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Paul Waldman

Paul Waldman is a contributing editor for the Prospect and the author of Being Right is Not Enough: What Progressives Must Learn From Conservative Success.

Recent Articles

Beyond the Creative Class

TAP talks with Christopher Carrick, an urban planner with the Central New York Regional Planning and Development Board, about regional inequality and if there is life after Richard Florida.

Paul WaldmanFeb 04, 2010
(Flickr/Ohine)

Our last print issue included an article on Richard Florida, urban-planning guru and author of the 2002 bestseller The Rise of the Creative Class. Florida's ideas about what drives economic growth -- particularly the presence of a vibrant artistic community, the means to incubate technology, and a large gay community -- were embraced by cities around the country, many of whom paid Florida as much as $40,000 to speak.

The Danger of Hiding Behind the Generals.

Paul WaldmanFeb 03, 2010

A key part of the conservative argument for keeping the ban on gay Americans serving in the military is that military leaders supposedly tell us that removing the ban will cause untold chaos. The problem comes when those military leaders begin to change their minds, as John McCain is finding out. His previous position was that "the day that the leadership of the military comes to me and says, 'Senator, we ought to change the policy,' then I think we ought to consider seriously changing it." Oh, well. Now that the military leadership has done just that, McCain decided that he has to support the ban because Colin Powell does.

Rush Limbaugh Makes Me Sad.

Paul WaldmanFeb 03, 2010

Rush Limbaugh is happy that Obama is having political troubles, which is as it should be. But this remark is kind of odd:

"This is the first time in his life there is not a professor who can turn his C into an A, or to write the law review article for him he can't write. He is totally exposed. There is nobody to make it better," Limbaugh said.

The Dumbest Paragraph You'll Read on Don't Ask, Don't Tell.

Paul WaldmanFeb 02, 2010

You'll be shocked to learn it comes from Bill Kristol. Outraged that President Obama would offer a moral justification for removing the ban on gay Americans serving in the military, Kristol writes this:

Obama the Ideologue?

Paul WaldmanFeb 02, 2010

One of the most interesting moments of President Obama's tete-a-tete with House Republicans on Friday was when he said, "I'm not an ideologue." He was greeted with laughter, which led him to reply, somewhat incredulously, "I'm not." I'm personally sure that what was going through his head when he heard the snickers was, "Are you frackin' kidding me?" -- yes, he's a sci-fi geek -- "How many compromises do I have to make before you people stop thinking I'm a socialist?"

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