political Wire

As the son of a lawyer, teacher and writer, Goddard grew up in a household that regularly discussed politics and the role of journalists in communicating the behind the scenes workings of the government. He further cultivated that interest at Vassar College and the Harvard Kennedy School.

He was inspired to create Political Wire by a print Wall Street Journal column called Washington Wire.{{cite web|url=https://www.famousdc.com/2011/04/26/taegan-goddard|title=FAMOUS 5: POLITICAL WIRE'S TAEGAN GODDARD|date=26 April 2011|publisher=Famous DC|accessdate=November 8, 2019|archive-date=8 November 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191108134755/https://www.famousdc.com/2011/04/26/taegan-goddard/|url-status=live}} In an interview with PR Week,{{cite web|url=https://www.prweek.com/article/1271391/interview-taegan-goddard-political-wire|title=Interview with Taegan Goddard, Political Wire|publisher=PR Week|author=Frank Washkuch|date=June 12, 2009|access-date=November 9, 2019|archive-date=January 1, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200101131128/https://www.prweek.com/article/1271391/interview-taegan-goddard-political-wire|url-status=live}} called Making it in the Political Blogosphere Goddard explained why he created the site: "I do it for the same people who, going back a dozen years, always wanted that political page. So, in a practical sense, it’s for people who’re very similar to me, who like politics to the same degree that I do and also enjoy it almost as a game. While some people might read the sports page first every day, there’s a whole group of people who read Political Wire first every day, because that’s something that gets them going in the morning. Those people, I find, are professionally employed in politics or public affairs. They work either in political offices or on campaigns, or are elected and appointed officials themselves. In many cases they’re journalists who cover politics and, obviously, there are also the political junkies out there who just find it interesting."

Blog topics are typically drawn from a curated list of writers rather than websites although left and right sources including the Democratic forum Daily Kos and the conservative blog Hot Air provide additional perspectives.{{cite web|url=https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2011/06/taegan-goddard-what-i-read/331706|title=Taegan Goddard: What I Read, The Founder of Political Wire Offers a Glimpse of His Work Day|publisher=The Atlantic|author=Erik Hayden|date=June 23, 2011|accessdate=November 9, 2019|archive-date=August 23, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240823062410/https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2011/06/taegan-goddard-what-i-read/331706/|url-status=live}}

Political Wire is officially non-partisan. Goddard described his website as "a place where you want to start your day and then return various times a day to find out what's going on in the world of politics... the people who read Political Wire tend to be the political insiders and political junkies, the lawmakers and their staffs, journalists, and people who make a living in the world of public affairs." It is a subscription service with a nominal fee for membership.

By 2016, it was attracting upwards of ten million readers per month.{{cite web|url=http://info.vassar.edu/news/features/2016-2017/161027-goddard.html|title=5 Questions for Political Wire Founder Taegan Goddard '88|publisher=Vassar Info|author=Tom Kertscher|accessdate=November 9, 2019|archive-date=November 9, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191109110159/http://info.vassar.edu/news/features/2016-2017/161027-goddard.html|url-status=live}} Goddard told Fishbowl DC that people sometimes get confused by his politics because he's fiercely independent in his views and "not a joiner by nature."{{cite web|url=https://www.adweek.com/digital/the-fishbowldc-interview-with-political-wires-taegan-goddard|title=The FishbowlDC's Interview with Political Wire's Taegan Goddard|publisher=Adweek 40|date=March 11, 2011|author=Betsy Rothstein|accessdate=November 9, 2019|archive-date=November 9, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191109110748/https://www.adweek.com/digital/the-fishbowldc-interview-with-political-wires-taegan-goddard/|url-status=live}}

In 2006, Goddard formed a content partnership with Congressional Quarterly.{{cite web |url=http://corporate.cqrollcall.com/wmspage.cfm?parm1=174|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110708200853/http://corporate.cqrollcall.com/wmspage.cfm?parm1=174|url-status=dead|archive-date=July 8, 2011|title=CONGRESSIONAL QUARTERLY LINKS WITH POLITICAL WIRE TO CREATE UNIQUE CONTENT CHANNEL ON THE WEB, CQPolitics.com Will Share Links With Taegan Goddard's Non-Partisan Blog, Providing Election Campaign News From All 50 States and 435 Congressional Districts|accessdate=November 9, 2019}} The partnership was expanded in early 2009 so that CQ sold all advertising on Political Wire. The agreement expired in 2013 and the site is still owned and published by Goddard.{{cite web|url=http://corporate.cq.com/wmspage.cfm?parm1=349|title=CQ Roll Call|accessdate=November 19, 2019|archive-date=June 11, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090611142813/http://corporate.cq.com/wmspage.cfm?parm1=349|url-status=live}}

