A super PAC for the poor: How to actually get something done about economic suffering

(Salon, 5/20/14)

A vocal pope and bestselling book are nice. But to really get results on poverty? Make lawmakers fear for their job (MORE)

Cuomo gets a critic his own size

(Capital New York, 4/14/14)

The man who’s picked fights with—and systematically disemboweled—every New York politician who’s stood in his way (or who he’s feared might stand in his way at some point) is up against a very different kind of obstacle this time (MORE)

Cuomo’s ethics carve-out

(Capital New York, 3/31/14)

Ethics reform is the kind of political issue Andrew Cuomo loves. But it comes with a less appealing downside: the possibility that, like other Albany politicians, he, too, might be subject to increased demands or inconveniences that such measures could bring (MORE)

The Working Families Party's Cuomo dilemma

(Capital New York, 3/24/14)

Among the questions spurred by Andrew Cuomo’s newfound devotion to charter schools is one with real implications for the governor’s re-election: How much more can the WFP take before ditching him and running someone else on its line this year? (MORE)

How de Blasio can fix his press problem

(Capital New York, 3/3/14)

I'm out of the business of political communications now, after a decade working for candidates and officials on the local, state and presidential level. But if I were advising de Blasio, here's what I'd tell him (MORE)

Chris Christie's smoking-gun strategy

(Capital New York, 2/3/14)

Chris Christie's strategy for enduring the bridge scandal is as transparent as it is simple: No matter what comes out, keep changing the standard for unforgivable behavior so that new revelations always fall short. (MORE)

DC celebrates itself for letting poor people go hungry

(Salon, 1/31/14)

Turns out there's something both sides in DC can agree on. The problem is it's depriving the needy of food. (MORE)