Matt Bai
Encyclopedia
Matt Bai (ˈbaɪ) writes the “Political Times” column for the New York Times and is a frequent contributor for the Times Magazine, where he covered both the 2004 and 2008 presidential campaigns. Bai often explores issues of generational change in American politics and society. His seminal cover stories in the magazine include the 2008 cover essay “Is Obama the End of Black Politics?” and a 2004 profile of John Kerry titled “Kerry’s Undeclared War.” His work was honored in both the 2005 and 2006 editions of The Best American Political Writing. Bai is a graduate of the College of Arts and Sciences at Tufts University
in Medford, MA.
, among others, and his international coverage includes reporting from Liberia
and Iraq
.
Before joining the Times Magazine, Bai was city desk reporter for the Boston Globe and a national correspondent for Newsweek
magazine. In 2002, he left Newsweek to become the national affairs columnist at Rolling Stone
magazine, but the arrangement soon unraveled. On his website, Bai writes that this “disastrous little stint” involved “no articles and a lot of weirdness, but I'm contractually prohibited from talking about that.”
In 2001, Bai was a fellow at the Institute of Politics at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government, where he led a seminar on the next generation of political journalism.
Bai's book, The Argument: Inside the Battle to Remake Democratic Politics, is an account of the “new progressive movement” in America and the people who built it. The Argument was the only political book to be named a New York Times Notable Book for 2007.
Other work by Bai for the New York Times Magazine has included cover stories on John McCain
’s philosophy about war and Barack Obama
’s strategy to win over white men, as well as a much-discussed cover essay, “Is Obama the End of Black Politics?”. During the 2008 primaries, Bai wrote an online blog
, The Primary Argument, on The New York Times website.
Bai’s work was featured in both the 2005 and 2006 editions of The Best American Political Writing (Thunder’s Mouth Press). He also wrote a personal essay about his Japanese American
in-laws for the anthology I Married My Mother-in-Law: And Other Tales of In-Laws We Can’t Live With—and Can’t Live Without (Riverhead Books, 2006).
In a 2007 interview with the Progressive Book Club, Bai said his political work is more influenced by novelists writing about urban decline in America than by other political writers. “I think novelists have done a better job on the whole of describing the confusing moment we’re in, in this post-industrial era,” he said. “Writers like Philip Roth, Richard Russo (especially Empire Falls and Nobody’s Fool and The Risk Pool), Richard Ford (especially The Sportswriter)—they’ve really tapped into a deep confusion."
pioneers Markos Moulitsas Zuniga
and Jerome Armstrong
; Democratic Party Chairman and former presidential candidate Howard Dean
; the leaders of MoveOn.org; a secret group of 100 wealthy Democratic philanthropists known as The Democracy Alliance; former President Bill Clinton
; Andy Stern
, president of the Service Employees International Union
; and the blogger Gina Cooper, founder of what is now Netroots Nation.
Bai's book sparked reactions from reviewers in print and online. Reviewers in the media were generally positive about the book, even if they didn’t uniformly accept its premise that the modern Democratic Party was still groping for a coherent vision of 20th century government. “I had more fun reading The Argument than I’ve had reading any political book in ages,” Kevin Drum wrote in the Washington Monthly. The Economist said the book was “engaging and painstakingly reported” and the Washington Post called it “unsparing, incisive and altogether engaging” and a “must read.” The Argument received positive reviews in newspapers such as the New York Times and Boston Globe, as well as in progressive media outlets like Mother Jones
.
The reaction on the progressive blogs, however, ranged from dismissive to furious. Most in the netroots took issue with Bai’s central premise—that simply wanting to depose Republicans and reverse their policies didn’t amount to a compelling vision for the country. “Unlike Matt Bai, I think undoing the disasters of the Bush administration makes for good policy as well as good politics,” wrote Joan Walsh, the editor-in-chief of Salon.com. “Democrats and other Bush-haters should read The Argument to see what Bai sees. Then they should draw completely different conclusions, and get back to work saving the country.” Panning Bai’s book on the blog Daily Kos
, Miss Laura wrote, “The man is simply not able to diagnose the problems Democrats face, or to comprehend even that he is in the presence of evidence about what’s going on in American politics if it does not agree with his own pre-conceptions.”
