Matt Bai writes on Washington and national politics for the New York Times Magazine. His coverage of the 2004 presidential campaign included cover stories on the Republican machine in Ohio and the future of Democratic politics, as well as a cover profile of John Kerry that was featured in “The Best American Political Writing 2005.” Since joining the magazine as a contributing writer in July 2002, he has profiled such figures as Karl Rove, Gary Hart, Lincoln Chafee and Howard Dean, and he has written on such topics as the Democrats’ rural problem and the fiscal crises in the states.

Bai is currently at work on a book about Democratic politics, which will be published by Henry Holt in 2007. His personal essay in the anthology “I Married My Mother-in-Law… and Other Tales of the In-Laws We Can’t Live With—And Can’t Live Without,” published by Riverhead Books in 2006, was also featured on the cover of the Los Angeles Times Magazine.

Before joining the New York Times Magazine, Bai, 37, spent five years as a national correspondent for Newsweek, where his work included the magazine’s cover story on the shootings at Columbine High School in Colorado. In 2001, Bai was a fellow at Harvard’s Institute of Politics at the Kennedy School of Government, where he led a seminar on the next generation of political journalism. His international experience includes coverage from Iraq and Liberia.

Before joining Newsweek, Bai was a city desk reporter for The Boston Globe, where he covered breaking news and law enforcement. He began his career as a speechwriter for for UNICEF. He is a graduate of Tufts and Columbia’s Graduate School of Journalism, where the faculty awarded him the prestigious Pulitzer Traveling Fellowship. He lives with his wife and son in Washington.