Matt Bai's Blog

A bunch of tea party types have written in to complain about my characterization, in a column this past weekend, of Rep. John Lewis being verbally assaulted last spring. The general jist here is that i'm lazy and liberal and just repeating the same old lies. I'm not actually going to post any of those notes, because so far none of them pass the basic threshold of civility. But anyone who's checked this site from time to time knows that I prefer to address complaints rather than ignore them...

I just read a statement in your book "The Argument" where you said that conservatives "ended up running up deficits that would have been unimaginable to Jimmy Carter."

I wonder what your opinion is of the deficits under the Obama administration?

I just tossed your book in the recycling. At least I supported the used book store where I bought it, and it will serve a better purpose as recycled paper.

Hi Matt, I read your interesting article on Obama in this past Sunday magazine. I believe there is an error in it. One that others have made and one which drives me crazy as a non-Rahm enthusiast (Howard Dean supporter). You seemed to give Rahm credit for the success of the Dems in 2006. Howard Dean's 50 State strategy I believe was the cause of the Dems most recent success (and Obama's) and Rahm fought him tooth and nail about it, though when it was a success he never corrected anyone...

Don't we all? Wanted to let readers know that you can now get links to my column on Twitter. No 10-second-old pearls of wisdom or updates on my coffee consumption or TV watching habits. Just links. Please follow--thanks.

8000 words and not a single one of them about politics. What a talent you have. Did you learn to be insubstantial at Harvard, Yale or Princeton? You are really good at it, I must say.

I've hinted at this briefly in some of my responses, but here's the deal: after eight really terrific years of writing only for the Times Magazine, which is as much a journalistic home to me as I've ever had, I'm moving over to the paper. Beginning at the end of May, I'll be writing a political column in the news pages, though I'll continue to write a few long pieces a year for the magazine. What this means for this site, I'm not exactly sure yet. I doubt it will be practical (or legal...

Some 30 months from the next presidential election, the field of potential challengers to Barack Obama is like a solar system in its infancy — unformed, gaseous and lacking a dominant star. One characteristic, however, stands out. In a recent CNN poll that tested the strength of possible Republican hopefuls, only one of the seven most likely candidates (that would be Representative Ron Paul) will actually hold an elected office by the end of this year. The two leading candidates as of today, ...

Matt, I thought your piece in today's NYT Mag ("An Out-of-Office Message for Republican Candidates") was right on the mark. Your usual insights.

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Back in 2005, when Democrats in Congress fought to preserve their right to filibuster against George W. Bush's judicial nominees, they spoke in unison about how Republicans were "changing the rules in the middle of the game," a slogan they had tested with focus groups like a catchphrase for breakfast cereal. The idea was to turn an arcane question of process into a basic issue of fairness in the public mind, and it worked. Now, five years later, Republicans reeling from their health care...

Matt, very interesting article but I find it a little bit of a stretch (and a "little" insulting) to say that if one does not like the 17th Amendment then they must also be against women's right to vote in the 15th amendment. You should be careful. Statements like those really don't make your articles stronger, they make them weaker by ensuring that a reader on the fence stops reading dead in their tracks.