“Are You a Flake?”

Wallace’s bad question an announcement-day gift for Bachmann

By Joel Meares   Jun 27, 2011 at 12:03 PM

Michele Bachmann officially launched her campaign today in Waterloo, Iowa, the onetime hometown from which—according to a speech Bachmann... More

WaPo and Times Go Softly, Softly with Barbour

Similar profiles tell similar tales

By Joel Meares   Mar 22, 2011 at 02:59 PM

Pity poor Tim Pawlenty. The day after the former Minnesota governor made a shallow splash announcing his presidential exploratory... More

Campaigning Between Covers

Why do presidential wannabes write books?

By Erika Fry   Aug 17, 2011 at 05:26 PM

In 1935, James Harold Wallis wrote in The Politician: His habits, outcries and protective coloring: Only a very shrewd politician... More

Does Roger Ailes Think Sarah Palin Is an Idiot?

By Joel Meares   May 24, 2011 at 03:12 PM

A bit of Palin overload today at CJR, but the former governor of Alaska has popped up in another... More

Misleading Readers on Romney’s “$12 Million Teardown”

The value is almost all in the land

By Ryan Chittum   Jan 12, 2012 at 02:43 PM

We've heard a lot about $12 million teardowns lately. Tiger Woods's ex-wife Elin Nordegren is tearing down her $12 million... More

No Surprises; Good Riddance

The press and Dems react to Lieberman

By Joel Meares   Jan 19, 2011 at 02:22 PM

In politics, it seems you’re only as good—or as bad—as your last term and your last poll. That’s the lesson... More

Pawlenty Just Announced: Quick, Say Something

By Joel Meares   Mar 22, 2011 at 10:51 AM

Former Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty yesterday announced that he was forming a presidential exploratory committee, making him the first... More

Politico Kicks Off 2012

Bold new site complete with “Santa Tracker”

By Joel Meares   Jan 31, 2011 at 11:58 AM

Depending on your tastes, this weekend’s launch of Politico 2012 LIVE might be the Second Coming of Christ or the... More

Politico’s Wicked Sense of Humor

Politico satires Politico

By Joel Meares   Feb 1, 2011 at 11:27 AM

We gave a shaky “thumbs down” to Politico’s new site, Politico 2012 LIVE, yesterday, describing it as “Politico Poutine—fried-up regular... More

Remember When No Meant No

The Bloomberg-denies-running story industry

By Joel Meares   Dec 13, 2010 at 04:57 PM

We get it media: you want New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg to run for president. We can’t blame you.... More

Reporters Late to the 2012 Party?

Editors tell Politico why they’re moving so slowly

By Joel Meares   May 31, 2011 at 12:42 PM

Given the saturation-level coverage of the Palin family’s Winnebago vacation this Memorial Day weekend, you might be surprised to... More

Romney on Romneycare is a Bust

Conservatives are not buying Mitt’s Michigan speech

By Joel Meares   May 13, 2011 at 02:57 PM

Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney took to a stage in Ann Arbor yesterday to twist and turn his way through... More

Ryan’s Whopper $4 Trillion

Where it will come from and what it might mean

By Joel Meares   Apr 4, 2011 at 01:29 PM

House Budget Committee chairman Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) visited Fox News Sunday this weekend and confirmed last week’s reporting suggesting a... More

She’s Just Not That Into You

Mainstream media’s Sarah Palin agony

By Joel Meares   May 31, 2011 at 03:34 PM

You will by now no doubt know that Sarah Palin is once again giving the “mainstream media” the runaround on... More

Some Clarity Amid Budget Proposal Confusion

Jon Ward breaks down the Obama and Ryan numbers

By Joel Meares   Apr 5, 2011 at 01:19 PM

Paul Ryan’s budget proposal—described as “radical” by some and hailed by others as if fresh from the summit of... More

The Crazy Book-Banning Lady Who Wants to be President (UPDATED)

Matt Taibbi’s colorful takedown of “Mad” Michele Bachmann

By Joel Meares   Jun 23, 2011 at 12:48 PM

Last week, The Daily Beast’s Michelle Goldberg authored what one might have reasonably expected would be the most vicious takedown... More

Too moderate, too foreign, too Obama: next!

Huntsman, Jr. dismissed before he gets out of the gate?

By Joel Meares   Feb 1, 2011 at 02:25 PM

The U.S. ambassador to China, Jon M. Huntsman, Jr., officially confirmed his resignation yesterday, handing President Obama a letter stating... More

What’s A Local Site To Do?

Small and hyper-local sites gear up for the GOP primary

By Joel Meares   Jun 27, 2011 at 05:01 PM

In June 2010, Craig Robinson got a midterm scoop that no other media outlet, national or local, was able to... More

Yep, Time Has a GOP Primary “Bracket”

By Joel Meares   Jun 16, 2011 at 11:37 AM

Joe Klein has the Time cover story this week—a smart if very Joe Klein-y take on the ideological posturing of... More

Yes, Virginia, it Really Was a Republican Plan

By Trudy Lieberman   Nov 9, 2010 at 11:40 AM

Sunday, the president admitted to Steve Kroft of CBS that the health reform law now known in the vernacular as... More