The past several months have seen a deluge of negative campaigns as the 2012 General Election reaches its end next week. Secretary of State Reed is moderating a panel discussion this Thursday that focuses on positive politics and how it could influence leaders in local, state and national government.

The panel will explore how positive politics can change and lead to better decision-making at all levels of government. The free event, which is the latest in the series of Brown Bag Lunch Forum events sponsored by the Office of Secretary of State, begins at noon in the ABC Room of the John A. Cherberg Building on the Capitol Campus in Olympia. Doors open at 11:30 a.m.

The discussion is based on “Politics of the Possible,” a book by former Washington state legislator Mary Ellen McCaffree, and on the Legacy Project books/oral histories of ordinary citizens and well-known politicians who have made a lasting impact on Washington.

The panelists are Ken McCaffree, Mary Ellen McCaffree’s husband and retired University of Washington economics professor; John Hughes, chief historian with the Office of Secretary of State’s  Legacy Project and former editor and publisher of The (Aberdeen) Daily World; 25th District state Rep. Hans Zeiger, R-Puyallup, an adjunct professor with Seattle Pacific University’s political science department; and Alison McCaffree, Mary Ellen’s granddaughter and executive director of Washington Nonprofits, a professional organization for all nonprofits across the state.

For questions on the event, e-mail the Washington State Heritage Center staff at [email protected].