Rabinowitz back in the presidential debate biz

Daily Point

Former Hofstra president will mentor, fundraise in new role

Stu Rabinowitz is getting back in the presidential debate business.

Janet Brown, executive director of the Commission on Presidential Debates, has tapped the former Hofstra University president as a senior adviser for the 2024 debates scheduled for this fall, the CPD told The Point.

Rabinowitz was key to bringing three consecutive presidential debates to Hofstra in 2008, 2012 and 2016, elevating the university’s national profile. Hofstra is the only higher education institution with such a track record.

“I believe in the debates and holding them on college campuses,” Rabinowitz told The Point. “It’s a way to turn the uncivil discussion on policy differences into a more constructive conversation.”

It remains to be seen whether there will be a civil debate about the need for debates and the role of the nonpartisan CPD in the 2024 general election. Neither front-runner has committed. Two years ago, the Republican National Committee said it was withdrawing from any participation in the debates, largely seen as a move to pressure the CPD on the selection of moderators. The belief, however, is that if former President Donald Trump wants the forum, as he is now claiming, the GOP will officially participate. Formed in 1987 to be a permanent fixture in our national discourse, CPD has sponsored such events for every presidential election since 1988. The commission does not receive funding from the federal government or any political party.

Rabinowitz said he was asked by Brown to advise the schools which have been selected to host this year on the logistics and challenges of handling the debates. Texas State, a school with a large Latino registration, and Virginia State, a historically Black college, are new to the process while the University of Utah hosted the 2020 vice-presidential debate. Rabinowitz, who was also the dean of Hofstra Law School, is senior counsel to the Meltzer Lippe law firm in Mineola. He said he will advise the schools on fundraising, while also soliciting donations personally.

He noted that Anheuser-Busch, the world’s largest brewing company and traditional host of the large media centers that energize the debates, has notified the commission it will no longer be a sponsor.

“There are naming opportunities and other advantages to becoming involved in the debate process,” he said. A prodigious fundraiser for Hofstra, Rabinowitz said he would not ask any donors to the school for funding.

His pro bono role, he said, would not end with the debate cycle but continue with an international symposium in 2025 that brings together a network of debate organizations in 41 nations to discuss best practices.

“The CPD debates are considered the gold standard around the world but holding these events about how they should be done costs money,” he said.

— Rita Ciolli rita.ciolli@newsday.com

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The opposition

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— Michael Dobie michael.dobie@newsday.com

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