National political writer for the New York Times Magazine
Matt Bai writes on national politics for the New York Times Magazine, where he is
currently covering the 2008 presidential campaign. He is the author of The Argument:
Billionaires, Bloggers, and the Battle to Remake Democratic Politics. The book, which
chronicles the rise of the first Internet-age political movement and the people who built it,
was honored as a New York Times Notable Book for 2007. The Economist called The
Argument “engaging and painstakingly reported,” and the Washington Post called it
“unsparing, incisive and altogether engaging” and “a must read.”
The Washington Monthly’s reviewer, Kevin Drum, wrote: “I had more fun reading The
Argument than I've had reading any political book in ages. It was fun the way The Boys
on the Bus was fun. The way Fear and Loathing: On the Campaign Trail '72 was fun...Or
maybe even the way Primary Colors was fun.” And in the American Prospect, the
political writer Ron Brownstein said: “Bai's coverage of the 2004 presidential campaign
was fresh and distinct. This book underscores his emergence as an important new voice
in the political dialogue, with keen insights and an engaging way of expressing them.”
Bai’s most recent work for the Times Magazine has included cover stories on John
Edwards, Rudolph Giuliani and the meaning of Clintonism. In addition, he is currently
writing a popular online weekly column, “The Primary Argument,” on the New York
Times website. His 2004 coverage for the Times Magazine included cover pieces on the
Republican machine in Ohio and the future of Democratic politics, as well as a seminal
cover 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 also
contributed a personal essay to the anthology I Married My Mother-in-Law: And Other
Tales of In-Laws We Can’t Live With—And Can’t Live Without, published by Riverhead
Books in 2006.
Before joining the Times Magazine in 2002, Bai, 39, spent five years as a national
correspondent for Newsweek. In 2001, he was a fellow at Harvard’s Institute of Politics
at the Kennedy School of Government, where he led a seminar on the next generation of
political journalism. He began his career as a city desk reporter for the Boston Globe, and
his international experience includes coverage from Iraq and Liberia.
Bai is a graduate of Tufts and Columbia’s Graduate School of Journalism, where the
faculty awarded him the prestigious Pulitzer Traveling Fellowship. A native of Trumbull,
Connecticut, he now lives with his wife and two children in Washington.
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