Michael Barone (pundit)
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Michael Barone is a political expert and commentator. He is best known for being the principal author of the Almanac of American Politics, billed as a standard reference work of all US governors and federal politicians published every two years by National Journal. The Almanac goes into detail about the history, demographics, and culture of each state and congressional district. As a result of his expertise stemming from his work on the Almanac, he is sought after for his opinions and analysis of elections and political trends.
[edit] Career
He is a "talking head" for the Fox News Channel and for the NBC TV program The McLaughlin Group and is also a senior writer for U.S. News & World Report. Barone's stated political views are generally conservative. He has said he is not a religious believer, although he is sympathetic to and respectful of socially conservative religious believers (the "religious right").
One of the emphases of his commentary has been immigration. Perhaps partly as a result of his being a descendant of Italian immigrants, Barone takes an optimistic view of contemporary immigration into the US. He says that Hispanic immigration has parallels to the Italian experience and that, given the right circumstances, that current and future Hispanic and other immigrants can become Americanized and assimilated, just as the Italians were.
[edit] Backgound
He has a B.A. from Harvard University and a J.D. from Yale Law School. He is a native of suburban Detroit, Michigan. Although his opinions tend to be right of center today, he interned for Detroit's Democratic mayor in the 1960s.
