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Sweet speaks at SIUC about upcoming election

BY CALEB HALE

Wednesday, September 26, 2007 11:02 PM CDT

THE SOUTHERN

CARBONDALE - In covering the 2008 presidential race, journalist Lynn Sweet said she is never at a loss for something to write about.

Sweet, Washington bureau chief for the Chicago Sun-Times since 1994, is at Southern Illinois University Carbondale this week on behalf of the Paul Simon Public Policy Institute.

Sweet has been speaking to classes and other audiences during her visit, sharing insight about the upcoming presidential race on both the Democratic and Republican tickets.

Eight months on the campaign trail, largely assigned to cover U.S. Sen. Barack Obama, Sweet said things are just getting started.

"Campaign time is like dog years; there's plenty of time for change," she said.

While senators Obama and Hillary Clinton seem to have a current lock as frontrunners for the Democratic nomination, the Republican field is wide open, Sweet said.

That means it's essentially anybody's race, but the winner will be determined by several metrics, she added.

One of them is money.

Fundraising isn't the only thing that will make or break candidates, Sweet said, but she noted some potential presidential candidates, like former U.S. House Speaker Newt Gingrich, won't commit to running for office unless they have a certain degree of financial support.

In Gingrich's case the amount is $30 million, he said earlier this week. It's a high-dollar figure, Sweet said, but one that would likely be necessary to enter as a serious contender into the 2008 presidential race at this point.

The war in Iraq and health care are the biggest issues presidential candidates address these days, she said, noting both will likely weigh heavily on the minds of voters in determining who will compete in the general election from each ticket.

caleb.hale@thesouthern.com

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