BFIA: Tell us about your background.
Ari Berman: I grew up in Fairfield, Iowa and cover American politics for The Nation magazine. I am also the author of the new book, Herding Donkeys: The Fight to Rebuild the Democratic Party and Reshape American Politics. You can find out a lot more about me at my website, www.herdingdonkeys.com
BFIA: Have you participated in the Iowa caucus process, and how do you assess its value?
AB: I attended the Democratic caucuses as a participant in 2004 and as a reporter in 2008. It’s such a fascinating political event—it really feels like the oldest form of participatory democracy, where you vote and debate in the presence of friends and neighbors.
BFIA: Should Iowa retain the caucus process or move to a primary?
AB: I understand the criticisms of the caucus, but, at the same time, I think it’s part of what makes Iowa unique as a political state. So I think they should keep it.
BFIA: What is it like to work for The Nation?
AB: It’s a great place to work. I’ve been there since I graduated from college in 2004. In an age of ever-increasing media consolidation and editorial and financial pressures, independent voices like The Nation are critically important. It’s really nice to be at a place that still commits to doing long-form reporting and journalism and isn’t just all about who’s up or down on a given day. As my colleague Chris Hayes recently said, “We’re not chasing after clicks, we’re not running any celebrity pictures, we’re not trying to win the morning.” We’re given the time and resources to delve deeply into a subject matter, which I find refreshing in this day and age.
BFIA: How did you get started as a writer?
AB: I became interested in journalism in high school and decided to go to journalism school at Northwestern University. I did an internship my junior year at Editor & Publisher, which covers the newspaper industry, where I wrote a lot about media coverage of the war in Iraq. That led me to The Nation, where I initially wrote about media before transitioning to cover American politics.
BFIA: What led you to write Herding Donkeys? What is your hope for the book, besides selling lots of copies?
AB: After covering the 2006 and 2008 campaigns for The Nation, I was fascinated by the grassroots political movement that propelled Democrats back into the majority and defined Barack Obama’s presidential campaign. I wanted to trace the evolution of the movement from Howard Dean onwards and look at what would happen to it following Obama’s election. I view this story as a window into how politics and the country writ large changed in 21st century America. I had been really interested in Dean since his presidential campaign and after closely following his innovative and controversial chairmanship of the DNC and Obama’s campaign, I felt like I was well-placed to tell this story.
My hope is that people will view the book as a unique account of grassroots politics during an incredibly innovative and tumultuous period in contemporary American history, where the established order was challenged on both the left and the right. I’d also like it to be regarded as an interesting read that people who aren’t obsessed with politics can still enjoy.
BFIA: A number of people have written about the Obama campaign and there will probably be many more books written. In your view, what makes yours stand out from the crowd?
AB: My story is about the organizers and activists who played such a pivotal role in that campaign and this new political era, but who are so often pushed out of the frame. So that perspective, and the reporting I did all across the country—including in many unlikely red states—is what makes the book unique. It’s not another book just about Obama or his campaign’s inner circle or the fights inside the Beltway. It’s really a much broader history and narrative, and I hope one that’s particularly relevant today.
~Ari Berman is a contributing writer for The Nation magazine and an Investigative Journalism Fellow at The Nation Institute. He has written extensively about American politics, foreign policy and the intersection of money and politics. His stories have also appeared in the New York Times, Rolling Stone, Editor & Publisher and The Guardian, and he is a frequent guest and political commentator on MSNBC, C-Span and NPR. He graduated from the Medill School of Journalism at Northwestern University with a degree in journalism and political science.
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