Mark Blumenthal is the editor and publisher of Pollster.

com, the web site that publishes poll results and a daily running commentary that explains, demystifies and critiques political polling for political insiders and the general public. Since its launch in September 2006, Pollster.com has attracted nearly seven million unique visits resulting in over 30 million page views. As a polling analyst for The National Journal, Blumenthal also writes a weekly column for NationalJournal.com Pollster.com is partly an outgrowth of Blumenthal's Mystery Pollster blog, which he started in September 2004. In May of 2007, along with Pollster.com co-creator Charles Franklin, Blumenthal received the Warren J. Mitofsky Innovators Award for Pollster.com from the American Association for Public Opinion Research. In 2005, the National Council on Public Polls awarded Blumenthal and the MysteryPollster blog a special citation for its work explaining polls to the Internet reader. Blumenthal has been in the political polling business for more than 20 years, conducting and analyzing political polls and focus groups for Democratic candidates and market research surveys for major corporations. His experience includes work with pollsters Harrison Hickman, Paul Maslin, Kirk Brown, Celinda Lake, Stan Greenberg and 15 years with his former partners David

Jennifer Duffy is a Senior Editor for The Cook Political Report, where she is responsible for U.S. Senate and Governors races. Founded in 1984, The Cook Political Report provides analyses of Presidential, U.S. Senate, House and gubernatorial races. The New York Times has called The Cook Political Report, "a newsletter that both parties regard as authoritative." Jennifer has 25 years of experience in campaign politics, the last 23 of which have focused on nonpartisan political analysis. In 1985, she served as Press Secretary for the National Republican Senatorial Committee; she joined The Cook Political Report in 1988 as its first Assistant Editor. While continuing to work as the Report's contributing editor, Jennifer also was a senior account executive with Hill and Knowlton Public Affairs Worldwide and an associate with the lobbying firm of Cassidy & Associates. In 1995, Jennifer rejoined Cook & Company full-time. She has served as an off-air analyst for NBC News on Election Nights from 1996 through 2010. Jennifer has been quoted in numerous publications and has appeared on ABC, NBC, CBS, CNN, PBS The News Hour with Jim Lehrer, and C-SPAN's "Washington Journal."

Janet Elder is the Editor of News Surveys and Election Analysis for The New York Times, overseeing the paper's coverage of public opinion worldwide. Janet came to the Times in 1984 as a reporter covering family issues including parental leave legislation and then went on to work in the paper's political polling unit . She has covered seven presidential campaigns. She designed the national survey that was part of the Timess Pulitzer Prizewinning series, How Race is Lived in America. She is the author of the 2010 book, Huck, a New York Times Bestseller.

Maria Ivancin, Assistant Professor in the School of Communication at American University, is an experienced communication strategist specializing in the application of research to communication campaigns. Ivancin is President of Market Research Bureau, a consulting firm providing research in support of the development and evaluation of communication campaigns for clients covering a range of categories. Her clients have included nonprofits, government agencies, industry associations and professional societies as well as corporations. Professor Ivancin has significant experience in the engineering community having conducted a number of studies for engineering societies and consulting firms. She taught at Georgetown University in the McDonough School of Business for ten years as an adjunct. Ms. Ivancin has managed an advertising and PR firm, and also worked for Procter & Gamble. Ivancin began her career as Research Director for WILL-AM/FM and TV, the University of Illinois public radio

Geoffrey Garin is the president of Peter D. Hart Research Associates, one of the nation's leading survey research firms. He became president of Hart Research in 1984, after having worked in the firm since 1978 as a senior analyst and vice president. Mr. Garin has undertaken landmark policy research for many of the nations leading foundations and educational institutions. He has conducted major studies on high school reform and global health issues for the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, as well as research for the Pew Charitable Trusts on foster care, early education, and consumer credit. He has conducted influential studies related to higher education for the University of California system, the College Board, and the Association of American Colleges and Universities. In politics, Mr. Garin has helped candidates win in difficult circumstances. Mr. Garin has directed the polling and created winning campaign strategies for many of the leading Democrats serving in the U.S. Senate. Since 1993, Mr. Garin has conducted polling on the attitudes of younger Americans for MTV. On behalf of EMILYs List, he has directed ongoing research about the political attitudes and values of women. Mr. Garin also has conducted extensive strategic research for the American labor movement.

