By Elizabeth Hillgrove

In a country that is currently politically spliced, Virginian Larry Sabato provides highly regarded punditry and political predictions to both sides of the spot-lit forum of politics.

His motto, politics is a good thing, has attracted and propelled decades of University of Virginia alumni to politically involved positions on both sides of the spectrum.

"He's very collegial," said former student Logan Pugh. "He's not just a pundit, but he's a pundit who would rather be in the classroom. He's in his element there."

Pugh graduated from the UVa in 2008 and worked for Sen. Olympia Snowe (R-Maine) on Capitol Hill. He says students would answer questions and Sabato would respond with new questions, keeping political debate hot.

"As far as influence goes, it’s what he’s doing with the Center for Politics: he’s more of a public servant than is recognized," said Pugh. "At the Center for Politics, he encourages civic education. To teach how government can work, and have the positive outlook on politics. To have that across the country is probably something he’s more proud of."

Sabato declined an interview request.

Center for Politics' Chief of Staff Ken Stroupe told Virginia Statehouse News that Sabato says he wants his next profile to be his obituary.

In 2005, at the age of 52, Sabato made himself the record-holder for the largest donation given to the university by a faculty member, committing $1 million for the Center for Politics. Sabato made the donation seven years after founding the university-based political analysis organization at his alma mater.

The Center's Crystal Ball, a national political race analysis feature that predicts outcomes of presidential, Senate and House races, lands near perfect accuracy rates in several cases.

"You can always count on Larry, for the most part, to be very objective and analytical," said David Mills, Executive Director of the Democratic Party of Virginia. "He's certainly been following Virginia politics for a long time so he can put what seems like a momentary trend, he can put it in context, which I find the most helpful. He's very good at drawing comparisons between the political dynamic now to, say, the nineties or the eighties or the seventies."

Sabato and the Center are valuable to the Republican Party of Virginia as well because of his ability to "spot trends before other people do," according to Garren Shipley, spokesperson for the Republican Party of Virginia.

"He's like any other invaluable Virginia resource: he's in my Twitter feed, he's in my Google Reader," said Shipley. "It's something when Mr. Sabato has something to say — we always look up and take notice. We might not always agree with it, but if he's talking about it, it's probably worth listening to."

As a student at UVa, Sabato served on student council beginning with his sophomore year and was eventually more notable on campus as the president of student council than the university's president, Edgar F. Shannon Jr.

In a 1973 student opinion survey, fellow UVa students called Sabato the "Council workhorse, and one of only two or three Council members who has the initiative to do more than pitch platitudes at their weekly confabs," in the student paper, the Cavalier Daily. There are few issues of the Cavalier Daily from the early 1970s that don't include a quote from Sabato or mention his name.

That notoriety exists in 2010, where his upper level classes are competitive to enroll in and his American Politics 101 course invites prominent politicians and experts to campus for speeches in class. UVa senior, Chris Sill, says he's "a name-brand professor."

"In his textbook, which he co-wrote, he talks about different controversial issues like taxes and the war in Iraq," said Sill. "He did an incredible job of staying apolitical."

Sill, an economics major, said he has wanted to take classes under Sabato for years. He was surprised when Sabato would answer his e-mails with paragraphs-long answers once he became a student in Sabato’s popular American Politics 101 class.

"A lot of people find him to be arrogant, and seeking attention,” said Sill. "It’s mixed on campus. Some people hate him, some people like him. I think overall he’s appreciated."

Part of this appreciation is for Sabato's help in landing students jobs and internships. Steve Sokun said Sabato's recommendation letter helped him get an internship with a political campaign.

"I have tried to follow that model and look to offer advice and guidance as new student and recent graduates look to get into the realm of government and public policy, especially here in Asia," said Sokun, who serves as vice-president for public affairs for UPS Asia Pacific and chairman of the American Chamber of Commerce in Singapore.

Sokun served with the U.S. Department of Transportation under President Bill Clinton as deputy general counsel from 1994-1999

"Professor Sabato was able to blend academic research with real world applications and then communicate in such a way to make the subject come to life," said Sokun.

This approach to teaching politics caused some students who were undecided majors and new to the department of politics to major in politics, said Caleb Verbois, a former teaching assistant.

Verbois said that from behind the curtain Sabato was "fairly energetic and fairly organized," but his unique draw was how he spent time after class.

"It’s not unusual for him to be there for an hour or hour and a half after class ends just to answer questions," said Verbois. "He's very much a student's professor in that respect."

"It didn't matter if Professor Sabato was on Fox News or MSNBC that night, he would stick around for hours to meet with students and chat about politics," said David Wasserman, former student and colleague. "He was not only the most high profile, but the most accessible professor I had at UVa."

Sabato introduced Wasserman, U.S House of Representatives editor of the political analysis forecast the Cook Political Report, to his current boss during the three years Wasserman was working for Sabato in the Center for Politics. He said his friends teased him because he chose to attend UVa so that he would learn under Sabato, yet he eventually took about five classes from him and worked under him for three years as a political researcher.

"There are those outside of UVa who believe that he is simply out for a quote or for attention, but that hasn't been my experience," said Wasserman. "I think his willingness to be accessible to students is unrivaled at UVa and that's the real Larry Sabato."

“If I had to give you two points about Larry, number one is that he's achieved what no other academic really has, which is ubiquity, and he's one of the nation's leading political pundits and it's because he has an uncommon knack for making politics accessible, relevant and entertaining for his students and the larger public," said Wasserman.

With these witnesses saying his classes and enthusiasm brought undecided college freshmen into the world of politics and eventually jobs on Capitol Hill or on campaigns, it's no surprise he is one of the most recognizable faces on UVa's campus. That is also attributed to the face time he gets in broadcast and cable news and in newspapers.

The university has also granted him a notable privilege for a UVa professor: a spot on the Lawn, a grassy place in the middle of the UVa campus that houses ten Jeffersonian-style, two-level brick buildings or pavilions. As a resident of one of the pavilions, Sabato lives his life the same as he does in the classroom, said former student Nicholas Feucht.

"In his pavilion on the Lawn, he has a big screen in a room and he’s always watching politics, always watching the polls," said Feucht.

"I sat in what he called the front row club," said Feucht. "He would say, 'Now these people are going somewhere.' But I always sat up there so I wouldn’t snooze off. I had to sit up there to pay attention."

Now an employee in the City of Richmond Economic and Community Development Office, Feucht remembers Sabato's class as an introduction to the "way mass media and politics overlap. At the end of class, he would say “Come on down and meet me, people,” said Feucht.

Another former student of Sabato's, Phil Cox, says even his mother remembers Sabato.

"He is a great teacher," said Cox. "He did something unique. He was the only professor ever who sent a letter to my parents to notify them I got an A in his class. I'm sure my mom still has that hanging on the refrigerator."

Cox ran Republican Robert McDonnell's successful gubernatorial campaign and felt comfortable calling Sabato to speak to the new Virginia cabinet after the 2009 elections.

"He knew more about Virginia politics than anyone in the room, including myself and McDonnell," said Cox. "His depth of knowledge is unparalleled."

Stephen Groves contributed to this report.