Director of the John Ben Shepperd Public Leadership Institute, Bobby Burns, announced the fall speakers for the Shepperd Distinguished Lecture Series - two journalists "liberal" Bob Beckel and "conservative" Cal Thomas will discuss a common ground in a politically divisive country. 

"We are engaged in a heated presidential election," UTPB president David Watts said. "The country is in a fairly divisive contest. The U.S. needs to join together to discuss common ends."

Beckel and Thomas have a syndicated column that appears weekly in USA Today, which brought into fruition their co-authored book, Common Ground: How to Stop the Partisan War That is Destroying America.

Beckel currently writes for the Los Angeles Times during presidential campaigns, and "is widely regarded as one of Washington's top political analysts," a UTPB news release said.

Thomas is a panelist on Fox News Watch, and has a twice-weekly column in more than 600 newspapers.

"They will discuss how liberals and conservatives can present their differences, respect each other's opinions, and pursue ‘common ground,'" the UTPB news release said.

Burns said in the past they have spent close to $100,000 for some of their speakers, but this year they will spend $15,000 to bring in each speaker.

The event will be held five days before the presidential election at 7 p.m. on Oct. 30 in the UTPB gym.

ISSUES TO DISCUSS

>> Energy.

>> Financial crisis.

>> The 2008 election.

>> A divisive country.