Randy Gutermuth is a Vice President at American Viewpoint specializing in political and public affairs research, as well as Perception Analyzer Dial Testing. Randall's political clients have included the RNC, the NRCC, countless candidates, as well as the Missouri and Georgia Republican parties. Gutermuth has also conducted legislative caucus polling for the Georgia State House, Illinois State House and Missouri State Senate as well as having served as the pollster on numerous winning initiative and referendum campaigns. Randall has conducted corporate research in recent years for such organizations as AARP, Altria, AT&T, Federation of American Hospitals, HCA, The Jacksonville Jaguars, KBR, Pfizer and numerous others. Gutermuth has conducted over 60 Perception Analyzer dial tests in the past few years including tests of the 2000 Republican and Democratic presidential primary debates, the results of which aired on such networks as ABC, NBC, CNBC, CNN, Headline News, and Fox News. In 2004 Randall conducting ad testing on behalf of Bush-Cheney '04 and in 2008 he conducted dial testing of the conventions and debates for the McCain-Palin campaign. In 2005 Randall was named a "Rising Star" by Campaigns and Elections magazine.

Mark Lopez is the Associate Director of the Pew Hispanic Center and a Research Professor at the University of Maryland's School of Public Policy. He specializes in labor economics, civic engagement, voting behavior, and the economics of education. Prior to joining the Pew Hispanic Center, Lopez served as Research Director at the Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement (CIRCLE). Through his work at CIRCLE, he has studied young people's electoral participation, the civic engagement of immigrants, young people's views of the first amendment, and the link between college attendance and civic engagement. In other work, Lopez has studied the earnings differential between U.S. born Hispanic faculty and other faculty, the impact of bilingual education programs on long-term student achievement, estimating the returns to speaking a second language, and the neighborhood effects of immigrants on the educational achievement of natives. Lopez joined the Pew Hispanic Center in January of 2008. At the University of Maryland, he was awarded the Excellence in Teaching Award by the School of Public Policy in 2007. He has also worked closely with the development and implementation of the School's Maryland Leadership Institute (MLI), a summer program for minority students who are interested in pursuing a degree in public policy. Lopez also serves as the Second Vice President of the American Society of Hispanic Economists, and as a member of the American Economic Associations Committee on the Status of Minorities in the Economics Profession.

Dotty Lynch is an executive in residence in the School of Communication and is the director of the SOC/SPA MA in Political Communication program which was launched in 2010. The 2010 election marked Lynch's 21st election cycle in congressional and presidential campaigns as a professional journalist and pollster. She serves as a political consultant for CBS News, and a political writer for TheFiscalTimes.com. She was the CBS News senior political editor (1985-2005) and is currently an on-air analyst for CBS Radio and a member of the CBS News Election Decision Desk. She began teaching at AU in 2006. She team-taught a class on the Presidential primaries which brought 28 students on a 5-day field trip to New Hampshire for the 2008 primary. During the 2008 general election she taught a class on Politics, Polling and the Youth Vote, the centerpiece of which was a poll of young voters conducted by AU students in conjunction with USA Today and Gallup organizations. In 2009 Lynch wrote "How the Media Covered the 2008 Elections: The Role of Earned Media" for Thurber and Nelson's Campaigns and Elections American Style, Westview Publications.

Mark Mellman is one of the nations leading public opinion researchers and communication strategists. Mellman serves as CEO of The Mellman Group, a polling and consulting firm whose clients include leading political figures, Fortune 500 companies, and some of the nation's most important public interest groups. Mellman has helped guide the campaigns of some eighteen U.S. Senators, eight Governors and over two dozen Members of Congress, as well as numerous state and local officials. The Mellman Groups string of upset victories recently brought the firm the Pollster of the Year award from the American Association of Political Consultants, the second time the Association has bestowed this coveted award on the firm. As a consultant to the Democratic Congressional Leadership, Mellman plays a central role in developing Democratic strategies on a variety of issues. Newsweek credits his work on the environment with helping turn Bill Clinton green. The Economist has recognized him as the advisor who was the brains behind the Democrats successful Mediscare strategy. The firms string of upset victories has led the Boston Globe to call The Mellman Group Washingtons hottest political consulting firm, and the New Republic describes Mellman as a leading Democratic technologist. Capitol Hills newspaper, Roll Call, named Mellman one of the most influential people in Washington when it comes to electing candidates to Congress.

