Gale Walden was the political correspondent for the now defunct Octopus magazine. She has written on politics, parenting, literary work and Elvis for the Harvard Review, the Chicago Sun Times, Salon.com, Illinois Times, The Boston Review, The Chronicle of Higher Education and other magazines. She is the author of a poetry book, Same Blue Chevy, and is currently writing about ghost towns on Route 66.

Blog Entries by Gale Walden

Why Sarah Palin Scares Me

Posted August 31, 2008 | 12:05 AM (EST)


Because she will remind people of Reese Witherspoon in "Legally Blond."

Because she will remind people of Kevin Klein in "Dave."

Because she will remind people of Geena Davis in "Commander in Chief" where Geena Davis was just supposed to help the guy get elected and then the guy died,...

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Standing Up For Hillary

Posted August 27, 2008 | 01:24 PM (EST)


I'm not in Denver and all day long I've been feeling bad about it. I was in Chicago and Boston for Clinton/Kerry conventions and I have never been to better parties. Both the expected (multiple long speeches) and the unexpected happen. Once at the 1998 Chicago Convention, I was on...

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Obama's VP: If Not Clinton, Then Biden

Posted August 22, 2008 | 01:33 AM (EST)



Yesterday when I stopped by to pick up my daughter, my parents were both sitting at the kitchen table. "So who do you think is going to be the vice-presidential pick?" my mother asked. It was a rhetorical question because she immediately said, " If he doesn't pick...

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John Edwards, Celebrity, and Staying In The Game

Posted January 25, 2008 | 10:39 PM (EST)


First, every time I see Bill Clinton lately I think he's Dick Van Dyke, and I'm happy. Then his finger comes out and points and I think, "Oh, it's just Bill Clinton. I wish she had left him." Every time. Second, Ron Paul has begun to remind me of

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It Depends What You Mean By Change

Posted January 7, 2008 | 07:37 AM (EST)


Perhaps the most overused and under-examined word in the Democratic candidates speeches is the word "change". It's ubiquitous enough to mean everything or nothing.

With the exception of a few philosophers--Parmenides comes not to mind but through Google--most mathematical and philosophical principals agree in various degrees that change is...

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My Caucus

Posted January 4, 2008 | 12:40 AM (EST)


The Lincoln Township, a mostly rural area, is caucusing in the cafeteria of the Indianola middle school. My first caucus was also in the township 4 years ago but it took place in the town courthouse, a much smaller venue, and I think it's safe to say there are at...

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New Year's Eve With Bill Richardson

Posted January 2, 2008 | 01:43 PM (EST)


All right. It's 4:45pm so there's not going to be a ball dropping, or confetti throwing or mass kissing. But there is wine because we are at the Sommerset winery in Indianola Iowa and it is New Year's Eve. It's also cold. Before the candidate arrives, Tim Russert...

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Adam Nagourney Watch Part 2

Posted October 12, 2007 | 02:07 PM (EST)


In which a prominent political journalist considers nominee wrinkles.

As someone who, at 13, campaigned for George McGovern in his 1972 presidential race. I was interested in Adam Nagourney's New York Times article about Barack Obama and the youth vote. I live in Illinois and it's true that...

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My Hillary, Myself

Posted September 9, 2007 | 06:10 PM (EST)


The following piece was produced through OffTheBus, a citizen journalism project hosted at the Huffington Post and launched in partnership with NewAssignment.Net. For more information, read Arianna Huffington's project introduction. If you'd like to join our blogging team, sign up here. If you're interested in other opportunities,...

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Adam Nagourney Watch

Posted August 1, 2007 | 01:03 AM (EST)


When the off-the-bus team asked us to write in on what beat we'd like to cover, I said the metaphor beat. As someone who teaches poetry and looks at language and image and tropes, I wanted to see how my skills translate into campaign coverage and candidate messages. The word...

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