Political -- and Batman -- junkies probably already know about Sen. Patrick Leahy's little infatuation with Bruce Wayne's alter ego, Batman. He loves the character, and all those colorful evil incarnates, like the Riddler, the Penguin and the Joker. Leahy has even talked his way into cameo roles in Batman movies, and in "The Dark Knight," which opens July 18, Leahy gets himself roughed up by the Joker's goons. Bam! Pow! Ooof!
So strong is the Democratic Vermont senator's infatuation that he wrote the introduction for a 1992 book collecting some of the Batman comics, "The Dark Knight Archive," and has done voice-overs for childrens' Batman cartoons. And on July 12, Leahy will play host to a special premiere of "The Dark Knight" in that hot spot of Hollywood's elite, Montpelier, Vt. The proceeds will go to a local library that has named a wing after him. Leahy, that is, not Batman.
So as we head into the long Fourth of July weekend (that phrase is a journalism cue that it's a slow news day, at least at the moment), we wonder what other politicians might harbor secret infatuations with fictional crusaders, caped and otherwise? Or even better, what superhero might actually dwell beneath those dark (pant)suits?
Maybe John McCain in his, shall we say, crankier moments, as The Hulk? Barack Obama channeling The Flash? Hillary Clinton as Wonder Woman -- the first major female superhero? John Edwards as Batman's sidekick, Robin?
And they don't have to be the heroes. Go ahead and link politicians up with your favorite bad guys, too.
On this, the first anniversary of our Top of the Ticket blog, we are reminded of the mercurial, unpredictable nature of U.S. politics -- part of what makes what we do so fascinating.
Our goal -- one of us on the East Coast and the other on the far more important or at least less humid West Coast -- was to write about Campaign '08 virtually around the clock.
Our second-ever posting, 12 months ago today, previewed an upcoming L.A. Times/Bloomberg Poll; later in the day, we detailed the results of the nationwide survey. The findings were in line with other polls of the time.
In the Republican presidential race, which then seemed the most likely to last deep into the primary season, Rudy Giuliani was perched in first place. His lead wasn't overwhelming, but it was strong enough that he appeared certain to remain a major contender.
His liberal record on social issues loomed as an obvious liability within his party, but his tough-on-terrorism message was attracting substantial support from moderates and GOP-leaning independents.
His major headache among rivals last June was an as-yet-undeclared candidate who was riding a wave as the great conservative hope -- Fred Thompson. He ran a strong second in the poll.
Lagging far behind were John McCain and Mitt Romney, each barely with double-digit support. In our preview posting, we were especially scornful of McCain, noting sarcastically (and foolishly, as it turned out) that in the poll, he found himself "in heated competition with the 'Don't Know' category."
Meriting no mention from us was Mike Huckabee, one of several back-of-the-pack candidates barely earning any support across the country.
The Democratic race, at that point, seemed so much more cut-and-dried.
Given that we live out here within smelling distance of the smoke from Universal Studios, we open this with the caveat that agents are always talking with someone about movie rights. That's what they do. Usually over lunch. A long lunch.
Still, given the reception for HBO's recent "Recount," about the Florida leg of the 2000 election, and the other projects already in the works on the Bush years (and there's still seven months to go), why not a film version of Scott McClellan's "What Happened" memoir of the George Bush White House?
Politico suggests Jonah Hill to play McClellan, which gets our speculation gene fired up. Who to play Bush? Who to play Dick Cheney?
That's why we have a comments section -- to let you answer such burning questions (hey, this is politics; it can't all be strategy and policy-wonk talk). Who would you cast?
This could be the ultimate merger of politics, the Web and entertainment. The Republican National Convention and John McCain's campaign have teamed up to solicit user videos of "someone in your neighborhood who goes above and beyond the call of duty to serve what Sen. McCain calls, 'a cause greater than their own self-interest.'" Then viewers get to vote on the best submission. The winner gets a pass to the convention in St. Paul, Minn.
Of course, the devil is in the details. When you look at the FAQs, the convention staff winnows down the submissions to five finalists, and then they'll open it up to a vote. Kind of like a private primary by the insiders to winnow down the list of acceptable candidates (now, that's democracy). So you can probably write off any chance of a talking snowman making the cut.
