Visiting Professor: FOX News Liberal Prof. Heldman Welcomes Dr. Drew to Occidental College Political Science Class

Last month, I had a rare opportunity to go back to my roots as a political scientist during a brief presentation on politics and ideology at my undergraduate institution - Occidental College. I had been invited to share my memories of young President Obama by political science Professor Caroline Heldman. As you may know, Heldman is a frequent representative of liberal opinion on the Sean Hannity, Mike Huckabee and Bill O'Reilly shows on FOX News.

Personally, I was startled by how different Heldman was behind-the-scenes with me compared what I had expected her to be like after watching her on FOX News.

She was kind, understanding and quite generous with her time. She read my full profile to the students in her class and even allowed a documentary filmmaker, J.D. Wilcox, to record my remarks. As I understand it, my brief story on meeting young Barack Obama will be premiered at the GI Film Festival in May 2012.

For a quick review of Dr. Heldman's performances on FOX News programs, see the video above.

My experience in Dr. Heldman's classroom reminded me that one of the secrets of success in grant writing is to be a good, kindly person behind-the-scenes, even as you are doing all you can to beat the competition in your grant application. More than ever before, I think successful careers in grant writing and television require tact, forbearance and thoughtfulness. It was a good idea for me to get outside my comfort zone last month and watch a true professional in action.

The good news, in the end, is that I'm in telephone or e-mail contact with a lot of the people I see on the Sean Hannity, Bill O'Reilly or Mike Huckabee shows.  I'm guessing it is only a matter of time before my story on meeting the young Marxist socialist Barack Obama receives national-level media attention. 

John C. Drew, Ph.D. is an award-winning political scientist.