Skip Navigation
Marc Ambinder

Marc Ambinder - Marc Ambinder is the White House correspondent for National Journal and a contributing editor at The Atlantic. More

Marc Ambinder is the White House correspondent for National Journal. He previously served as the politics editor, and is now a contributing editor, for The Atlantic, where he curated the influential Politics channel on TheAtlantic.com and contributed to the magazine. He was also a chief political consultant to CBS News. Earlier, at NJ's Hotline, Ambinder was the founding editor of "Hotline On Call," a pathbreaking political news blog. He also worked as a producer and reporter for the ABC News Political Unit and was one of the founders of ABC's "The Note." Born in New York City, raised in Central Florida, Ambinder is a 2001 graduate of Harvard and lives in Washington, D.C.

Bill Clinton To Obama: Man Up, Dude

By Marc Ambinder
Mar 26 2008, 2:26 PM ET Comment

Bill Clinton in Parkersburg, WV, according to press accounts:

"If a politician doesn't wanna get beat up, he shouldn't run for office," he said. "If a politician doesn't wanna get beat up, he shouldn't run for office. If a football player doesn't want to get tackled or want the risk of an a occasional clip he shouldn't put the pads on."


Jake Tapper picks up on something else:

"I don't give a riff about all this name-calling that's going on. They've been going on ever since Iowa. I've heard them say all these things about her.... Apparently it's okay to say bad things about a girl,"


To interpret: those who complain about the tenor of the Democratic Primary are just whiners. And by extension, so is Obama. Is there some subterranean machismo/peacock feather displaying going on here, too?

Presented by

More at The Atlantic

The Youthful Magic of 'Moonrise Kingdom' The Youthful Magic of 'Moonrise Kingdom'
The Pathbreaking Flight of SpaceX's Dragon Capsule, by the Numbers SpaceX Dragon's Pathbreaking Flight, by the Numbers
This Photo Uses Every Single Instagram Filter How to Go From Kinkade to Rothko in 18 Easy Steps
Americans Have No Idea How Few Gay People There Are Americans Have No Idea How Few Gay People There Are
The Job Market Crashes to Earth A Miserable Jobs Month

Join the Discussion

After you comment, click Post. If you’re not already logged in you will be asked to log in or register.
blog comments powered by Disqus
View All Correspondents

The Biggest Story in Photos

Afghanistan: May 2012

Jun 1, 2012

Subscribe Now

SAVE 59%! 10 issues JUST $2.45 PER COPY

Facebook

Newsletters

Sign up to receive our free newsletters

(sample)

(sample)

(sample)

(sample)

(sample)

(sample)

Marc Ambinder
from the Magazine

The Ally From Hell

Pakistan lies. It hosted Osama bin Laden (knowingly or not). Its government is barely functional.…