As an expert on youth and minority voters Keli Goff emerged as one of the most recognizable political pundits of the 2008 presidential election cycle. She has appeared on numerous national programs including: “The CBS Early Show,” CNN’s “Anderson Cooper 360,” MSNBC’s “Verdict with Dan Abrams,” and BET’s “The Truth with Jeff Johnson,” for which she served as a regular contributor. She is a featured essayist in the collection: The Speech: Race and Barack Obama's 'A More Perfect Union' (Bloomsbury, 2009) and the author of the critically acclaimed book Party Crashing: How the Hip-Hop Generation Declared Political Independence (Basic Books, March 2008). One of the first books to explore the rise of “Generation Obama,” Party Crashing has been the subject of coverage in a host of media outlets, including Vanity Fair, and EBONY Magazine. The Washington Post praised it as “engaging” and Arianna Huffington declared that Party Crashing “Should be on the nightstand of candidates on either side of the political aisle.” A popular blogger, Keli serves as a political blogger for TheLoop21.com and as a regular contributor to “The Huffington Post." She was previously an editorial contributor for “RushmoreDrive.com.” Her writing has also been featured in the magazines UPTOWN and TIME. Keli holds a B.A. from New York University and a Master’s degree in Strategic Communications from Columbia University. A native of Texas, she now resides in New York City.

www.keligoff.com

Blog Entries by Keli Goff

Golfing with Hillary's Ghost

12 Comments | Posted October 30, 2009 | 10:22 AM (EST)


We've all been there.

A girlfriend decides to marry a guy you've never really been that crazy about, or worse, can't stand. Whether it was because you suspect him of cheating on her while she was away one weekend (or know for a fact that he did), or because...

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Why I Divorced the Democratic Party: A Response to My Health Care Critics

112 Comments | Posted October 11, 2009 | 11:44 PM (EST)


To the chagrin of my editors I rarely read or respond to comments on pieces that I write.

But my mom does. And she felt that it was imperative that I "clear my name," which was being "trashed" in response to my most recent post for TheLoop21.com, republished...

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Mad at Greedy Insurers for This Health Care Mess? Then Why Aren't You Mad at Your Greedy Neighbors?

434 Comments | Posted October 8, 2009 | 01:21 PM (EST)


Raise your hand if you are still filled with anger when you hear the name AIG and picture the more than $100 million of your tax dollars that were delegated--without your consent--for employee bonuses there.

Now raise your hand if you were angry when you learned that Citigroup...

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Wonder Why Middle America Doesn't Trust Hollywood Liberals? Three Words: Weinstein and Polanski

799 Comments | Posted September 30, 2009 | 12:47 PM (EST)


I used to think that when conservatives denounced the so-called "Hollywood liberal elite" as being essentially amoral and out of touch with real Americans, they were being a bit harsh. And when Sarah Palin implied that middle America was somehow more sensibly American than those of us sin-lovin'-anti-religion-anti-America-fancypants-big city folk...

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Why I'm Grateful for Joe Wilson and the Fury of Racists

448 Comments | Posted September 24, 2009 | 09:31 AM (EST)


This story republished courtesy of TheLoop21.com.

I'm not sure when it first hit me, that the future of our country, particularly when it comes to race relations, is really looking up. Perhaps it was when a member of the Boston Police Department referred to Professor Henry Louis Gates as...

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The Serena Williams "Incident" Isn't About Racial Bias, But It Is About Bias

385 Comments | Posted September 14, 2009 | 08:31 AM (EST)


Let me start off by saying that I am a true tennis fan and player (albeit an incredibly out of shape one compared to my not so illustrious days on my high school team another lifetime ago). I should also add that I am enough of a tennis nerd that...

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Thirteen Years After Hillary Told Us "It Takes A Village," Melinda Gates Reminds Us That She Was Right

5 Comments | Posted September 9, 2009 | 04:45 PM (EST)


To quote the songstress Alanis Morissette, "Isn't it ironic" that the same politicians who denounce welfare recipients tend to be the same ones who support cuts to education and after school programs -- the very programs that make a student less likely to dropout of school and therefore less likely...

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Why Gov. Paterson is Right: Race Will Cost Him His Job

301 Comments | Posted August 23, 2009 | 09:58 PM (EST)


As I watched the film Mississippi Burning the other night on television, I couldn't help being struck by how much has changed -- not just since the dark days of segregation in which the film is set, but since I first saw the film as a child. Watching some of...

