PHILADELPHIA –- A panel of political experts will examine the 2012 election and the effect it will have on the nation’s ills during the University of Pennsylvania’s annual David and Lyn Silfen University Forum to be held 4:30–6 p.m., Monday, March 19, in Irvine Auditorium, 3401 Spruce St.

 At the forum, the panelists will consider the question “Is America Broken? A Conversation on the 2012 Elections and Beyond.” 

With unemployment at persistently high levels, instability in the financial markets and a polarized politics where campaigning dominates governing, these are tough times for the American people. Is America in decline, or are its brightest days still ahead?  

During their conversation, the panel members will confront this question and what is at stake in the 2012 election.  Penn President Amy Gutmann will moderate.

The group of experts will be:

• Charles Blow, New York Times columnist
• John Lapinski, Penn associate professor of political science and NBC News election analyst
• Peggy Noonan, Wall Street Journal columnist and former White House speech writer
• Ed Rendell, former Philadelphia mayor and Pennsylvania governor
• Alan Simpson, former U.S. senator

At the end of their discussion, the panelists will field questions from the audience. 

Free general-admission tickets are available at the Annenberg box office for all faculty, staff and students with Penn identification cards.

For those who cannot attend the event, a live Webcast of the event will be available on the Silfen Forum Website.  

Additional information is available at www.upenn.edu/silfenforum.