective action in the public
interest.
                                ###
	Reporters wishing to cover all or portions of the conference
are asked to call William H. Wood at the Sorensen Institute for
Political Leadership, (804) 982-5698 or (804) 982-5522.

	Television reporters should call our TV News Office at (804)
924-7550.

           U.Va. news online: http://www.virginia.edu/topnews