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Walter Shapiro

Walter Shapiro is a staff writer at The New Republic and a lecturer in political science at Yale. He has been a columnist for USA Today and Esquire and has covered politics for Time, Newsweek, and The Washington Post. He has published two books, performed standup comedy in New York, and was a White House speechwriter for Jimmy Carter.

All Articles
May 31, 2020
Walter Shapiro
The Flawed Politics of a Law-and-Order Campaign
Richard Nixon tried to play on white fears about cities burning. It doesn’t necessarily guarantee success.
April 27, 2020
Walter Shapiro
Who Will Be Joe Biden’s Pick for Vice President?
The fraught quest to find a woman to unite the party—and win over swing voters all at the same time
April 16, 2020
Walter Shapiro
Trump Can’t Lie His Way Out of This One
For the first time in his presidency, his deceit is catching up to him.
April 8, 2020
Walter Shapiro
Bernie Sanders’s Gift to the Democratic Party
The political establishment dismissed him, but his tireless fight for struggling workers has altered the course of American liberalism.
April 8, 2020
Walter Shapiro
Stop Panicking About Joe Biden
Critics are overestimating the value of attacking Trump right now.
March 31, 2020
Walter Shapiro
How America’s Newspapers Covered Up a Pandemic
The terrifying, censored coverage of the 1918 Spanish flu
March 19, 2020
MagazineWalter Shapiro
The Political Media’s Blurred Reality
How market pressures and professional hubris have undone campaign journalism
March 16, 2020
Walter Shapiro
A Case for Unity
Biden and Sanders should be working together to rethink what the Democrats stand for—not bickering over long-forgotten Senate votes.
March 11, 2020
Walter Shapiro
The Gauzy Myth of the Sanders Campaign
If there were ever hidden armies of Democratic voters yearning for a visionary presidential nominee, then they remain well camouflaged.
March 4, 2020
Walter Shapiro
What If Biden Is Simply More Popular Than Sanders?
It’s not just Democratic leaders who recoiled at the thought of nominating the democratic socialist.
February 12, 2020
Walter Shapiro
The Media’s Lousy Election Analysis Is Damaging Political Discourse
Pundits are always trying to titillate their audience with new predictions—and failing to account for their past failures.
February 11, 2020
Walter Shapiro
What New Hampshire Voters Are Watching
With a quarter of them still undecided, this primary could come down to a powerful TV ad or news clip.
February 8, 2020
Walter Shapiro
Joe Biden Is Collapsing
Who's going to pick up his mantle as the establishment favorite?
February 5, 2020
Walter Shapiro
After Iowa, All the Candidates Have Something to Prove
Why the New Hampshire primary could surprise us
February 4, 2020
Walter Shapiro
The Iowa Caucuses Are Dead
RIP.
February 3, 2020
Walter Shapiro
Amy Klobuchar Is in for the Long Haul
The Minnesota senator may be peaking at just the right moment.
January 25, 2020
Walter Shapiro
Joe Biden’s Confounding Candidacy
The former vice president is drawing tiny, unenthused crowds in Iowa. So why is he still one of the front-runners?
January 21, 2020
Walter Shapiro
How Impeachment Could Reshape the Presidential Race
What it means for the senators stuck on Capitol Hill
January 15, 2020
Walter Shapiro
The Perils of Going Negative
Why the candidates, wisely, refused to go for the jugular in the final Democratic debate before the Iowa caucuses
January 14, 2020
Walter Shapiro
Don’t Count Elizabeth Warren Out
The press seems to have written her off, but she still has a good shot at winning the Iowa caucuses.

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