The Tea Party’s Brain
How Ron Paul's fringe obsessions—the gold standard, the Fed, the perils of deficits—entered the mainstream
How Ron Paul's fringe obsessions—the gold standard, the Fed, the perils of deficits—entered the mainstream
Joe Biden really, truly did not want to be vice president. But almost two years in, he’s found his stride. And his unique life trajectory— by turns tragic, comic, and triumphant—may have made him the perfect man for a highly imperfect job.
How Arnold Schwarzenegger might just have saved California
David Greenberg on presidential disappointment, David Frum on reviving the Mugwumps, David M. Kennedy on the lessons of Woodrow Wilson, Paul Starr on governing in the age of Fox News
The incentives that drive our health care system have perverse (and sometimes fatal) consequences. It's time for a radical change.
Reports and commentary by James Fallows, Mark Bowden, Christopher Hitchens, Pat Buchanan, Robert D. Kaplan, and others.
The filibuster is obstructive, anachronistic, and undemocratic. It's time to kill it off for good.
A cartoon
Will former NBA all-star Kevin Johnson become the next mayor of Sacramento?
An Atlantic chronicle of the campaign so far, with commentary by Joshua Green, Marc Ambinder, Ross Douthat, Matthew Yglesias, and others.
Can Republicans find a way to compete on the Web?
Writings from 1860 to the present on campaigns, candidates, and presidential elections, with contributions by James Russell Lowell, Arthur Schlesinger, Jr., P.J. O'Rourke, and others.
Who will win the presidential debates? What does each candidate’s use of words say about how he would govern as president? Can Obama’s rhetorical skills lift him to the heights of Lincoln, FDR, and Reagan—or will his speechmaking do him in? After watching all 47 (!) of the primary season’s debates, our correspondent has the answers—and some harsh criticism for the moderators.
Obama and McCain both say they want to usher in a new, less divisive brand of politics. Which of them has the better chance? Is bipartisanship still possible?
Hillary Clinton’s campaign was undone by a clash of personalities more toxic than anyone imagined. E-mails and memos—published here for the first time—reveal the backstabbing and conflicting strategies that produced an epic meltdown.
What’s the difference between homosexuals and heterosexuals? In matters outside the bedroom, American culture and law are at last acknowledging that there is none.
A complete index to the internal communications referenced in "The Front-Runner's Fall"
We chose to build this, The Atlantic's first Ideas Issue, not around speculative experimentation, academic abstraction, or gee-whiz gizmos, but around real-world attempts to rethink big questions. [Web only: Submit your own suggestions for the idea (or ideas) that have been most important this year. Some submissions may be included in part or in full in a future issue of the magazine.]
How Silicon Valley made Barack Obama this year’s hottest start-up
World o' Flight Updates: NYT Mag, Gliders, Yeshivah of Flatbush, Solar Impulse
'Yes We Scan': Germans Protest at Checkpoint Charlie as Obama Arrives in Berlin
CBO: Immigration Reform Cuts $175 Billion From U.S. Deficits Over 10 Years
3 Former NSA Employees Praise Edward Snowden, Corroborate Key Claims
At the Supreme Court, Divisions and Signs of Trouble to Come