During the 2008 presidential election, PC Magazine named Political Wire one of the 20 best political web sites of 2008.{{cite news |url=https://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2329086,00.asp |title=20 Best Political Websites |publisher=PC Magazine |author=Jennifer L. DeLeo |date=August 8, 2008 |access-date=September 8, 2017 |archive-date=May 29, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130529232432/http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2329086,00.asp |url-status=dead }} In 2012, Time named @politicalwire as one of the top Twitter 140 Twitter feeds.{{cite magazine|url=https://techland.time.com/2012/03/21/the-140-best-twitter-feeds-of-2012/#taegan-goddard|magazine=Time|title=The 140 Best Twitter Feeds Of 2012|date=21 March 2012|access-date=23 March 2012|archive-date=23 August 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240823062410/https://techland.time.com/2012/03/21/the-140-best-twitter-feeds-of-2012/#taegan-goddard|url-status=live}} Political Wire's Twitter site has also received acclaim outside the country and was named one of the "Top 50 US Politics Twitter Accounts to Follow."{{cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/richard-adams-blog/2010/oct/05/top-50-twitter-accounts-us-politics-election|title=Top 50 US politics Twitter accounts to follow|work=The Guardian|date=October 5, 2010|accessdate=November 9, 2019|archive-date=August 23, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240823062410/https://www.theguardian.com/world/richard-adams-blog/2010/oct/05/top-50-twitter-accounts-us-politics-election|url-status=live}}

The site has also been praised by political analysts such as Chuck Todd, Stuart Rothenberg, Charlie Cook and Larry Sabato.{{Cite web|url=http://politicalwire.com/#links|title=Political Wire|access-date=2010-04-21|archive-date=2010-04-21|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100421124700/http://politicalwire.com/#links|url-status=live}}

Goddard has appeared as a guest to discuss political headlines on The Daily Beast{{cite news|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5lmtSJ1-Ee0 |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211213/5lmtSJ1-Ee0| archive-date=2021-12-13 |url-status=live|publisher=The Daily Beast|title=Romney, Santorum, Super Tuesday and Beyond|date=Mar 7, 2012|accessdate=November 9, 2019}}{{cbignore}} and MSNBC.{{cite news|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VkLqaoQr_5w |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211213/VkLqaoQr_5w| archive-date=2021-12-13 |url-status=live|publisher=MSNBC|date=November 12, 2013|title=The Agenda|accessdate=November 9, 2019}}{{cbignore}} He has been a panelist for numerous political roundtables.{{cite news|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MTeObl7b-DQ |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/varchive/youtube/20211213/MTeObl7b-DQ| archive-date=2021-12-13 |url-status=live|title=Midterm Elections Preview: Blue Wave or Red Save?|publisher=Harvard Kennedy School's Institute of Politics|date=October 26, 2018|accessdate=November 9, 2019}}{{cbignore}}

Goddard also created Taegan Goddard's Wonk Wire,{{cite web |title=Taegan Goddard's Wonk Wire |url=http://wonkwire.com/ |website=wonkwire.com |access-date=November 9, 2022 |archive-date=October 2, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221002201513/http://wonkwire.com/ |url-status=live }} a site focused on the latest public policy news, Taegan Goddard's Political Dictionary,{{cite web |title=Taegan Goddard's Political Dictionary |url=https://politicaldictionary.com/ |website=politicaldictionary.com |access-date=November 9, 2022 |archive-date=November 9, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221109224533/https://politicaldictionary.com/ |url-status=live }} which explores the language of politics, as well as Taegan Goddard's Political Job Hunt,{{cite web |title=Taegan Goddard's Political Job Hunt |url=https://www.politicaljobhunt.com/ |website=politicaljobhunt.com |access-date=November 9, 2022 |archive-date=April 17, 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200417023911/https://www.politicaljobhunt.com/ |url-status=live }} which helps people interested in working in politics and public affairs. On January 13, 2013, Goddard agreed to maintain a daily blog for The Week, titled The Cloakroom.{{cite web|url=https://www.politico.com/blogs/media/2013/01/political-wires-taegan-goddard-joins-the-week-launches-new-blog-153234|title=Goddard joins 'The Week', launches new blog|publisher=Politico|access-date=21 April 2013|archive-date=6 January 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130106102953/http://www.politico.com/blogs/media/2013/01/political-wires-taegan-goddard-joins-the-week-153234.html|url-status=live}}

One of Goddard's newest projects has been a new portal for examining possible future Presidential election outcomes called Electoral Vote Map.{{cite web|url=https://www.outsidethebeltway.com/electoral-vote-map|title=Electoral Vote Map|publisher=Outside the Beltway|author=James Joyner|date=March 7, 2019|accessdate=November 9, 2019|archive-date=November 9, 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191109120046/https://www.outsidethebeltway.com/electoral-vote-map|url-status=live}}

{{Reflist}}

• [http://politicalwire.com Political Wire]
• [http://politicaldictionary.com Political Dictionary]
• [http://politicaljobhunt.com Political Job Hunt]
• [http://wonkwire.com Wonk Wire]

Category:American political blogs

Category:American political websites

Category:Internet properties established in 1999