Ruth Conniff

Ruth Conniff is the Political Editor of the Progressive Magazine. A native of Madison, WIsconsin, she first joined the magazine when she was hired as a summer intern by the late Erwin Knoll after her sophomore year at Yale. Shortly after graduating from college in 1990, she came to work as Associate Editor for the Progressive, becoming Washington Editor and opening the Progressive's Washington, DC, office in 1997. During the 1990s, Conniff covered welfare reform in Wisconsin and around the country, as well as the drug war in Colombia, and other topics, including women's sports (an avid runner, Conniff coached her old high school track and cross-country teams at Madison East High School for many years).
In Washington, Conniff became a regular on TV pundit shows on CNN, Fox News, and PBS. She still appears frequently on PBS's To The Contrary and on the Ed Schultz Show on MSNBC.
Conniff was the recipient of an "Editor's Choice" award from Madison Magazine for her coverage of the Wisconsin Uprising in 2011. Her Progressive Magazine feature story on school privatization is a chapter in the book "It Happened in Wisconsin" recently published by Verso.
Today Conniff lives in Madison with her husband and three daughters, who marched on the Capitol with their teachers from the Madison Public Schools.
From The Progressive's Rally - Ruth Conniff
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RNC Goes Out With a Whimper »

By Ruth Conniff, August 31, 2012

The main problem with Mitt Romney’s convention speech was that it was not memorable enough to wipe out the image of Clint Eastwood rambling at an empty chair.read more

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Scott Walker Says He's a Progressive »

By Ruth Conniff, August 30, 2012

Any challenge to the status quo he says is “progressive,” if you can believe that!read more

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Paul Ryan's Brilliant, Scary, Lying Speech »

By Ruth Conniff, August 30, 2012

To answer Ryan, the Democrats will have to do more than extend unemployment insurance, coddle the banks and multinational corporations, and hope for better days.read more

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On the Yacht with Tommy Thompson and Scott Walker »

By Ruth Conniff, August 29, 2012

When Tommy saw John Nichols of the Madison Capital Times and The Nation, he said, “How the hell did you get in here?”read more

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Citizens Struggle in the Shadow of the RNC  »

By Ruth Conniff, August 29, 2012

Overkill is too mild a word to describe the contrast between the heavy security and the protests in Tampa.read more

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After Delay, RNC's Crazy First Full Day »

By Ruth Conniff, August 29, 2012

Ron Paul delegates rebel, Walker bombs, and the biggest speeches of the night feature conflicting themes.read more

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Florida Activists Gleefully Recount Banner Drop on Scott Walker »

By Ruth Conniff, August 28, 2012

The banners read: “Walker Hates Working Families” and “Walker Has a Koch Problem.” Said one protester: “He epitomizes what we can’t stand.”read more

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In Tampa, Newt Gingrich, Scott Walker Plug Supply-Side Economics »

By Ruth Conniff, August 27, 2012

Walker received a standing ovation. Look out: As goes Wisconsin, so goes the nation.read more

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Paul Ryan's Deep Anti-Choice Roots »

By Ruth Conniff, August 27, 2012

Paul Ryan's views are just as extreme as Todd Akin's. Before he became famous for his budget plan, Ryan began his political career as a creature of Wisconsin's pro-life movement.read more

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Paul Ryan vs. Grandmas in Tennis Shoes »

By Ruth Conniff, April 27, 2011

'They want to destroy the New Deal and take us back 100 years. People didn't believe they would go after Social Security and Medicare, but it's not under the radar anymore.'read more

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Tommy Thompson Survives the Right-wing Purge »

By Ruth Conniff, August 15, 2012

Tommy's win shows that the coalition of big money and radical rightwing politicians is not invincible.read more

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Paul Ryan's Social Darwinism »

By Ruth Conniff, August 14, 2012

Ryan’s elevation to vice presidential candidate puts his live-and-let-die anti-government philosophy right at the center of the national debate.read more

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Romney's Choice of Paul Ryan Should Scare You »

By Ruth Conniff, August 11, 2012

When Mitt Romney announced that he had chosen Paul Ryan as his running mate, there was a collective gasp from Wisconsin.read more

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Paul Ryan vs. Grandmas in Tennis Shoes »

By Ruth Conniff, April 27, 2011

'They want to destroy the New Deal and take us back 100 years. People didn't believe they would go after Social Security and Medicare, but it's not under the radar anymore.'read more

Please log into Facebook to post comments.
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CURRENT ISSUE: June 2013

June 2013

Preserving Our Home on Earth

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