Taegan Goddard
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

''Political Wire'' is an American political blog. It was founded in 1999 and published by Taegan () Goddard, a former policy adviser to Democratic U.S. Senator
Donald Riegle Donald Wayne Riegle Jr. ( ; born February 4, 1938) is an American politician, author, and businessman from Michigan. He served for five terms as a Representative and for three terms as a Senator in the U.S. Congress. Early life and family Donal ...
and Independent Governor
Lowell Weicker Lowell Palmer Weicker Jr. (; May 16, 1931 – June 28, 2023) was an American politician who served as a U.S. Representative, U.S. Senator, and the 85th Governor of Connecticut. Weicker unsuccessfully sought the Republican nomination for presi ...
, and the co-author of the 1998 political management book ''You Won: Now What? How Americans Can Make Democracy Work from City Hall to the White House'' with political commentator Chris Riback.


History

As the son of a lawyer, teacher and writer, Goddard grew up in a household that regularly discussed politics and the role of journalists in communicating the behind the scenes workings of the government. He further cultivated that interest at
Vassar College Vassar College ( ) is a private liberal arts college in Poughkeepsie, New York, United States. Founded in 1861 by Matthew Vassar, it was the second degree-granting institution of higher education for women in the United States. The college be ...
and the
Harvard Kennedy School The John F. Kennedy School of Government, commonly referred to as Harvard Kennedy School (HKS), is the school of public policy of Harvard University, a private university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Harvard Kennedy School offers master's de ...
. He was inspired to create Political Wire by a print Wall Street Journal column called Washington Wire. In an interview with ''
PR Week ''PRWeek'' is a trade magazine and news website for the public relations and wider communications industry. It is published by Haymarket Media Group. History ''PRWeek'' was originally launched as a private venture in 1984 and was acquired ...
'', called ''Making it in the Political Blogosphere'' Goddard explained why he created the site: "I do it for the same people who, going back a dozen years, always wanted that political page. So, in a practical sense, it’s for people who’re very similar to me, who like politics to the same degree that I do and also enjoy it almost as a game. While some people might read the sports page first every day, there’s a whole group of people who read Political Wire first every day, because that’s something that gets them going in the morning. Those people, I find, are professionally employed in politics or public affairs. They work either in political offices or on campaigns, or are elected and appointed officials themselves. In many cases they’re journalists who cover politics and, obviously, there are also the political junkies out there who just find it interesting." Blog topics are typically drawn from a curated list of writers rather than websites although left and right sources including the Democratic forum
Daily Kos Daily Kos ( ) is a group blog and internet forum focused on the U.S. Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party and Modern liberalism in the United States, liberal American politics. The site publishes blog posts, polls, election and cam ...
and the conservative blog
Hot Air ''Hot Air'' is a conservatism in the United States, conservative American political blog. It is written by Ed Morrissey, John Sexton, and David Strom. Karen Townsend and Jazz Shaw wrote for the blog until their deaths in 2024. The pseudonymous ...
provide additional perspectives.


Readership

''Political Wire'' is officially non-partisan. Goddard described his website as "a place where you want to start your day and then return various times a day to find out what's going on in the world of politics... the people who read ''Political Wire'' tend to be the political insiders and political junkies, the lawmakers and their staffs, journalists, and people who make a living in the world of public affairs." It is a subscription service with a nominal fee for membership. By 2016, it was attracting upwards of ten million readers per month. Goddard told Fishbowl DC that people sometimes get confused by his politics because he's fiercely independent in his views and "not a joiner by nature."


In the media

In 2006, Goddard formed a content partnership with ''
Congressional Quarterly ''Congressional Quarterly'', or ''CQ'', is an American publication that is part of the privately owned publishing company CQ Roll Call, which covers the United States Congress. ''CQ'' was formerly acquired by the U.K.-based Economist Group and ...
''. The partnership was expanded in early 2009 so that ''CQ'' sold all advertising on ''Political Wire''. The agreement expired in 2013 and the site is still owned and published by Goddard. During the 2008 presidential election, ''
PC Magazine ''PC Magazine'' (shortened as ''PCMag'') is an American computer magazine published by Ziff Davis. A print edition was published from 1982 to January 2009. Publication of online editions started in late 1994 and continues . Overview ''PC Mag ...
'' named ''Political Wire'' one of the 20 best political web sites of 2008. In 2012, ''
Time Time is the continuous progression of existence that occurs in an apparently irreversible process, irreversible succession from the past, through the present, and into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequ ...
'' named @politicalwire as one of the top Twitter 140 Twitter feeds. Political Wire's Twitter site has also received acclaim outside the country and was named one of the "Top 50 US Politics Twitter Accounts to Follow." The site has also been praised by political analysts such as
Chuck Todd Charles David Todd (born April 8, 1972) is an American television journalist who was the 12th moderator of NBC's ''Meet the Press''. During his time at NBC News between 2007 and 2025, Todd also hosted ''Meet the Press Now'', its daily edition ...
,
Stuart Rothenberg Stuart Rothenberg (born 1948) is an American editor, publisher, and political analyst. He is best known for his biweekly political newsletter ''The Rothenberg Political Report'', now known as ''Inside Elections''. He was also a regular columni ...
,
Charlie Cook Charles Edward Cook Jr. (born November 20, 1953) is an American political analyst. Specializing in election forecasts and political trends, Cook writes election forecasts and rankings in the publication he founded, '' The Cook Political Report ...
and
Larry Sabato Larry Joseph Sabato (; born August 7, 1952) is an American political scientist and political analyst. He is the Robert Kent Gooch Professor of Politics at the University of Virginia, where he is also the founder and director of the Center for ...
. Goddard has appeared as a guest to discuss political headlines on
The Daily Beast ''The Daily Beast'' is an American news website focused on politics, media, and pop culture. Founded in 2008, the website is owned by IAC Inc. It has been characterized as a "high-end tabloid" by Noah Shachtman, the site's editor-in-chief ...
and MSNBC. He has been a panelist for numerous political roundtables.


Related sites

Goddard also created ''Taegan Goddard's Wonk Wire'', a site focused on the latest public policy news, ''Taegan Goddard's Political Dictionary'', which explores the language of politics, as well as ''Taegan Goddard's Political Job Hunt'', which helps people interested in working in politics and public affairs. On January 13, 2013, Goddard agreed to maintain a daily blog for
The Week ''The Week'' is a weekly news magazine with editions in the United Kingdom and United States. The British publication was founded in 1995 and the American edition in 2001. An Australian edition was published from 2008 to 2012. A children's edi ...
, titled ''The Cloakroom.'' One of Goddard's newest projects has been a new portal for examining possible future Presidential election outcomes called Electoral Vote Map.


References

{{Reflist


External links


Political WirePolitical DictionaryPolitical Job HuntWonk Wire
American political blogs American political websites Internet properties established in 1999