Still, the Republicans have generally lagged behind the Democrats in Web innovation. This might catch them up a bit. Meanwhile, we'll be watching for the Paulista backlash. Ron Paul's supporters have proven themselves to be adept at both the Web, and videos. And since they're still fighting for a bigger place at the St. Paul table, you can bet they'll be submitting.
And you can also bet that if they don't make the "final five," they'll be flaming (read any comments section on a blog post about Paul).
In an obvious attempt to be ignored for a while, Tom Hanks with no fanfare, news release or hoopla, late tonight put up a video on his MySpace page endorsing Illinois Sen. Barack Obama for president.
Had it come on, say, a Monday morning, the endorsement by the popular and widely-respected Hanks would have caused seismic shifts on those rock shelves that underlie Hollywood and promise to slide the place into the ocean someday.
Thanks to The Times' dauntless Tina Daunt, The Ticket, however, is right on top of this major international political story. "BEWARE," says the headline on Hanks' video, "Celebrity Endorsement."
"I'm Tom Hanks," Tom Hanks says directly into the camera in what looks like someone's den, "And I want Barack Obama to be the next president of our country. As an official celebrity, I know my endorsement has just made your mind up for you."
He continues in a straightfaced, tongue-in-cheek manner to seriously endorse the freshman senator. Hanks acknowledges all the candidates -- and some of their relatives, associates and supporters -- have made gaffes in recent weeks.
But he says he reads history sometimes and cites the groundbreaking peaceful turnover of power in 1797 from George Washington to John Adams as a major turning point in history. And says the same sort of corner can be turned by the election of the country's first African American president, a member of a race once officially considered only three-fifths of a person here.
He especially praises Obama's character and vision, integrity and ability to unify the country. Hanks' endorsement is a breath of good news for Obama after a few difficult weeks involving the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, who Obama says is wrong.
Things have been relatively quiet on the Hollywood endorsement scene of late, since it's a given that most prominent celebrities there will be endorsing Sen. John McCain of Arizona. Just kidding. McCain's got Sylvester Stallone and that's it.
Hillary Clinton lined up Jack Nicholson too. And Obama has also been endorsed by Jane Fonda but that hasn't shown up on many billboards yet.
"I'm Tom Hanks," the actor/director/producer says at the end of his video, "I wrote and approved this message, and I am now going to turn off the camera." He gets up, walks around out of sight and the camera goes off.
This being L.A., a suburb of Hollywood, we thought it worth nothing that Spike Lee has some opinions of the Clintons, which he'll be discussing tonight on Bloomberg TV's "Night Talk" at 10 p.m. Eastern (and yes, we know Lee is a New Yorker, but still, it's the movies).
Lee, a former Bill Clinton supporter, has slapped the Clintons around before, but the release pushing tonight's interview sounds like it might be worth checking even if just for giggles' sake (also on podcast for you tech-savvy folks).
During the interview Spike talks about why he no longer supports Sen. Clinton in the Presidential campaign, "if you know anything about the Clintons and what they've done in politics, they are gonna knock out some kneecaps." He said Bill Clinton has been "playing his whole thing like he is the great white father." "I think that they thought this thing was going to be over Super Tuesday, and Obama's a nice young guy, but they didn’t see him as a threat, but when things started to play out the way they did, then they saw their whole thing was in jeopardy, and that’s when he isn’t just the nice young little guy anymore ... he's our blood enemy -- and then that's when you start to see the things come out the side of President Clinton's neck, comments he meant in South Carolina."
Well, that should add to the calm and dignified political discourse of the campaign, no?
It just goes to show how ridiculous this U.S. presidential selection process has become when simply because the world's sole superpower -- for a while longer anyway -- is choosing a new leader, something as globally important as the announcement of the next Academy Awards nominees must be postponed.
It isn't enough that the country must endure about 24 months of political blather and rhetorical positioning to choose the next leader of the free world from among a trio of surviving senators, of all things.
It's insufficient that this election process will likely cost on the order of $2 billion, which could finance four, maybe five, solid Hollywood blockbusters about more interesting things with much higher entertainment value, not to mention special effects.
But now the world must wait an extra 48 hours -- 48! -- to learn who's been nominated to receive an Oscar. The outrage. Just because the new president must take something called an oath and give a high-falutin' speech and then pretend to watch every high school marching band in the entire country parade by in the traditional freezing drizzle.
