Schmoozing is the art of politicking, as the "Shaking Hands and Kissing Babies: Campaigns and Elections in American Culture" conference will present this weekend.

The American Studies Graduate Students Association, or ASGSA, is bringing speakers from across the country to the Union Gold Room today and Green Room Saturday to discuss how candidates appeal to the masses.

The keynote speaker, Gary Gerstle from the University of Maryland, will lecture 8 p.m. tonight in room 105 at Kellogg Center about how both liberals and conservatives use their war experiences for political purposes, and how that will affect the 2004 presidential election.

"We are really excited to hear him speak," ASGSA President Kathryn Edney said.

"He has geared his talk to our overall theme, and is timely and topical in respect to this election."

Students will join professors in the sharing of ideas in the conference, which falls just after the first presidential debate of the election season on Thursday.

"The conference isn't centered around Bush or Kerry," ASGSA member Mike Pfister said. "It's looking at how they're presented in the media, and how that affects how people vote."

"There is a charged atmosphere, but we didn't want an overtly political conference," he said.

"We're not dealing specifically with the candidates, but how voters deal with them through a medium such as TV."

MSU English graduate student Kristina Watson will speak Saturday morning, discussing her paper "Killing Hillary and Restoring the Cold War: Reading the Blockbuster Film 'Independence Day' as Clinton-Gore Campaign Issue Resolution."

"In 1996, when I saw 'Independence Day,' my first thought when I walked out of the theater was that Clinton was going to win re-election," Watson said.

"I had been thinking about the topic for a while, and it all came together."

Watson said she hopes listeners will gain a better understanding of the film industry's relationship with the political process.

"I hope people leave thinking about Hollywood's impact on politics as a complex dynamic," Watson said.

"It's too easy to point fingers and say, 'Oh liberal media, oh right-wing media.' It is more complex than that."

Pfister said the conference will inform people about the effects of elections on culture.

"We tried to take a broad range in looking at elections and campaigns," Pfister said. "We're mixing historical ideas and current ones, such as the media and the influence of various groups on campaigns and elections.

"Considering the perceived importance of the coming election, we thought this would be a good forum."

There are two panels each day, with discussion topics ranging from historical to current campaign issues.

The conference concludes Saturday evening with a musical performance by Pat Madden-Roth, a political singer and songwriter.

"She will sing historical, political and campaign songs, as well as songs she has written herself," Edney said.

"After performing, she will discuss where she's coming from and how she relates to her material."