Jonathan Alter
Jonathan Alter is a Bloomberg View columnist appearing on Fridays. He is the author of two New York Times bestsellers: "The Defining Moment: FDR's Hundred Days and the Triumph of Hope" and "The Promise: President Obama, Year One."
A longtime analyst for NBC News and MSNBC, Alter was for 28 years a senior editor, media critic and columnist for Newsweek, where he covered seven presidential campaigns. A collection of his columns, "Between the Lines: A View Inside American Politics, People and Culture," was published in 2008. His work has appeared in the New Republic, Esquire, Vanity Fair, the Washington Monthly and the New York Times, and his political writing has won numerous awards, including first prize from the National Headliner Awards for a series of columns on life after 9/11.
Articles By Jonathan Alter
How Super-PACs Will Keep the Campaign Clean
Strangely enough, the 2012 presidential campaign, expected to be the dirtiest in modern memory, may end up being relatively clean.
Obama Versus Romney Offers a Clash of Capitalisms
We can already see the next six months in American politics: Tit for tat. Blow for blow. You’re Richie Rich. You’re Jimmy Carter. This is what presidential elections have been about since 1800. The only difference is that we have YouTube instead of the Pony Express, so the noise is louder and more constant.
How to Make Poor Kids $1 Million Richer
Anyone with half a brain knows that bolstering the middle class is critical to securing the future of the U.S. It’s a matter of national self-interest.
Barney Frank Makes a Misdiagnosis on Obamacare
Representative Barney Frank, who is not seeking re-election, gave a memorable exit interview this week to New York magazine suggesting that President Barack Obama “underestimated, as did Clinton, the sensitivity of people to what they see as an effort to make them share the health care with poor people.”
Ryan’s Cuts Diss the Republican Party’s Founders
Grover Norquist, the tax-cutting champion, famously said he wanted to shrink the federal government “down to the size where we can drown it in the bath tub.”
Romney’s Gaffes Won’t Cost Him As Many Votes As His Views
If Barack Obama prevails this November, it will be in large part because of what has come out of Mitt Romney’s mouth in the last year.
How Ralph Nader’s Sins Set Trayvon Martin’s Killer Free
Oh, Ralph. If Ralph Nader hadn’t gotten under Lewis Powell’s skin, we wouldn’t be having these arguments over whether the individual mandate in Obamacare is unconstitutional.
Romney Woos Seniors With Clever Medicare Gambit: Jonathan Alter
Mitt Romney looks right now as if he’s tripping over his shoelaces, but he’s positioning himself well for the general election fight with President Barack Obama on one big issue: Medicare. Whether he’s positioning himself honestly is a different question.
For Change.org, a Better World Is Clicks Away: Jonathan Alter
Everyone remembers how fast EBay, Facebook, YouTube and other websites that have changed our world grew.
Keystone Pipeline Brings Pain at Pump: Jonathan Alter
“I’ll get us that oil from Canada,” Mitt Romney said in his victory speech after the Michigan primary. He was referring to Keystone XL, the crude-oil pipeline that has become a top-tier campaign issue for Republicans.
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