Politics Prof. Larry Sabato has been selected to co-anchor election night coverage for BBC America and BBC International next Tuesday.
Sabato, who can often be seen offering televised political commentary, will be commenting on and analyzing the various congressional elections going on throughout the day.
According to Ken Stroupe, chief of staff for the Center for Politics, Sabato will be commenting alongside Katty Kay, the BBC News Correspondent who typically covers American politics, at the BBC Washington Bureau.
"There has been a long-standing interest on the part of the BBC to have Prof. Sabato involved with their election-night coverage," Stroupe said. "This year, there is an interesting confluence of events that prompted Sabato to think that the epicenter of this year's election would be in Washington, so he accepted the role."
The BBC, which broadcasts worldwide, is just one foreign media service devoting time to covering the elections.
Sabato called the international interest in the upcoming American midterm elections "enormous."
"This is indicated by the fact that the American networks are devoting just one hour to the midterm election coverage; the BBC is devoting 7-8 hours, and the BBC has 280 million households wired to it," Sabato said.
According to Sabato, the foreign attention to the elections is largely based on the continuing U.S. presence in Iraq.
"This midterm election is attracting attention as though it were a presidential election abroad; mainly it's because of Iraq," Sabato said. "Most of the world is very unhappy with U.S. policy in Iraq."
Stroupe added that the potential for these elections to shift the balance of power in Congress was another factor in international interest.
"The likelihood that we're going to see one, if not both, chambers of Congress changing parties, and what that means for American policy domestically and abroad, is significant," Stroupe said.
Sabato also mentioned that other nations tend to pay more attention to the U.S. due to its high-profile international status.
"The truth is, the U.S. is the world's sole superpower, and as such, the whole world watches our elections," Sabato said.
Because of the prestige of this function, Sabato is looking forward to commenting to a worldwide audience on election night.
"I'm delighted to represent the University of Virginia in this way, and it's a wonderfully prestigious opportunity," Sabato said.
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