Terry Madonna
There are two sides to every story—yours and mine, ours and theirs. The truth can usually be found somewhere in the middle.
Terry Madonna has spent a lifetime seeking the truth; he’s made a career out of it. He’s done it by not taking sides, through impartiality, by favoring facts over emotions.
In Madonna’s field of expertise—politics—that can be a tall task.
“I’m not partisan,” Madonna said. “When one party was shown to win, I pointed out why. I try to talk about the strengths of candidates and campaigns. Overall, I’ve tried to point out factually what’s going on. I try not to be one-sided in my commentary.”
An 82-year-old resident of Lancaster, Madonna is respected as an authority of politics in Pennsylvania. A senior fellow in residence for political affairs at Millersville University, he’s been the host of the weekly statewide news and commentary television show, “Pennsylvania Newsmakers,” for nearly three decades.
He has a deep love for his home state and a high regard for government and elected officials. But what seems to intrigue him most is the interaction of humans.
“Politics is a way of accomplishing an objective,” Madonna said. “It’s about meeting with people and working with programs and making them into laws. Politics is about having goals, defining goals, and working towards adoption. It’s also about fostering relationships and friendships.”
Chris Borick, the director of Muhlenberg College’s Institute of Public Opinion, has known Madonna for 25 years. He counts him as a colleague, a confidante, a friend.
“I continue to look to Terry as a mentor,” Borick said. “I lean on Terry, on his expertise and knowledge. Not surprisingly, the work we have done has brought us together. Anyone who talks to him knows he’s happy to jump in.”
An Educator
From modest beginnings at Lancaster Catholic High School in the late 1950s, Madonna earned his bachelor’s degree in history from then Millersville State College. But it was during his time at Delaware University, while pursuing his master’s degree, that really accelerated his career.
“In the political sense, I’ve had mentors,” Madonna said. “I had politicians, in a sense, mentor me because I followed their careers. I learned a lot in the process about how politics work. I basically learned it from people I interacted with.”
Madonna, who founded the respected political survey Keystone Poll in 1992, has served on the faculty of the University of Delaware, Franklin and Marshall College and, today, Millersville University during a 40-plus-year career.
“I am first and foremost an educator and second a political analyst,” Madonna said. “The political analyst came out of my career as a historian and political scientist. You can’t differentiate them. My basic goal is to help people understand the making of our past, as well as contemporary politics.”
Of all the positions, his role as a teacher may be the one that Madonna takes the greatest pride in. He might have been drawn to politics at a younger age, but deep down he’s always been a people person.
“I characterize my career as a teacher of government and American history,” Madonna said. “I’d like to think I’ve made positive contributions. What I’m most proud of is that I’ve had a positive impact on hundreds, if not thousands, of students. Nothing pleases me more than when I’m out in public and someone comes up to me and says, ‘I had you in class, and I thoroughly enjoyed it.’”
Going Strong
The world of politics is wide and varied. Politics can be found everywhere, on the local, state, national and international levels. Madonna focuses intently on one aspect.
“My whole career has been based on writing and lecturing to people about state politics,” he said. “I decided when I was a relatively young man that Pennsylvania was a big, important state and that I wanted to concentrate on Pennsylvania politics. I wanted to get up every day excited about what I am doing.”
Borick described Madonna’s knowledge of PA politics as “encyclopedic.”
“One of the things about Terry is that he’s a trained historian, and he can reference people and events,” Borick said. “He is someone who has an incredible understanding of Pennsylvania political history.”
Throughout his career, Madonna has seen plenty of change in this state’s politics, but perhaps never more than now.
“Philadelphia used to be a Republican city, and now the cities are highly Democratic,” he said. “The suburbs are going through change. The working-class voters who live in the old mining and mill towns used to be Democrats, and now they’re voting Republican.”
Despite all the wisdom, all the experiences, all the respect, no one gets to a point in a career like Madonna’s without passion. He simply cares about the subject material. Some people might refer to that as “character.”
“He’s a very good man,” Borick said. “Terry’s deeply passionate about it, and he understands the importance of politics. When you’re engaged in influencing in this realm, it carries with it a lot of responsibility. Terry has always approached it that way.”
If Madonna’s scruples haven’t wavered, neither has his love for what he does. It’s very much what keeps him going strong.
“I haven’t thought about retirement,” he said. “I feel fine. I get up, do my job, and everyday is a new challenge. At this point of my career, it’s as much about physical as it is mental.”
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