Ari Melber

Ari Melber is The Nation's Net movement correspondent and a writer for the magazine's blog. (www.arimelber.com amelber at hotmail.com)

Melber is also a monthly columnist for Politico and a contributing editor at the Personal Democracy Forum, a nonpartisan website covering technology's impact on democracy. During the 2008 general election, he traveled with the Obama Campaign on special assignment for The Washington Independent. He previously served as a Legislative Aide in the US Senate and as a national staff member of the 2004 John Kerry Presidential Campaign.

As a commentator on public affairs, Melber frequently speaks on national television and radio, including NBC, CNBC, CNN, CNN Headline News, C-SPAN, MSNBC, Bloomberg News, FOX News, FOX Business, NPR and Air America, on programs including The Today Show, American Morning, Washington Journal, Power Lunch, The Live Desk, MSNBC Reports with David Shuster, The Ron Reagan Show and The Rachel Maddow Show, among others.

Melber has been a featured speaker in forums sponsored by the Yale Political Science Department; Harvard Law School, Kennedy School of Government at Harvard; The Park Center for Independent Media at Ithaca College, TimeWarner Summit; Campaign for America's Future; Young Democrats of America; Cornell University Democrats; Columbia University Democrats; Democracy for America; New York's Blogging Liberally; Personal Democracy Forum, Netroots Nation and the YearlyKos netroots conventions. He also served on the Advisory Committee to the 2007 YearlyKos Leadership Forum for seven presidential candidate. Melber's writing has been widely cited by publications across the spectrum, such as the New York Times Magazine, The Week, The Washington Times, Slate, ABCNews.com, MSNBC.com, WashingtonPost.com, NYTimes.com, Economist.com, Wired.com, Wall Street Journal Online, National Review Online, American Conservative Online, Atlantic Monthly Online, American Spectator Online and Reason.com. He is a contributor to MoveOn's 50 Ways to Love Your Country, a bestselling book about political activism (Inner Ocean Publishing, 2004), and his writing has also appeared in The Baltimore Sun, Philadelphia Daily News, New York Daily News, New York Post, Seattle Post-Intelligencer, The Forward, Huffington Post, CBSNews.com and The Stranger, among others. He was born and raised in Seattle, Washington, and received a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor.

Feedback and speaking requests may be sent to amelber at hotmail.com.

Currently

  • Obama for America 2.0?

    December 23, 2008

    Barack Obama has mobilized the most connected national constituency in history. But can he use it to govern?

  • YouTubing the Election

    November 4, 2008

    In America's first Web-driven election, campaign videos made by ordinary people--not campaigns or the news media--grabbed most of the attention

  • Web Puts Dog-Whistle Politics on a Leash

    October 30, 2008

    Self-appointed Internet cops are forcing accountability for the dirtiest tricks in politics.

  • Obama's iSuccess

    October 8, 2008

    The Obama campaign's below-the-radar use of the web to register new voters could change the game for Democrats and Republicans.

  • Net Backlash Hinders Bailout

    October 2, 2008

    With a surge of angry e-mail that sent Congressional servers into meltdown, taxpayers stormed their way into the bailout debate.

  • Web War

    August 27, 2008

    Citing security concerns, the Pentagon frowns on soldiers blogging about Iraq.

  • Netroots Nation Diggs Pelosi, Tubes Obama

    July 21, 2008

    Every major Democratic player came to Texas to engage with online activists who have been key to their success. So why do netroots continue to be cast as angry and estranged?

  • Online Activists Keep the Pressure on Obama

    July 7, 2008

    If Obama is lucky, he will continue to benefit from these energized, sophisticated activists who support his candidacy while they press his hand.

  • Network News in Denial

    April 25, 2008

    Why are the networks stonewalling revelations that their military analysts were actually selling the Pentagon's Iraq War spin?

  • Seeking Superdelegates

    April 17, 2008

    Online activists are shining much-needed light on superdelegates, revealing who they are and how they'll vote--and asking why we need them.

  • YouTube for Smart People

    March 31, 2008

    Big Think seeks to smarten up the Internet by getting up close and intellectual with the most creative thinkers alive.

  • When Newspapers Take a Stand

    February 25, 2008

    The New York Times editorial page endorses McCain, while its news department works to discredit him. And there's nothing wrong with that.

  • Will the Senate OK More Bush Spying?

    February 5, 2008

    Democratic leaders are poised to validate Bush's illegal surveillance, giving up even more ground than their Republican colleagues did. Why?

  • MoveOn Weighs Dem Endorsements

    January 30, 2008

    The netroots powerhouse is surveying its members on whom to support. It's a test of the candidates and of the progressive movement.

  • Obama's Wide Net

    January 10, 2008

    His web-driven, self-starting activism could be the key to getting his message out--and bringing young voters to the polls on Super Tuesday.

  • A Conversation with Joe Trippi

    January 8, 2008

    John Edwards's political consultant talks about web-driven organizing, why Hillary Clinton may be the next Howard Dean and how bloggers and mainstream media are covering the campaign.

  • Obama, Race and the Presidency

    January 3, 2008

    Barack Obama's historic victory in Iowa comes at a crucial time for a nation still grappling with how remedies to offset racism affect America's power structure.

2007

  • About Facebook

    December 20, 2007

    As the old concept of privacy fades and a new one arises online, what is being lost?

  • Clinton Under Fire for Planting Fake Questions

    November 10, 2007

    Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign came under fire over the weekend for planting fake questions at town hall events--and the netroots are on to her.

