Programming Topics

We’re gathering the brightest minds in government and the policy and
political arenas to consider these important topics:

Election 2020

What Just Happened & What It Means for 2021

2021 Agenda

Congress Under Trump or Biden Admin

The Right

Future of Conservatism, GOP 2024 and Beyond

The World

A New World Order for 2021 and Beyond

Featured Speakers

Gov. Larry Hogan

Governor of Maryland (R)

Governor Hogan was sworn in as the 62nd governor of the State of Maryland on January 21, 2015. In 2018, he was reelected to a second term. Prior to entering politics, Hogan was a successful real estate developer in Maryland.

Hon. Ben Sasse

(R-NE)

Senator Ben Sasse was elected to represent the state of Nebraska in 2014. He sits on the intelligence, judiciary, finance, and banking committees. Sasse is the author of two best-selling books and earned his PhD in American history. Prior to running for office, Sasse worked as a management consultant and then as a college president.

Hon. Tim Scott

(R-SC)

Senator Tim Scott was first elected to represent the state of South Carolina in 2010 as a member of the House of Representatives. He has served in the Senate since 2013 and currently serves on the banking, finance, small business and health committees. His signature legislation creating Opportunity Zones was passed as part of the 2017 tax reform package. Prior to being elected to national office, Scott served in the state legislature and was a small business owner in South Carolina.

Hon. Liz Cheney

(R-WY)

Congresswoman Liz Cheney was elected to represent Wyoming in 2016. She is the Chair of the House Republican Conference, the third ranking Republican in the House of Representatives. Prior to her election to Congress, Cheney served at the State Department as a Deputy Assistant Secretary of State and Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for the Middle East. She also practiced law at White & Case and at the International Finance Corporation.

Rep. Mike Gallagher

US Representative (R- WI)

Congressman Mike Gallagher represents Wisconsin’s 8th District in the U.S. House of Representatives. He is a 7th generation Wisconsin native, born and raised in Green Bay. Gallagher joined the United States Marine Corps the day he graduated from college and served for seven years on active duty as a Counterintelligence / Human Intelligence Officer and Regional Affairs Officer for the Middle East / North Africa, eventually earning the rank of Captain. After earning his bachelor’s degree from Princeton University, he went on to earn a master’s degree in Security Studies from Georgetown University, a second in Strategic Intelligence from National Intelligence University, and his PhD in International Relations from Georgetown. Gallagher currently serves on the House Armed Services, and Transportation and Infrastructure Committees.

Karl Rove

Political Strategist (R)Karl Rove is a consultant and political strategist. Rove served as senior adviser to President George W. Bush from 2000–2007 and deputy chief of staff from 2004-2007. Before Rove became known as “the architect” of President Bush’s 2000 and 2004 campaigns, he was president of Karl Rove + Company, an Austin-based public affairs firm. Currently, Rove writes a weekly op-ed for the Wall Street Journal, is a Fox News contributor and is the author of the newly released book, The Triumph of William McKinley: Why the Election of 1896 Still Matters, and the New York Times bestseller, Courage and Consequence.

Joe Trippi

Political Strategist (D)

Joe Trippi began his political career working on Edward M. Kennedy’s presidential campaign in 1980 and has worked on numerous presidential, gubernatorial, senate, and congressional campaigns ever since. Most recently, Trippi was a senior strategist on Doug Jones’ historic victory in Alabama, helping elect the first Democrat U.S. senator in Alabama in 25 years. Trippi helped engineer a number of groundbreaking House victories for Reps. Ro Khanna, Tulsi Gabbard, Mark Takano, and Seth Moulton. Trippi has also worked on campaigns for Jerry Brown of California and Howard Dean. Trippi is a CNN contributor and the author of The Revolution Will Not Be Televised.

Dr. Russell Moore

President, Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention

Russell Moore is president of the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention. The ERLC is the moral and public policy entity of the nation’s largest Protestant denomination. Before his election in 2013, Moore served as provost and dean of the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary in Louisville, Kentucky, where he also taught theology and ethics. Moore is the author of numerous books including The Storm-Tossed Family: How the Cross Reshapes the Home and Onward: Engaging the Culture Without Losing the Gospel. His latest book is The Courage to Stand: Facing Your Fear Without Losing Your Soul.

Reince Priebus

Former Chief of Staff to President Donald Trump, Former Chairman of the RNCReince Priebus is president of Michael Best & Friedrich LLP. Before joining Michael Best, Priebus was President Trump’s first White House chief of staff, joining the administration shortly after the 2016 presidential campaign. Prior to his White House service, Priebus served three terms as RNC chairman and was a chairman of the Wisconsin GOP, where he helped Republicans win control over both chambers of the state legislature, reclaim the governorship, and score two additional congressional seats as well as a Senate seat.

