• Milwaukee Public Radio host Kathleen Dunn held her radio show at the Alumni Memorial Union
• The show's first hour featured political experts
• The second hour included a student panel and Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett

Wisconsin Public Radio host Kathleen Dunn talked with political experts and Marquette students about the election in a live broadcast from the Alumni Memorial Union last Thursday.

The two-hour program was aired live on WHAD-FM. Dunn, who has worked as a radio personality for 15 years, has been following this election since its start in Iowa. In the second hour, Marquette students with allegiances on both sides of the presidential race addressed the election's importance to them.

"It's a huge election, especially for youth," said Caitlin Andrews, chairwoman for Students for Barack Obama at Marquette and senior in the College of Communication.

Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett joined Andrews and other students on the panel. Many of the same issues seem to arise and appear on candidates' platforms each election. But the issues, Barrett said, are more serious this time.

"Stakes have been raised with the economy," Barrett said.

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reporter Craig Gilbert, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee political science professor Kathleen Dolan and Mike Gousha, distinguished fellow in law and public policy, were on the first-hour panel.

"One reason people say it's (a) big (election) is because it is," Gilbert said. "The impact's bigger around the world."

The panel presented outlooks on the candidates' stances on national and worldwide issues and reviewed each party's organization and platform promises.

"The president has to figure out a way to unify the country," Dolan said. But she said there's little evidence to suggest that whoever wins the election will do just that.

Dunn said, with a black man running for president and a woman for vice president, both parties have made significant additions to history.

"I still can't believe we have an African-American on the ballot," Dunn said. "He's reached the minorities."

Gousha said there are 115 million people expected to vote today, 350,000 of which are young people registered on campuses nationwide.

"The Constitution begins with 'We, the People,'" Barrett said. "And I have never seen an election with more people being 'We, the People.'"