Conor Friedersdorf

Conor Friedersdorf is a staff writer at The Atlantic, where he focuses on politics and national affairs. He lives in Venice, California, and is the founding editor of The Best of Journalism, a newsletter devoted to exceptional nonfiction.

Why Pre-Existing Conditions Are a Tough Issue for the GOP

Why Pre-Existing Conditions Are a Tough Issue for the GOP

Republicans are most comfortable citing the perils of interfering in free markets. On this issue, however, they quietly agree that regulation is needed. More »

Is Opposition to All Tax Hikes a Matter of Principle for Mitt Romney?

Is Opposition to All Tax Hikes a Matter of Principle for Mitt Romney?

That's what he claimed on Meet the Press. Either he's lying or else an inane belief system guides his fiscal policy. More »

An Intra-Left Debate: Is Obama the 'More Effective' of 2 Evils?

An Intra-Left Debate: Is Obama the 'More Effective' of 2 Evils?

Progressives grapple with uncomfortable, frequently ignored questions raised by the president's agenda. More »

VP at the DNC: Joe Biden's Disturbing Riff On Killing Osama bin Laden

VP at the DNC: Joe Biden's Disturbing Riff On Killing Osama bin Laden

The vice president argued that putting bullets in his corpse was necessary to heal America's wounded heart. He knows not what he draws on. More »

Tiny Explainer: President Obama's DREAM Act Executive Order

Tiny Explainer: President Obama's DREAM Act Executive Order

Illegal immigrants under the age of 30 who were brought to the U.S. as children will no longer face deportation -- nor will they gain citizenship. More »

CNN Should Stop Fetishizing Conflict at the DNC

CNN Should Stop Fetishizing Conflict at the DNC

Democrats are divided about whether Jerusalem should be the capital of Israel. So what? They disagree on lots of more important things too. More »

Should It Unnerve Us That Michelle Obama and Ann Romney Are So Disarming?

Should It Unnerve Us That Michelle Obama and Ann Romney Are So Disarming?

The First Lady and her would-be successor shined this year. And maybe that's a problem for everyone save their husbands. More »

Better Than Fact-Checking: An Ohio Reporter Speaks Truth to Power

Better Than Fact-Checking: An Ohio Reporter Speaks Truth to Power

Challenging President Obama on extrajudicial assassinations, a broadcast journalist whips out the "Reality Check." More »

Bill Clinton's Challenge in Tonight's DNC Speech: Affirming Obama's Record

Bill Clinton's Challenge in Tonight's DNC Speech: Affirming Obama's Record

He's more comfortable attacking Republicans than making the case for another Democrat. Unlike in 2008, that may not be enough. More »

'OMG' in Charlotte: An Anti-Obama Billboard

'OMG' in Charlotte: An Anti-Obama Billboard

Here's what countless North Carolinians see when driving down the freeway that runs alongside the Uptown neighborhood in Charlotte. More »

Dispatch From Charlotte: The DNC Abandons War-on-Terror Criticism

Dispatch From Charlotte: The DNC Abandons War-on-Terror Criticism

The most vocal defenders of civil liberties are operating outside the Democratic Party, whose insiders censured Bush and moved on. More »

Kicking Off the DNC: Notes, Photos, and Dissents from Charlotte

Kicking Off the DNC: Notes, Photos, and Dissents from Charlotte

The Democrats say they're throwing the most open and accessible convention in history. A critical report from the scene. More »

An Open Letter to Conservatives Who Care About the Deficit: Wake Up!

An Open Letter to Conservatives Who Care About the Deficit: Wake Up!

Before getting swept up in Romney-Ryan mania, scrutinize their promises. Even if kept, they won't balance the budget. More »

Barack Obama at the DNC: A Look Back at His 2008 Speech, and Ahead to Thursday

Barack Obama at the DNC: A Look Back at His 2008 Speech, and Ahead to Thursday

This is likely to be the biggest campaign speech of his career that won't focus largely on biography. More »

The Ahistorical Weirdness of 'Bush Kept Us Safe'

The Ahistorical Weirdness of 'Bush Kept Us Safe'

That's how Jeb Bush summed up his brother's legacy at the Republican National Convention. But it isn't so. More »

GOP Nominees Didn't Always Run As Bellicose Nationalists

GOP Nominees Didn't Always Run As Bellicose Nationalists

Comparing Mitt Romney's RNC speech to what the last Republican president with a successful foreign-policy record said More »

What Hats Did We Wear to Mitt Romney's Big Acceptance Speech?

What Hats Did We Wear to Mitt Romney's Big Acceptance Speech?

A survey of what's being worn on the floor of the Republican National Convention. More »

Should Protesters Be Forced Through a Gauntlet of Heavily Armed Men?

Should Protesters Be Forced Through a Gauntlet of Heavily Armed Men?

Police ought to be at major marches to keep order. But a presence as overwhelming as in Tampa, even far from the convention, has a chilling effect. More »

In RNC Speech, John McCain Reminds America Why It Didn't Elect Him

In RNC Speech, John McCain Reminds America Why It Didn't Elect Him

The GOP's 2008 nominee harkens back to Bush-era foreign policy with no acknowledgement or awareness of its failures. More »

Rand Paul Plays It Safe in His RNC Speech

Rand Paul Plays It Safe in His RNC Speech

Under pressure to show loyalty to his party and to critique its heresies against libertarianism, he does a lot of the former, not much of the latter. More »

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