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Host of ‘Meet the Press’ Chuck Todd visits UNH campus

Chuck Todd speaks to students in the Lundholm Gymnasium Wednesday night.
Chuck Todd speaks to students in the Lundholm Gymnasium on Oct. 14.

By David Todisco

Contributing Writer

Many students noticed the NBC truck pull onto campus early Wednesday. NBC moderator Chuck Todd was hosting his show “Meet The Press.” Students could be seen walking in the back of the broadcast in front of Thompson Hall. 

This was not the main reason why Todd was on campus. Todd was here yesterday to continue a series of talks about the American Presidency. This event was held inside of the Lundholm Gymnasium at 7 p.m. on Wednesday.

The room was set up as though a presidential candidate were coming to campus; even Hillary Clinton did not have this elaborate of a set up. Classical music played as political junkies and extra-credit go-getters entered the room. The crowd also featured many citizens who are just big Chuck Todd fans.

This talk was the third of a series, first created by J. Morgan and Tara Rutman with the President’s Distinguished Speakers Series and is now called the Rutman Distinguished Lecture Series on the American presidency. Todd jokingly explained how he could not compare to the first two people to dictate these series which in the past were given by Robert A. Caro and Doris Kearns Goodwin who are both Pulitzer-Prize winning authors. The 4-minute applause at the end of the talk clearly showed how the audience felt about Todd’s words.

“I am an English/journalism major. I found it to be very insightful, he had a lot of good things to say,” said Amanda Folsom, a senior at UNH. Folsom is certainly right in her words about Todd.

Todd began the event by explaining what a tumultuous election we have seen for 2016. He went over some very opening points, summarizing the two points. Todd explained how it is clear the republicans need to figure out their “Bush legacy,” and that they are not clear who they are or how they identify yet. Even Jeb Bush has trashed his own brother at one point. The room clearly agreed with Todd’s words through many head nods.

The media was a main topic also featured in this series and the audience learned that a reporter’s job is far more demanding than it once was. 

“You have all these reporters who have all these demands from their office…Campaigns feel their reporters aren’t even experiencing their campaign,” said Todd.

Though campaigners feel reporters are accessible, Todd did point out the availability of politicians to the reporters. Today with social media and all these new outlets, politicians have become much more accessible. Todd also raised the point that reporters love Trump because he is always accessible. Todd explained the same can be said for Clinton who has done many interviews in the past month.

Russell Dorand, a senior at UNH, raised the point of how refreshing it was to have someone from the federal level be honest and get his point of view on these issues.

“I thought he brought a unique experienced perspective to the New Hampshire Primary from the perspective of the national media,” Dorand said.

During the event, Todd spoke about Bernie Sanders, and the fact that he has not had equal coverage from the media as a whole.

“Even if he doesn’t win the nomination, he’s having a huge impact,” Todd said. “He’s moving the conversation and we are having a completely different conversation about income and equality than we would if he hadn’t been in the race.”

Overall, Todd’s talk showed the many forces at work in the campaign and how unpredictable it is, and will continue to be.

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