Bai debated and discussed the book with commenters on some of the major progressive blogs, including Daily Kos and the Huffington Post,. In an interview on Daily Kos Bai shrugged off his critics. “A lot of people who have criticized the book online admit they haven’t actually read it,” he said. “They’re going on what other bloggers have said. That is a little disappointing. I think there are a whole lot of smart people who read the blogs who will read the book and make their own judgments.”
The Argument was published in paperback in August 2008, with a new and shorter subtitle: Inside the Battle to Remake Democratic Politics.
Tufts University
Tufts University is a private research university located in Medford/Somerville, near Boston, Massachusetts. It is organized into ten schools, including two undergraduate programs and eight graduate divisions, on four campuses in Massachusetts and on the eastern border of France...
in Medford, MA.
Career
He began his career as a speechwriter for the U.S. Committee for UNICEF, writing for Audrey HepburnAudrey Hepburn
Audrey Hepburn was a British actress and humanitarian. Although modest about her acting ability, Hepburn remains one of the world's most famous actresses of all time, remembered as a film and fashion icon of the twentieth century...
, among others, and his international coverage includes reporting from Liberia
Liberia
Liberia , officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Sierra Leone on the west, Guinea on the north and Côte d'Ivoire on the east. Liberia's coastline is composed of mostly mangrove forests while the more sparsely populated inland consists of forests that open...
and Iraq
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
.
Before joining the Times Magazine, Bai was city desk reporter for the Boston Globe and a national correspondent for Newsweek
Newsweek
Newsweek is an American weekly news magazine published in New York City. It is distributed throughout the United States and internationally. It is the second-largest news weekly magazine in the U.S., having trailed Time in circulation and advertising revenue for most of its existence...
magazine. In 2002, he left Newsweek to become the national affairs columnist at Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
magazine, but the arrangement soon unraveled. On his website, Bai writes that this “disastrous little stint” involved “no articles and a lot of weirdness, but I'm contractually prohibited from talking about that.”
In 2001, Bai was a fellow at the Institute of Politics at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government, where he led a seminar on the next generation of political journalism.
Bai's book, The Argument: Inside the Battle to Remake Democratic Politics, is an account of the “new progressive movement” in America and the people who built it. The Argument was the only political book to be named a New York Times Notable Book for 2007.
Other work by Bai for the New York Times Magazine has included cover stories on John McCain
John McCain
John Sidney McCain III is the senior United States Senator from Arizona. He was the Republican nominee for president in the 2008 United States election....
’s philosophy about war and Barack Obama
Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office. Obama previously served as a United States Senator from Illinois, from January 2005 until he resigned following his victory in the 2008 presidential election.Born in...
’s strategy to win over white men, as well as a much-discussed cover essay, “Is Obama the End of Black Politics?”. During the 2008 primaries, Bai wrote an online blog
Blog
A blog is a type of website or part of a website supposed to be updated with new content from time to time. Blogs are usually maintained by an individual with regular entries of commentary, descriptions of events, or other material such as graphics or video. Entries are commonly displayed in...
, The Primary Argument, on The New York Times website.
Bai’s work was featured in both the 2005 and 2006 editions of The Best American Political Writing (Thunder’s Mouth Press). He also wrote a personal essay about his Japanese American
Japanese American
are American people of Japanese heritage. Japanese Americans have historically been among the three largest Asian American communities, but in recent decades have become the sixth largest group at roughly 1,204,205, including those of mixed-race or mixed-ethnicity...
in-laws for the anthology I Married My Mother-in-Law: And Other Tales of In-Laws We Can’t Live With—and Can’t Live Without (Riverhead Books, 2006).
In a 2007 interview with the Progressive Book Club, Bai said his political work is more influenced by novelists writing about urban decline in America than by other political writers. “I think novelists have done a better job on the whole of describing the confusing moment we’re in, in this post-industrial era,” he said. “Writers like Philip Roth, Richard Russo (especially Empire Falls and Nobody’s Fool and The Risk Pool), Richard Ford (especially The Sportswriter)—they’ve really tapped into a deep confusion."