The Academy was prepared to announce its 2009 Oscar nominees on Jan. 20 as usual. But, oh no, there's a presidential and vice-presidential swearing in to swear to. So now we must all wait until Jan. 22 to learn who might get the famous statuettes at the 81st Academy Awards. And this'll only be, what, the 44th president?
And the pressures this cramped schedule adds to the people that produce the Feb. 22 show that always goes on way too long but they have to get all those shampoo ads in.
The wife of the late President Reagan, Nancy, has just issued an unusual public statement of sorrow at the death over the weekend of Moses, er, Ben-Hur, er, Charlton Heston.
Her statement and a little Googling remind us of how similar were these men, who were also good friends. Both were famous actors. Both were president of the Screen Actors Guild. Both entered politics later in life, both on the conservative side of the spectrum.
And, with their wives at their bedsides, both died in the horrible fog of Alzheimer's disease -- Heston on Saturday night at age 84 and the 40th president on June 5, 2004. Has it been that long ago already?
"I was heartbroken to hear of the death of Charlton Heston. He was one of Ronnie's and my dearest friends.
"He shared a love of radio and acting and politics with Ronnie, and I know they had many discussions about each of their terms as president of the Screen Actors Guild. I will never forget Chuck as a hero on the big screen in the roles be played, but more importantly I considered him a hero in life for the many times that he stepped up to support Ronnie in whatever he was doing.
"We were honored to know Chuck as a friend, and my prayers go out to Lydia, Fraser and Holly Ann at this very difficult time."
OK, here's what's going to happen in the messy Democratic presidential race: Neither one of your favorites is going to win. They're gonna tear each other apart to no successful end.
It'll stay stalled into the convention in late August, while John McCain and Condi Rice raise money and get the Republicans united and organized.
In Denver, the Democratic superdelegates, like the unelected elites they are, will gather in great worry, maybe after an inconclusive first round of general balloting.
And these big names will pick not the best candidate nor the one with the most delegates or, actually, any delegates or any popular votes.
To solve this self-destructive stalemate, they'll pick someone who denies even being a candidate, the least-worst candidate, somebody hardly anyone can really object to, except the Clintons.
They'll pick one of their own superdelegates, Al Gore, Mr. Party Elder, Mr. Nobel Prize, Mr. I-Got-Screwed-Out-of-Victory-Last-Time and Mr. Trust-Me-the-Globe-Really-Is-Round-and-Warming and I'm finally gonna get a chance to do something about it from the White House. The Draft Gore folks will be ecstatic and the Democratic blogosphere is already excited.
To keep the Obama zealots in the tent, Gore in turn will pick Barack Obama as his vice presidential running mate with the silent understanding that Big Al will ....
Pictures have been used for political purposes since the 1800s and the advent of political cartoons. And now, as our blogging colleague David Sarno notes in a fascinating post over at Web Scout, we have the power of videos, namely viral videos that get handed around and played over and over, even as you read this.
According to Sarno, Barack Obama's folks have figured out how to get theirs more noticed and discussed than other candidates. As he points out, Obama has the most Facebook fans, he's No. 1 on Twitterer and this week has seven of the most discussed videos on YouTube. Although how helpful it is to have your "spiritual counselor" ranting over and over and over again about "God Damn America" is questionable.
And Sarno makes some instructive and cautionary points for consumers about how these images can be adroitly mashed and manipulated.
Shockingly overlooked by the Oscars for his role in last year's "Black Snake Moan" -- he reportedly spent hours learning to play blues guitar, which ought to count for something -- Samuel L. Jackson still could have been a presenter at Sunday night's awards show. But he passed that up, too.
In the process, though, he might have sealed an invite to an inaugural ball.
On location in Louisiana for the film "Soul Men," he crossed the state line Sunday ...
In case you haven't caught up with some of the big news out here in Los Angeles, there's a Writers Guild of America strike underway against entertainment producers. And of course, where there's a strike, there's politics. Our colleagues at Show Tracker have posted statements by Barack Obama and John Edwards, and here is Hillary Clinton's statement:
"I support the Writers Guild’s pursuit of a fair contract that pays them for their work in all mediums. I hope the producers and writers will return to the bargaining table to work out an equitable contract that keeps our entertainment industry strong and recognizes the contributions writers make to the success of the industry."
All three side with Hollywood's version of the little guys against the big guys, which is kind of intriguing because, as our colleague Dan Morain reported a couple of weeks ago, the big Hollywood money has gone primarily to Clinton and Obama -- about $5 million of the $6 million donated by the entertainment industry through Sept. 30.