Lymari Morales is managing news editor of Gallup.com, where she oversees all editorial content. Gallup.com reports findings from Gallup polls conducted in the U.S. and more than 140 countries around the world, providing leaders with empirical data to drive decisions. Lymari manages the site's day-to-day content and overall strategy, while also authoring her own stories and blog. She also teaches writing workshops internally and consults on corporate communications. Lymari has more than a decade of experience writing and producing news, both for live national television and the internet.

Candace J. Nelson is the Chair of the Department of Government, Associate Professor of Government and Academic Director of the Campaign Management Institute at American University in Washington, D.C.. Prior to coming to American University, she was a visiting fellow at the Brookings Institution. She also served as a Special Assistant to former Senate Majority Whip Alan Cranston and as an American Political Science Association Congressional Fellow. Nelson is the co-author of The Money Chase: Congressional Campaign Finance Reform and The Myth of the Independent Voter, and co-editor of Campaigns and Elections American Style, Campaign Warriors: Political Consultants in Elections, and Crowded Airwaves: Campaign Advertising in Elections, as well as numerous other articles and books.

Ann Selzer, Ph.D. has run her research firm Selzer & Co. Inc. since 1989, after several years in Washington, D.C. working for a major public opinion research firm. She has gained national exposure for her work for The Des Moines Registers Iowa Poll, with her surprise prediction ahead of the Iowa caucuses in 2008, earning the Gallup Award for Outstanding Poll reporting for The Des Moines Register. Selzer also conducts the Bloomberg Global Poll and the Bloomberg National Poll for Bloomberg News, and the Indiana Issues Poll for The Indianapolis Star. Her accuracy resulted in her firm being named the best of 32 polling firms ranked by the influential polling website, FiveThirtyEight.com. In 2004, she received the Research Award of Merit from the Newspaper Association of America and is the youngest to win this lifetime achievement award. As a commentator on polling, elections, and issues, Ms. Selzer has appeared on most of the major news networks, including CBS Evening News, MSNBC, Fox News, The News Hour on PBS, National Public Radio, and has had essays published in The Des Moines Reg ister, The Guardian (of London), The Polling Report, and The Indianapolis Star.

Lynn Sweet is the Washington Bureau Chief for the Chicago Sun-Times. She writes a column and a blog for the paper. She has covered politics and government from Chicago's street brawls to the White House. Sweet is a regular guest on MSNBC programs and has appeared on CNN, FOX, NBC and CBS segments talking about politics. Sweet is a former fellow at Harvard University's Institute of Politics (spring '04) at the Kennedy School of Government and led a study group on the 2004 presidential campaign. In 2006, Sweet traveled to Africa with Obama, including a visit to his father's native Kenya. As the violence between Israelis and Palestinians was deepening, in 2002 she was sent to the region to cover the conflict. In 1995, Sweet broke the story on the perks the Clinton White House offered major donors. In 1990 Sweet was one of the first journalists in the U.S. to analyze political ads for accuracy. Before moving to Washington in September,1993 Sweet was the political writer for the paper.

David Winston is the president of The Winston Group, a Washington, D.C. strategy and message design firm. Winston has served as a strategic advisor to Senate and House Republican leadership for the past 10 years. He was formerly the Director of Planning for Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich, and advises center-right political parties throughout Europe. Additionally Winston was a senior fellow at the Heritage Foundation where he did statistical policy analysis and econometric modeling. He has served in a senior staff role to four RNC Chairmen. Winston has lectured at The Wharton of School of Business, MIT, Harvard, Georgetown, William and Mary, George Washington, American University, Miami of Ohio, and the National War College. His writings have appeared in a variety of publications, including Policy Review, International Wall Street Journal, Brookings Review, The Brown Journal of World Affairs, and The Washington Post. He authored the chapter on Strategy for the college textbook Campaigns and Elections American Style, and he is credited for originating the concept of security mom. Winston is an election analyst for CBS News, and frequently appears on cable and network news.