The Argument
The Argument, published in August 2007, centers on the machinations of a varied cast of progressive activists and Democratic leaders, including the netrootsNetroots
Netroots is a term coined in 2002 by Jerome Armstrong to describe political activism organized through blogs and other online media, including wikis and social network services. The word is a portmanteau of Internet and grassroots, reflecting the technological innovations that set netroots...
pioneers Markos Moulitsas Zuniga
Markos Moulitsas Zúniga
Markos Moulitsas Zúniga , often known by his username and former military nickname "Kos" , is the founder and publisher of Daily Kos, a blog focusing on liberal and Democratic Party politics in the United States. He is also a weekly columnist at the Washington, D.C...
and Jerome Armstrong
Jerome Armstrong
Jerome Armstrong is an American political strategist and blogger. He is credited as one of the architects of Howard Dean's '04 grassroots Presidential campaign, and one of the leading web strategists in the world...
; Democratic Party Chairman and former presidential candidate Howard Dean
Howard Dean
Howard Brush Dean III is an American politician and physician from Vermont. He served six terms as the 79th Governor of Vermont and ran unsuccessfully for the 2004 Democratic presidential nomination. He was chairman of the Democratic National Committee from 2005 to 2009. Although his U.S...
; the leaders of MoveOn.org; a secret group of 100 wealthy Democratic philanthropists known as The Democracy Alliance; former President Bill Clinton
Bill Clinton
William Jefferson "Bill" Clinton is an American politician who served as the 42nd President of the United States from 1993 to 2001. Inaugurated at age 46, he was the third-youngest president. He took office at the end of the Cold War, and was the first president of the baby boomer generation...
; Andy Stern
Andy Stern
Andrew L. "Andy" Stern , is the former president of the 2.2 million-member Service Employees International Union , the fastest-growing union in the Americas. SEIU is the second largest union in the United States and Canada after the National Education Association.Stern was elected in 1996 to...
, president of the Service Employees International Union
Service Employees International Union
Service Employees International Union is a labor union representing about 1.8 million workers in over 100 occupations in the United States , and Canada...
; and the blogger Gina Cooper, founder of what is now Netroots Nation.
Bai's book sparked reactions from reviewers in print and online. Reviewers in the media were generally positive about the book, even if they didn’t uniformly accept its premise that the modern Democratic Party was still groping for a coherent vision of 20th century government. “I had more fun reading The Argument than I’ve had reading any political book in ages,” Kevin Drum wrote in the Washington Monthly. The Economist said the book was “engaging and painstakingly reported” and the Washington Post called it “unsparing, incisive and altogether engaging” and a “must read.” The Argument received positive reviews in newspapers such as the New York Times and Boston Globe, as well as in progressive media outlets like Mother Jones
Mother Jones (magazine)
Mother Jones is an American independent news organization, featuring investigative and breaking news reporting on politics, the environment, human rights, and culture. Mother Jones has been nominated for 23 National Magazine Awards and has won six times, including for General Excellence in 2001,...
.
The reaction on the progressive blogs, however, ranged from dismissive to furious. Most in the netroots took issue with Bai’s central premise—that simply wanting to depose Republicans and reverse their policies didn’t amount to a compelling vision for the country. “Unlike Matt Bai, I think undoing the disasters of the Bush administration makes for good policy as well as good politics,” wrote Joan Walsh, the editor-in-chief of Salon.com. “Democrats and other Bush-haters should read The Argument to see what Bai sees. Then they should draw completely different conclusions, and get back to work saving the country.” Panning Bai’s book on the blog Daily Kos
Daily Kos
Daily Kos is an American political blog that publishes news and opinions from a progressive point of view. It functions as a discussion forum and group blog for a variety of netroots activists, whose efforts are primarily directed toward influencing and strengthening the Democratic Party...
, Miss Laura wrote, “The man is simply not able to diagnose the problems Democrats face, or to comprehend even that he is in the presence of evidence about what’s going on in American politics if it does not agree with his own pre-conceptions.”
Bai debated and discussed the book with commenters on some of the major progressive blogs, including Daily Kos and the Huffington Post,. In an interview on Daily Kos Bai shrugged off his critics. “A lot of people who have criticized the book online admit they haven’t actually read it,” he said. “They’re going on what other bloggers have said. That is a little disappointing. I think there are a whole lot of smart people who read the blogs who will read the book and make their own judgments.”
The Argument was published in paperback in August 2008, with a new and shorter subtitle: Inside the Battle to Remake Democratic Politics.
External links
- Official website - features archives, photos and a question-and-answer section
- The Primary Argument, Bai’s New York Times blog
- Bai answers questions about the media and politics at The Big Think
- Matt Bai’s book talk at Politics & Prose in Washington, podcast, National Public Radio