You have to wonder if that plot twist is in one of the scripts the producers stockpiled before the walkout -- maybe then they'd have seen it coming
The quip fell flat anyway. But if Barack Obama and his brain trust had thoroughly thought through the subliminal message sent by the jest with which he opened Tuesday night's debate among the Democratic presidential candidates, we think they might have junked it.
Given that Obama had telegraphed that he planned to sharpen his criticism of Hillary Clinton, the entire political universe knew the debate would start with an invitation for him to take his best shot. Obama, however, decided to lower the temperature of the anticipated face-off. And, in light of the debate's Philadelphia setting, he sought to do that by referencing the film famously linked to the city.
"Well, first of all, I think some of this stuff gets overhyped," Obama said. "In fact, I think this has been the most hyped fight since Rocky fought Apollo Creed, although the amazing thing is I'm Rocky in this situation" (i.e. -- isn't it odd that I'm playing the white guy?).
He got a smattering of laughs. But here's what struck us -- Rocky lost his first fight with Apollo Creed. Indeed, as they clinched in the climatic scene, Creed growled in Rocky's ear, "Ain't gonna be no rematch." And the gallant, albeit defeated, challenger replied, "Don't want one."
Maybe Obama had in mind "Rocky II," in which Sylvester Stallone's character triumphs over Creed. Still, why confuse us (easy as it is to do)?
Rudy Giuliani has had a simple game plan in pursuing the presidency -- offer himself as the candidate who best understands the threat posed by Islamic terrorists and is the most qualified to protect the country from them.
Sunday in New Hampshire, he went that one better -- pledging to guard against an attack from outer space.
As related by the Associated Press, Giuliani was at a town hall meeting in Exeter when a boy asked him: "If (there's) something living on another planet and it's bad and it comes over here, what would you do?"
Giuliani, noting that it was the first time he had responded to such a concern, said: "Of all the things that can happen in this world, we'll be prepared for that, yes we will. We'll be prepared for anything that happens."
For our part, we'd rest easier if he could assure us that no one in Hollywood ever again will sign off on a script resembling 1996's "Mars Attacks."
Former President Bill Clinton has been critical of Fox News, but he’s an unabashed fan of Fox’s entertainment offerings.
In yet another appearance today--of his how many dozen recent media appearances has it been ostensibly to promote his new book and global initiative to save the world?--on network rival NBC’s "Meet the Press" Sunday, Clinton spoke at length about the Fox drama series "24."
In the series secret agent Jack Bauer (Kiefer Sutherland, now in some different kind of trouble) of the terror fighting agency CTU routinely extracts information by torture in hopes of defusing bombs that are always set to go off somewhere in America.
Last year, Clinton told "Meet the Press" host Tim Russert that he would authorize torture in a "24"-style situation, where terrorists were captured with a bomb ticking somewhere around the country. Those comments got new life last week when Hillary Clinton publicly disagreed with her husband on the issue; she argued that American policy should not permit torture.
Asked about the subject again by Russert on Sunday, Clinton backed off his previous endorsement of torture--but not his affection for the Bauer character. "It happens every season with Jack Bauer, but ... in the real world it doesn't happen very much," Clinton said. "If you have a policy which legitimizes this, it's a slippery slope and you get in the kind of trouble we've been in here with Abu Ghraib, with Guantanamo, with lots of other examples."
Clinton said he didn’t know what he would do if confronted with the proverbial ticking bomb and terrorist in hand, but suggested -- currying no favor with the intelligence community -- that agents could torture but be prepared to face the consequences for violating the law or Geneva Conventions.
"I think what our policy ought to be is to be uncompromisingly opposed to terror--I mean to torture, and that if you're the Jack Bauer person, you'll do whatever you do and you should be prepared to take the consequences," he said. "And I think the consequences will be imposed based on what turns out to be the truth."
Clinton seemed willing to defer to the torturing Bauers of the world. “If you look at the show, every time they get the president to approve something, the president gets in trouble, the country gets in trouble. And when Bauer goes out there on his own and is prepared to live with the consequences, it always seems to work better."
So, memo to the folks at CTU: this president loves your show - but he doesn’t have your back.
We meant to write about this last evening, but got tied up in describing President Bush's speech as a strategic communications mistake. So, better late than never, here it is.
