NEW WILMINGTON, PA. Political strategist to speak at college

Begala entered the national scene after his firm helped elect Bill Clinton.
NEW WILMINGTON, Pa. -- Democratic political strategist Paul Begala of CNN's "Crossfire" will be the keynote speaker for the 2004 Westminster College Mock Democratic Convention on Feb. 5.
The 18th convention, scheduled Feb. 5-6 in Memorial Fieldhouse, is the second oldest in the country. The student-run convention, a tradition at Westminster since 1936, has run every four years for the party out of power, with the exception of 1944.
Begala teams with James Carville to provide the "views from the left" on the political debate program, opposite conservatives Robert Novak and Tucker Carlson.
Begala first entered the national political scene after his consulting firm, Carville & amp; Begala, helped elect President Clinton in 1992.
Serving in the Clinton administration as counselor to the President, he helped define and defend the administration's agenda and served as the principal public spokesman.
Other notable campaigns
Other political successes include the 1991 Senate victory of Harris Wofford in Pennsylvania, the 1990 gubernatorial victories of Georgia's Zell Miller and Pennsylvania's Robert P. Casey, and the 1998 re-election of Sen. Frank Lautenberg of New Jersey.
Begala has also appeared with Oliver North on MSNBC's political talk show "Equal Time." He has authored or co-authored several books including "Is Our Children Learning?: The Case Against George W. Bush," "It's Still the Economy, Stupid: George W. Bush, The GOP's CEO," and current best seller, "Buck Up, Suck Up and Come Back When You Foul Up." He helped to launch the late John F. Kennedy Jr.'s George magazine, for which he wrote the "Capital Hillbilly" column.
A native of Texas, he earned his undergraduate and law degrees from the University of Texas, where he taught before entering politics.