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Candidate Clinton Was Not a Victim of Sexism But Secretary Clinton Is

390 Comments | Posted August 14, 2009 | 10:04 AM (EST)


About this time last year I was still having passionate debates with friends -- fellow feminists -- who were convinced that the reason Barack Obama was on his way to Denver to become the Democratic nominee for president, was because a savagely sexist media had served up the nomination to...

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Bill Clinton, the Comeback Cat

143 Comments | Posted August 5, 2009 | 09:38 AM (EST)


If cats have nine lives then Bill Clinton has at least a dozen.

To borrow a phrase from one of my all time favorite Governors, the late, great Ann Richards from my home state of Texas, there have been many times, over many years, where many of us assumed...

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How Judge Sotomayor's Second Language Does Make Her More Qualified Than the Average White Guy (And I'm Not Talking About Spanish)

346 Comments | Posted July 13, 2009 | 12:52 PM (EST)


As I said during a recent appearance on CNN's Lou Dobbs the GOP members of Congress tasked with thwarting Sonia Sotomayor's Supreme Court nomination certainly have their work cut out for them. The woman not only appears to be lacking serious skeletons in her closet, but hers is so squeaky...

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Michael Jackson's Death: A 'Bad' Dream

22 Comments | Posted June 26, 2009 | 02:15 PM (EST)


How ironic. Between the economy and the weather -- seemingly endless rain that has robbed us of half our summer -- many of us New Yorkers have wanted to spend the last few weeks tucked safe in bed with the covers pulled over our heads. But not today.

Just as...

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Top Ten Signs Your Party Label Is: New Yorker

1 Comments | Posted June 22, 2009 | 03:45 PM (EST)


As a native of Texas, I sometimes look back on the political atmosphere that defined my childhood growing up in Rep. Tom Delay's district, compared to the political atmosphere that defines my life today as a proud Manhattanite, and can't help but laugh. It has been quite...

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How the Crucifixion of Miss California Hurts the Marriage Equality Movement

685 Comments | Posted May 13, 2009 | 02:24 PM (EST)


I'm going to channel a character from one of my favorite shows for a moment. As the Golden Girls' Sophia Petrillo might say, "Picture it..." Only instead of asking you all to picture Sicily, sometime, I'm going to ask you to "Picture it...Las Vegas, 1960." The Miss USA pageant is...

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The Funniest Political Joke I've Ever Heard

Posted April 20, 2009 | 04:57 PM (EST)


As if the video "Gathering Storm" wasn't funny enough, now comes perhaps the funniest punchline of all from the right: former mayor and failed presidential candidate Rudy Giuliani has begun a campaign to re-brand himself as the family values candidate should he run for Governor of New York.

...
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A Scandal More Shameful than AIG and Just as Costly for Taxpayers

Posted April 8, 2009 | 12:08 PM (EST)


They say there are two things you should never discuss on a first date or at a dinner party: religion and politics. But there has always been another subject that is so taboo that most people would rather arm wrestle over the other two than dare mention it.

That subject...

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Michelle Obama: Wonder Woman

Posted March 11, 2009 | 11:26 AM (EST)


As if there hasn't been enough written about Michelle Obama's arms please allow me to be the one-millionth writer, blogger, journalist, pundit to weigh in with an opinion (like just about every florist, dentist, minister, accountant and any other human being living in America, including my mom.)

One of the...

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Clearly the G.O.P. Does Not Have Balls of Steel When It Comes to Limbaugh

Posted March 3, 2009 | 10:43 AM (EST)


I guess if you were to look up the word "naïve" in the dictionary you might see my picture. See I was one of the people who genuinely applauded Michael Steele's ascension to the head of the Republican National Committee. I had the opportunity to interview him for my book...

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Michael Phelps Deserves a Spanking, But Not for Getting Caught with Pot

Posted February 9, 2009 | 11:32 PM (EST)


Let's play a game of truth or dare. We'll start with a few easy questions, ones that shouldn't be too tough for you to answer.

How many of you did something stupid when you were younger?

(My guess is there are a lot of you mentally raising your hands while...

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Hell Has Officially Frozen Over... I Agree with Ann Coulter on Something

Posted January 12, 2009 | 11:53 PM (EST)


Let me start by saying that I am just as shocked as you are by the title of this post, as is my mother and probably every other family member, friend and political ally -- I have ever had. But every now and then the truth is worth the risk...

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