There is a fun story on this website for the last several hours now and in Friday's print editions. Don't miss it. It's by our colleague Joe Mathews and it's about a brother.
Now, usually brothers of famous people--especially famous politicians, it seems--show up in the news pages for bad news reasons. Think Richard Nixon's brother, Jimmy Carter's brother, Bill Clinton's brother, Hillary Clinton's brother, George W. Bush's brother.
But there's a new brother of a famous politician on the scene. His name is Ken Thompson. And just like his brother Fred, who's now running for the Republican nomination for president, Ken is an actor.
But while Fred, the lawyer, virtually fell into an acting job playing himself, Kenny Thompson did it the old-fashioned hard way by starring in high school and college plays and traveling in repertory companies and working his way up.
Now, the jovial, good-natured actor works in a Nashville dinner theatre where he waits tables pouring sweet tea between his stage appearances and he's laughing about the different lives the two brothers are leading. Check out the rest of Joe's feature story here.
Have you ever watched something on television, say a commercial, and thought to yourself, I could do better than that?
Well, here's your chance. The Mitt Romney campaign is running a contest to make your own 27-second and 57-second Romney ad. The only catch: It must be in favor of Romney.
According to the Boston Globe, the campaign is making available 44 video clips, 36 audio files and 372 photos for amateur ad-men and ad-women to use. Actually, professionals can submit entries too, but be warned: There is no prize, other than seeing your work broadcast.
"Your ad can have practically any theme you choose as long as you support the campaign creatively and responsibly," says a description on the campaign website.
The deadline for entries is Sept. 17. The winning ads, chosen by a popular online vote, will be broadcast the week of Sept. 20 as part of a planned grass-roots Romney Rally event and possibly at other times during the campaign.
Celebrities dueling over politicians. Or politicians dueling with politicians via celebrities.
Either way it's a fun story. And here we go. Do you remember all the hubub a few weeks ago when talk show diva and black billionaire Oprah Winfrey announced her support for fellow Chicagoan Barack Obama and agreed to throw an exclusive fundraiser for him at her Santa Barbara area home on Sept. 8?
Well, Hillary Clinton's campaign will announce any minute now that Magic Johnson will host a fundraiser for her at HIS house six days later on Sept. 14. Co-hosts of the celebrity event will be musician Quincy Jones, a longtime supporter of both Clintons, Berry Gordy, the founder of the Motown music empire, and Clarence Avant, another longtime music industry executive who is also African American.
"Senator Hillary Clinton understands the domestic and international issues better than anyone," Johnson will say in the release. "and has the experience and knowledge to help lead our country and get us to a better place. We need a winner as our next president."
Clinton responded, "I am honored to have such Magical and fabulous support."
Gordy, Avant and Jones have similar glowing things to say. The event will be held at the home of Magic and Cookie Johnson.
And the nice thing for Hollywood's hard-pressed celebrities, being pressured to pick sides in this ongoing Democratic fray, is that the events are on different nights. So they can pay $2,300 apiece twice and will be unable to use a scheduling conflict as an excuse.
Writing a political blog for one of America’s leading newspapers is a tremendous responsibility, requiring many hours of tedious, careful research about the campaigns of the men and woman who would lead this country for the next four years. We take our work extremely seriously.
Policy issues. Polls. Political strategies and tactics. Interest groups. Debates by MyTube or YourFace or whatever it’s called. Always trying to get behind the scenes of this historical democratic struggle for the White House for the benefit of readers who come here to learn what makes American politics tick.
Which is why as soon as we learned of the latest endorsement of Rudy Giuliani, we immediately jumped on this story with our typical thoroughness.
According to a news release from the Giuliani campaign, the former New York City mayor has just been endorsed by Bo Derek. THE Bo Derek. Members of a certain generation may possibly recall a movie called “10.” No married man will ever admit having seen the film or even having an opinion about it, but we’re told it allegedly starred Dudley Moore.
Inexplicably, in the film Moore becomes fascinated by some young, apparently rather attractive woman played by Derek. The film also must concern classical music because, we hear, the song “Bolero” is featured prominently in one horizontal scene.
Derek is a longtime Republican who campaigned in both presidential campaigns of both Bushes....
But it's how they made the announcement that will have folks talking, which is, after all, the point of such political stunts. For weeks they've been using the website to solicit song suggestions. But now, see, there's this video. Hillary is sitting at a diner table looking through the jukebox offerings waiting for someone. In walks Bill. He sits down. Hillary has ordered a plate of veggie munchies. "I'm looking out for ya."