Mo Elleithee

Political Strategist (D)

Mo Elleithee is the founding executive director of Georgetown University’s Institute of Politics and Public Service, the first institute of its kind in the nation’s capital. Before launching the institute in 2015, Mo spent two decades as one of the top communications strategists in the Democratic party, most recently as communications director and chief spokesman of the Democratic National Committee. A veteran of four presidential campaigns, Mo was senior spokesman and traveling press secretary on Hillary Clinton’s 2008 campaign. A frequent political commentator on television and radio, Mo was named a Fox News contributor in 2016.

Lis Smith

Political Strategist (D)

Lis Smith is a communications and political strategist. Smith most recently worked as a senior adviser in communications to presidential candidate Pete Buttigieg. Before working on Buttigieg’s campaign, she’d worked on campaigns for everyone from former President Barack Obama to Sen. Claire McCaskill and Govs. Andrew Cuomo, Terry McAuliffe, Ted Strickland, Jon Corzine, and Martin O’Malley. She’s helped elect people at nearly every level of politics: state legislators, district attorneys, mayors, members of Congress, and presidents. She’s served as an on-air commentator for MSNBC, CNN, Fox News, and CBS and has had opinion pieces published in the New York Times and Vanity Fair.

Yuval Levin

American Enterprise InstituteYuval Levin is the director of Social, Cultural, and Constitutional Studies at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI). He also holds the Beth and Ravenel Curry Chair in Public Policy. The founding and current editor of National Affairs, he is also a senior editor of The New Atlantis and a contributing editor to National Review. Dr. Levin served as a member of the White House domestic policy staff under President George W. Bush. He was also executive director of the President’s Council on Bioethics and a congressional staffer at the member, committee, and leadership levels.

Andy Smarick

Manhattan Institute

Andy Smarick is a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute, where his work focuses on education, civil society, and the principles of American conservatism. He was confirmed by the Maryland State Senate in March 2020 for a term on the Maryland Higher Education Commission.
Previously, Smarick was a resident senior fellow and director of the program on civil society, education, and work at the R Street Institute, as well as the Morgridge Fellow at the American Enterprise Institute. He has also served as an aide in the White House Domestic Policy Counsel of President George W. Bush, president of the Maryland State Board of Education, a deputy assistant secretary at the U.S. Department of Education, the New Jersey deputy commissioner of education, and a legislative assistant at the U.S. House of Representatives.

Jack Goldsmith

Harvard Law School

Jack Goldsmith is Henry L. Shattuck Professor of Law at Harvard University. He is the author, most recently, of In Hoffa's Shadow and The Terror Presidency: Law and Judgment Inside The Bush Administration (W.W. Norton 2007), as well as of other books and articles on many topics related to terrorism, national security, international law, conflicts of law, and internet law. Before coming to Harvard, Goldsmith served as Assistant Attorney General, Office of Legal Counsel, from October 2003 through July 2004, and Special Counsel to the General Counsel to the Department of Defense from September 2002 through June 2003. Goldsmith taught at the University of Chicago Law School from 1997-2002, and at the University of Virginia Law School from 1994-1997. He holds a J.D. from Yale Law School, a B.A. and M.A. from Oxford University, and a B.A. from Washington & Lee University. He clerked for Supreme Court Justice Anthony M. Kennedy, Court of Appeals Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson, and Judge George Aldrich on the Iran-U.S. Claims Tribunal.

Ambassador Mark Green (Ret.)

Ambassador Mark Green (Ret.) serves as the executive director of the McCain Institute for International Leadership, an action-oriented policy institution dedicated to advancing character-driven leadership based on security, economic opportunity, freedom and human dignity. Prior to joining the McCain Institute, from August 2017 to April 2020, Green served as administrator of the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID). Green served as the U.S. ambassador to Tanzania from mid-2007 to early 2009. While there, he led a mission of more than 350 Americans and Tanzanians and was ultimately responsible for some of the world’s largest U.S.-led development programs. Green holds a law degree from the University of Wisconsin Law School and a bachelor’s degree from the University of Wisconsin–Eau Claire.

Speakers From The Dispatch

Stephen F. Hayes

Steve Hayes is the CEO, Co-founder and Editor of The Dispatch. He is also the author of two New York Times bestsellers and a Fox News contributor.

Jonah Goldberg

Jonah Goldberg is a Co-founder and Editor in Chief of The Dispatch and the host of The Remnant podcast. Goldberg is a columnist for the L.A. Times, a Fox News contributor and the author of three New York Times bestsellers.

Sarah Isgur

Sarah Isgur is a Staff Writer at The Dispatch, Co-host of the Advisory Opinions Podcast and a CNN Political Analyst. Previously, she worked as the Director of the Office of Public Affairs for the DOJ and Senior Counsel to the Deputy Attorney General. In 2016, she was the Deputy Campaign Manager for presidential candidate Carly Fiorina.

David French

David French is a Senior Editor at The Dispatch and the Co-host of the Advisory Opinions Podcast. French is a columnist for Time and the author of Rise of ISIS: A Threat We Can’t Ignore and the new book, Divided We Fall.