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Best New Yorker The Political Scene

The Political Scene covers politics, government, and policy. These pieces examine Washington, elections, and the forces shaping American political life.

20 picks · 1994–2024

Top authors: Ryan Lizza (2), George Packer (2), Jane Mayer (2)

Bidenomics Is Starting to Transform America. Why Has No One Noticed?
Nicholas Lemann · November 4, 2024

Nicholas Lemann goes on the road with Pete Buttigieg and Julie Su to see the scope of Bidenomics, and reckons with why voters don’t support him and Kamala Harris more.

Can State Supreme Courts Preserve—or Expand—Rights?
Eyal Press · June 10, 2024

With a lopsided conservative majority on the U.S. Supreme Court, Eyal Press writes, progressive activists are seeking legal opportunities in state constitutions.

Will Wisconsin’s Republicans Make Voting Meaningless, or Just Difficult?
Dan Kaufman · August 1, 2022

Dan Kaufman writes about the activists who are combining voter suppression with election conspiracies to capture the state in 2022 and beyond.

Stacey Abrams’s Fight for a Fair Vote
Jelani Cobb · August 19, 2019

As the 2020 elections approach, Abrams is leading the battle against voter suppression, Jelani Cobb writes.

Trump vs. the “Deep State”
Evan Osnos · May 21, 2018

Evan Osnos on how the Administration’s loyalists are quietly reshaping American governance.

How Trump Could Get Fired
Evan Osnos · May 8, 2017

Evan Osnos on what it would take to cut short Donald Trump’s Presidency.

Is Trump Trolling the White House Press Corps?
Andrew Marantz · March 20, 2017

Andrew Marantz on how Sean Spicer, Donald Trump’s press secretary, dismisses the mainstream media while giving preference to far-right journalists.

Obama Reckons with a Trump Presidency
David Remnick · November 28, 2016

David Remnick writes about Donald Trump’s victory in the 2016 election, and what President Barack Obama’s reaction to the new political landscape is.

Donald Trump’s Ghostwriter Tells All
Jane Mayer · July 25, 2016

Jane Mayer on Tony Schwartz, the journalist who authored “The Art of the Deal,” Donald Trump’s best-seller, but who opposes Trump’s Presidential aims.

Sting of Myself
Jane Mayer · May 30, 2016

Jane Mayer on James O’Keefe, an amateurish spy, and his hit jobs against George Soros and Hillary Clinton.

The Model American
Lauren Collins · May 9, 2016

Despite her humble origins, she seems to have internalized Donald’s outlook. She’s as imperial as her husband, if not more so. Lauren Collins writes.

The New Liberalism
George Packer · November 17, 2008

How the economic crisis can help Obama redefine the Democrats.

Making It
Ryan Lizza · July 21, 2008

How Chicago shaped Obama.

The Fall of Conservatism
George Packer · May 26, 2008

Have the Republicans run out of ideas?

The Relaunch
Ryan Lizza · November 26, 2007

Ryan Lizza on the campaign strategies that helped Barack Obama catch up to Hillary Clinton in the Democratic Presidential primary race.

The Upstart
Jeffrey Toobin · May 16, 2005

Manhattan’s legendary D.A. faces a tough challenger.

The Perjury Trap
Jeffrey Rosen · August 10, 1998

THE POLITICAL SCENE about Kenneth Starr's effort to prove that President Bill Clinton perjured himself when he denied having an affair with White House…

GLASSHOUSE CONVENTIONS
Michael Kelly · September 9, 1996

THE POLITICAL SCENE about the Democratic National Convention and the Republican National Convention... The news that President Clinton's chief …

DON'T EVER CHANGE
Sidney Blumenthal · February 12, 1996

THE POLITICAL SCENE about Sen. Bob Dole's collapsing Presidential bid... Whatever the poll numbers, whatever the panicked advice from his handlers, …

Gore’s Dilemma
Peter J. Boyer · November 28, 1994

Gore has spent his life preparing for the Presidency, only to find himself now cast as the Walter Mondale of the nineties, Peter J. Boyer writes. If it’s too late to save this Administration, is there still time to save his party and himself?

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