Somewhere outside someone is trying, unsuccessfully, to parallel park.
A mean-looking guy sits at the counter, eyeing the couple. He gets up to go somewhere (the restroom?) He walks by the table scowling. Hillary looks up. That face looks familiar. Who is it?
Oh, my gosh, it's Johnny Sack. He's out of the big house?
Hillary puts some money in the jukebox. Which song will she pick? "You'll see," she says.
The ending has been written to a Hollywood cliffhanger: Mega-successful filmmaker Steven Spielberg, after an initial interest in Barack Obama, is officially in the Hillary Clinton camp.
In a statement released this morning by the Clinton campaign, Spielberg said that after familiarizing himself "with the impressive field of Democratic candidates," he had decided that the New York senator and former First Lady "is the most qualified candidate to lead us from her first day in the White House."
The Times' Tina Daunt, who pens the Calendar section's Cause Celebre column, saw this one coming. Last Friday, she wrote that it appeared "Hollywood's infatuation with Sen. Barack Obama was just a flirtation before it settles down with its longtime girlfriend," Clinton.
Daunt went on to note that Spielberg, "once considered a solid supporter of Illinois Democrat Obama, is now believed to be leaning in favor of Clinton." And Tina will be writing about this latest development for Thursday's print edition.
Endorsements are one of those rituals in the campaign process with a debatable impact. They don't hurt, and in some cases a celebrity's embrace may win a candidate a second look from some members of the public. But lots of politicians boasting impressive supporter lists have gone down to defeat. After all, when even the most ardent Indiana Jones fan is in a voting booth instead of a movie theater, how much will Spielberg's nod to Clinton mean?
Still, in this case, his announcement is a matter of Clinton holding serve. His endorsement may not be a huge plus, but losing Spielberg to Obama would have been a blow to both the Clintons. It would have sent a signal that their time — at least in the eye of one masterful image-maker and storyteller — was past.
— Don Frederick
Photo: Steven Spielberg; Credit: J. Scott Applewhite / AP
Our Bloggers
Don Frederick has served as an editor helping guide coverage of every presidential election since 1984. He is a third-generation Washingtonian, so watching the political world comes naturally to him.
A graduate of Northwestern University, he was a reporter for newspapers in Colorado, New Mexico and Texas before joining the (now-defunct) Los Angeles Herald Examiner in 1983. Hired by The Times in 1989, he has worked in its Washington bureau since 1996 — a perch providing him a close-up view of the impeachment of President Clinton, the government's response to 9/11 and the day-to-day wrangling of the two major parties.
Andrew Malcolm's immigrant parents repeatedly stressed the importance of active participation in a democracy. Early lessons included learning the alphabetical list of states by watching televised roll calls of national political conventions. That childhood exposure led to a lifelong fascination with politics, including 40-plus years of covering them and a brief stint practicing them as press secretary to Laura Bush in 1999-2000.
A veteran foreign and national correspondent, Malcolm served on the Times Editorial Board and was a Pulitzer finalist in 2004. He is the author of 10 nonfiction books and father of four.
like the Riddler, the Penguin and the Joker. Leahy has even talked his way into cameo roles in Batman movies, and in "The Dark Knight," which opens July 18, Leahy gets himself roughed up by the Joker's goons. Bam! Pow! Ooof!
But it's how they made the announcement that will have folks talking, which is, after all, the point of such political stunts. For weeks they've been using the website to solicit song suggestions. But now, see, there's 
In a statement released this morning by the Clinton campaign, Spielberg said that after familiarizing himself "with the impressive field of Democratic candidates," he had decided that the New York senator and former First Lady "is the most qualified candidate to lead us from her first day in the White House."
A graduate of Northwestern University, he was a reporter for newspapers in Colorado, New Mexico and Texas before joining the (now-defunct) Los Angeles Herald Examiner in 1983. Hired by The Times in 1989, he has worked in its Washington bureau since 1996 — a perch providing him a close-up view of the impeachment of President Clinton, the government's response to 9/11 and the day-to-day wrangling of the two major parties.
A veteran foreign and national correspondent, Malcolm served on the Times Editorial Board and was a Pulitzer finalist in 2004. He is the author of 10 nonfiction books and father of four.
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