Clara Jeffery

Editor in Chief

Since taking the editorial helm at Mother Jones in late 2006, Clara and her co-editor, Monika Bauerlein, have won two National Magazine Awards for general excellence, relaunched MotherJones.com, founded an nine-person Washington bureau, given birth, and forgotten what it's like to sleep. It probably doesn't help she's on Twitter so much.

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Clara Jeffery is co-editor of Mother Jones, where, together with Monika Bauerlein, she has spearheaded an era of editorial growth and innovation, marked by the addition of an eight-person Washington bureau, an overhaul of the organization's digital strategy and a corresponding tripling of traffic, and the winning of two National Magazine Awards for general excellence. Before joining the staff of Mother Jones, she was a senior editor of Harper's magazine. Ten pieces that she personally edited have been finalists for National Magazine Awards, in the categories of essay, profile, reporting, public interest, feature, and fiction. Works she edited have also been selected to appear in various editions of Best American Essays, Best American Travel Writing, Best American Sports Writing, and Best American Science Writing. Clara cut her journalistic teeth at Washington City Paper, where she wrote and edited political, investigative, and narrative features, and was a columnist. Jeffery is a graduate of Carleton College and Northwestern's Medill School of Journalism. Born in Baltimore and raised in Arlington, Virginia, she now resides in the Mission District of San Francisco with her partner Chris Baum and their three-year-old son, Milo. Their burrito joint of choice is El Metate.

Americans Say the Dumbest Things

—By Clara Jeffery

| Wed Aug. 9, 2006 7:42 PM PDT

Want to know why half of Americans still say Iraq had weapons of mass destruction when the U.S. invaded—up from 36% last year?

Watch this video.

Sometimes you just feel like giving up.

Advertise on MotherJones.com

"Antiwar, Anti-Bush, Anti-Establishment, Anti-Washington Message is Very Effective."

—By Clara Jeffery

| Tue Aug. 8, 2006 11:09 PM PDT

Not that anyone should make too much of this, but that quote (from an analyst from the non-partisan Cook Political Report) is the take away from this Washington Post article.

Among the notable moments in the piece is the explanation of why Democrat Cynthia "tennis shoes" McKinney lost tonight. After 9/11, she suggested that Bush might have had prior knowledge of the attacks. Which is just sheer lunacy. As a result of this and other "missteps" she lost the 2002 Democratic primary to another black candidate (who then ran for Senate, effectively handing the House seat back to McKinney). State Rep. Billy McKinney spelled out the reason for his daughter's political troubles that election night: "J-E-W-S."

Ouch. Note to all Georgia pols. Keep the family members on a short leash. Remember Billy.

Relax, Celebrate Victory: Sad But True Lamont v. Lieberman Headlines

—By Clara Jeffery

| Tue Aug. 8, 2006 10:14 PM PDT

Fourth Generation Harvard Grad Lamont Takes On Lieberman
From the Harvard Crimson (where else) and, as I write, headlining Google News. Makes you wonder if Joe had a point in his "who's this rich boy stealing my Joementum" diatribe.

Connecticut Primary Almost Exciting; Lieberman Still Boring
That from something called the Bostonist, whose server is down—perhaps because of the traffic generated by that headline.

Still, too true.

Joe Lieberman, Independent

—By Clara Jeffery

| Tue Aug. 8, 2006 10:08 PM PDT

It sure didn't take Joe Lieberman long to trot out his new image as an independent. In his "concession speech," he accused Lamont of being guilty of "the same old partisan politics that have paralyzed Washington for years."

To which we say: !?!?!!!

Let's hope Clinton (either) can pull off the "for the good of the party/here's a plump ambassadorship" move and get JoeEgo to take a graceful bow and exit the state. I say that, though there is something kind of appealing about watching Joe and Ned slug it out in Round Two.

Lamont Wins Over Lieberman

—By Clara Jeffery

| Tue Aug. 8, 2006 9:13 PM PDT

The New York Times reports:

Ned Lamont, a Connecticut millionaire whose candidacy for the United States Senate soared from nowhere on a fierce antiwar message, won a narrow but decisive victory tonight over the storied incumbent, Joseph I. Lieberman, in the race for the Democratic nomination.
Mr. Lieberman conceded shortly after 11 p.m. after nearly complete results showed him trailing Mr. Lamont by nearly 4 percentage points.

With 96 percent of Connecticut's precincts reporting, Mr. Lamont held 51.9 percent of the vote, with Mr. Lieberman holding 48.1 percent.