and assimilated, just as the Italians were. Columnist, Townhall.com, 2001–present Senior political analyst, Washington Examiner, 2009–present Senior writer, U.S. News & World Report, Washington, 1989–1996, 1998–departure Senior staff editor, Reader's Digest, Washington, 1996–1998 editorial writer and columnist, The Washington Post, 1981–1988 Vice president, Peter D. Hart Research Co., Washington, 1974–81 Law clerk to Judge Wade H. McCree, Jr., U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals, Detroit, 1969–71 In November 2008, Barone said journalists criticized Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin because "she did not abort her Down syndrome baby." Barone later said he was "attempting to be humorous and ... went over the line." Barone has been covered the 2020 presidential election, writing numerous opinion columns on the race for the Examiner. Barone argues in 2020 that national presidential nominating conventions are no longer needed or useful. He welcomes their replacement by virtual conventions with minimal participation. They were useful before the advent of television in 1952, he says: National conventions no longer serve their original purpose, or the uses the parties and the press have made of them in the past half-century. The national conventions were, for their first 130 years, a unique communications medium. They were the only place and time where party politicians could communicate frankly and bargain personally. They were the only place where people could discover which candidates had genuine support and which just gave lip service. Writings He is the author of several books: Our Country: The Shaping of America from Roosevelt to Reagan (Free Press, 1990) The New Americans: How the Melting Pot can work Again (Regnery Publishing, 2001) Hard America, Soft America: Competition vs. Coddling and the Battle for the Nation's Future (Crown Forum, 2004) Our First Revolution: The Remarkable British Upheaval that Inspired America's Founding Fathers (Crown Publishers, 2007), a popular history of the Glorious Revolution of 1688 and how it led to the American Revolution. principal co-author, The Almanac of American Politics, (published biennially 1972–) The New Americans: How the Melting Pot Can Work Again (Regnery Publishing, 2012) Shaping Our Nation: How Surges of Migration Transformed America and Its Politics (Growth Forum, 2013) How America’s Political Parties Change (and How They Don’t) (Encounter Books, 2019) References External links Michael Barone's Opinion Articles at Creators Syndicate Washington Examiner Barone's Examiner archives In Depth interview with Barone, July 1, 2007 Beltway Confidential Archive of his U.S. News & World Report columns Podcasts of