a Democratic Society. After graduation, Blumenthal began his career in Boston as a journalist who wrote for the underground paper Boston Phoenix and the Real Paper. Blumenthal was part of a generation of New Left journalists who eschewed objectivity in favor of taking sides. He blamed journalistic detachment for Ronald Reagan's presidential victory. Geraldine Baum wrote in the Los Angeles Times, "In Blumenthal’s writings, Democrats stood for goodness and progress, Republicans for darkness and defeat." 1984 political coverage In 1983, Blumenthal became the chief national political correspondent for The New Republic, covering the 1984 Presidential campaign. Soon after, Blumenthal began working as a political reporter for The Washington Post before then returning to The New Republic. Leon Wieseltier, New Republic literary editor said, "Sidney is capable of writing a piece that is 100% true and 100% dishonest." Blumenthal played a major role in Gary Hart's bid for the 1984 Democratic presidential nomination. Although Hart's bid was ultimately unsuccessful, Blumenthal wrote a speech that was considered a positive "turning point" that established Hart's viability, and he wrote a cover story on Hart in The New Republic. Discomfort with Blumenthal's political involvement contributed to The Washington Post reassigning Blumenthal to their "Style" section. Tenure as chief Washington correspondent for The New Yorker In 1993, Blumenthal became the chief Washington correspondent for The New Yorker before joining the Clinton Administration in the summer of 1997. Not too long into the job, Blumenthal was replaced as The New Yorkers chief Washington correspondent by Michael Kelly, although Blumenthal was allowed to stay on as a part-time writer: "Kelly ordered Blumenthal to stay away from the magazine's downtown office," the Posts Kurtz wrote. Kelly himself explained to the newspaper: "I did not trust [Blumenthal]. I felt his relationship . . . with the president and first lady was such that I was not sure I wanted him around the office as I was working on stories. He was serving two masters, and I was not comfortable with that. . . . I had reason to believe that he wanted a job with the White House." According to Kelly, "He took a column that had a well-deserved reputation and turned it into a vehicle for the Clintons and for denouncing their enemies." Over time, Blumenthal was eased out of his job: "The New Yorker assignments dwindled," Kurtz wrote, and Blumenthal not long after officially went to work