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The former Republican National Convention chairman referred to Democratic presidential hopeful and former law school classmate Barack Obama as a "rock star" Wednesday.

Ken Mehlman was chairman of the RNC from 2005 to 2007 and was heavily involved in George W. Bush's presidential elections in both the 2000 and 2004 elections. He spoke at the University of Wisconsin as part of the Distinguished Lecture Series Wednesday at the Memorial Union Theatre.

Despite recent criticisms and scandals within the Republican Party, Mehlman said there are still plenty of reasons to be proud to call oneself a Republican.

"The reason you should be proud to be a Republican is because our vision — and not just the vision but what we do with the vision — is a vision that has over the years, I believe, continues to keep America safe in the world and expand freedom at home," Mehlman said.

Mehlman said the next election is going to be "incredibly unique" because "two very interesting trends are occurring at the same time."

Traditionally, Mehlman said, Republican presidents have been elected during times of war, but at the same time, after eight years of a Republican-led government, Americans are ready for a change.

He also said neither the Democrats nor Republicans are focusing on "a strategy for success" for the 2008 election.

The Democrats, Mehlman said, are focusing on an anti-Bush campaign, while the Republicans are focusing on an "anti-Hillary, anti-'90s" campaign.

Mehlman said he believes Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., is the clear frontrunner to receive the Democratic nomination, but added Obama, his former classmate at Harvard University Law School, "is running a strong campaign."

Mehlman said he still cannot tell who will get the Republican nomination, but said Mitt Romney, John McCain and Rudy Giuliani are the frontrunners.

Mehlman said there were three major problems that the next president — and the future of the country — will face, including health care, the "global War on Terror" and the relationship between climate change and energy.

"We're at a truly historic moment in our nation's politics," Mehlman said. "We're dealing with both national parties that have big assets going into the 21st century, there are big problems that they have to figure out how to deal with and how to solve."

UW senior Adam Onkels said he appreciated how Mehlman "had good things to say about candidates from every party in the coming election."

"I really appreciated how he seemed to advocate less partisanship in politics and how he seemed to paint an optimistic picture of what we can achieve," Onkels said. "I liked that he seemed to think there's potential to being about change in a partisan way — he made his sincerity clear throughout the entirety of his speech."