Marc Ambinder

The intelligence brief on the apparent accident was three sentences long, and it scared the hell out of White House officials.

Pakistan lies. It hosted Osama bin Laden (knowingly or not). Its government is barely functional. It hates the democracy next door. It is home to both radical jihadists and a large and growing nuclear arsenal (which it fears the U.S. will seize). Its intelligence service sponsors terrorists who attack American troops. With a friend like this, who needs enemies?

Hear a Secret Service agent struggle to keep pace with attendees at a UN conference

When President Obama and two-thirds of the world’s leaders gather in New York City, it is up to the U.S. Secret Service to keep them all safe. Granted unprecedented access, our author tells the story of how the agency pulls off the most complicated security event of the year, from counter-surveillance to counter-assault, hotel booking to event scheduling.

How Arnold Schwarzenegger might just have saved California

By 2015, four out of 10 Americans may be obese. Until last year, the author was one of them. The way he lost one-third of his weight isn’t for everyone. But unless America stops cheering The Biggest Loser and starts getting serious about preventing obesity, the country risks being overwhelmed by chronic disease and ballooning health costs. Will first lady Michelle Obama’s new plan to fight childhood obesity work, or is it just another false start in the country’s long and so far unsuccessful war against fat?

Race doesn’t matter, Barack Obama’s top advisers argued during the presidential election. At least, that’s what they said in public. Behind closed doors, however, Obama’s campaign worked methodically to woo white voters without alienating black ones—and vice versa.

"The story Stone presents has been told over and over, creating grooves in the brains of Bush-haters."

Our election blogger’s scrapbook: grilling pork, frisking suspects, spinning the press, and other Kodak moments from the campaign trail

Can Obama rally the young? Is McCain still a maverick? Are the Clintons finished? Our experts challenge the assumptions that have shaped the campaign.

And why he probably would have picked her anyway

How would Obama’s success in online campaigning translate into governing?

A behind-the-scenes report from New Hampshire primary night at the Hillary camp

Hillary Clinton tried to teach Barack Obama about power, but then he got ideas of his own. A story of nasty surprises, dueling war rooms, and the Drudge Report

A look at how New Jersey's most conservative G.O.P. chairman may have just saved Giuliani's campaign millions

Candidates who invoke the spirit of Reagan may live to regret it

What role will Hillary’s husband play in the campaign?