  • Dodd Refuses to Cave on Domestic Spying

    October 22, 2007

    As his fellow Democrats rush to pass the President's intelligence bill, Christopher Dodd stands his ground.

  • Bush's 9/11 Tradeoff

    September 10, 2007

    The Administration has come to regard the law as a barrier to security and a literal weapon of our enemies, and sees crime as a legitimate tool to fight terror.

  • At YearlyKos, Netroots Come of Age

    August 6, 2007

    Hillary filibustered them, Obama wooed them, Edwards took them seriously. Now that the Democratic establishment is paying heed, can the netroots remain true to their egalitarian roots?

  • YearlyKos Sticks With the Issues

    July 18, 2007

    A netroots political convention in Chicago aims to transcend the horse race and let the people, not the media, frame the questions put to candidates.

  • The Virtual Primary

    July 12, 2007

    MoveOn.org's issue-driven primary may not end up naming a winner, but it's shaping up to be more substantive, thoughtful and participatory than the actual presidential primary.

  • OpenLeft Aims to Open Doors in DC

    July 9, 2007

    Matt Stoller, Chris Bowers and Mike Lux have launched a new website designed link progressive outsiders with DC insiders.

  • Dems Tangled in Netroots

    May 2, 2007

    Working For Us, a new coalition of unions and Internet activists, seeks to reform the Democratic Party from the ground up.

  • The Millionaires' Primary

    March 12, 2007

    As America embarks on the longest, most costly presidential race in history, Russ Feingold is asking Congress to apply the brakes.

  • Bloggers on the Trail

    February 22, 2007

    John Edwards's netroots flap only proves that Democrats should tap into bloggers' energy and learn to manage their passions.

  • Draft Obama! Why Bother?

    January 22, 2007

    Ambitious politicians don't need a draft to run for higher office, but as "draft" sites become a campaign essential, genuine netroots activists will pay the price.

  • Blink Tanks Fight to Restore Habeas Corpus

    January 16, 2007

    Progressive "blink tanks" are pressuring Congressional Democrats to work to restore civil liberties lost by passage of Bush's Military Commissions Act.

2006

  • The Irrelevance of Joe Lieberman

    December 21, 2006

    The fall and rise of Joe Lieberman was one of the major political events of 2006. But in 2007, Beltway and netroots pundits agree, he will be as irrelevant as George W. Bush.

  • Netroots Challenge Dems' Electoral Strategy

    October 18, 2006

    Democratic House candidates who once were long shots now have a crack at winning. Will party power-brokers lend them a hand?

  • Ned Lamont's Digital Constituency

    August 9, 2006

    Liberal bloggers were just one aspect of a sophisticated netroots strategy that led Ned Lamont to victory. Lamont must now leverage his digital constituency to force Joe Lieberman to drop his independent bid and win the support of a broad spectrum of voters.

  • Lieberman Digs In

    August 8, 2006

    In New Haven, Joe Lieberman dismissed questions about a possible independent run if he is defeated in today's primary by antiwar candidate Ned Lamont and declared if re-elected to the Senate, he would not change his ways.

  • Web, Lieberman and the Netroots

    July 25, 2006

    As progressive bloggers seek the ouster of Joe Lieberman, they have recruited "Reagan Democrat" Jim Webb to challenge George Allen in Virginia. What does this say about netroots Democrats' emerging electoral strategy--if there is one?

  • Politicos Court Netroots at YearlyKos

    June 13, 2006

    The growing potential for netroots activists to define issues, mobilize voters and raise significant amounts of money drew politicians to the national gathering, eager to leverage their advantage with netroots.

  • MySpace, MyPolitics

    May 30, 2006

    The massive immigrant rights protests drew participants via technology-driven organizing, from text messaging to social networks like MySpace. Is this the shape of political campaigns to come?

  • Bloggers at the Gate

    February 24, 2006

    Jerome Armstrong and Markos Moulitsas Zúniga, a k a MyDD and Daily Kos, propose to revive the Democratic Party with a technology-driven "bloodless coup."

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

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Blogs

» Editor's Cut

Obama Must Get Afghanistan Right | While Obama has a chance to reengage with a world repulsed by the destructive polices of Bush, it is likely that an escalation in Afghanistan will endanger that possibility.
Katrina vanden Heuvel
Posted at 10:53 ET

» State of Change

Country First Becomes Party First | John McCain wants to emulate Howard Dean but don't expect the same results.
Ari Berman
Posted at 10:15 ET

» Capitolism

ET Come Home | Tom Friedman testifies on Capitol Hill on green technology
Christopher Hayes
Posted at 9:27 ET

» The Beat

Feingold's Outline for a Constitutional Presidency | In a letter to Obama, Constitution subcommittee chair seeks a commitment to end executive excess.
John Nichols

» The Dreyfuss Report

Panetta? Ummmmm... Well..... | Could Obama have made a weirder choice for CIA director? Here's why Panetta is doomed.
Robert Dreyfuss

» Act Now!

Allow Media into Gaza | Israel is encouraging abuses by preventing foreign journalists from entering the Gaza Strip.
Peter Rothberg

» The Notion

Hard Times Without Studs | One of Terkel’s former book editors considers a Studs-less world.
Tom Engelhardt

» And Another Thing

Bill Ayers Whitewashes History, Again | The Weathermen were not just a bunch of idealistic young people.
Katha Pollitt