Taegan Goddard's Political Wire

June 20, 2005

For God and Country

The New Yorker runs a fascinating profile of Patrick Henry College, an institution "that trains young Christians to be politicians." In the days before the 2004 election, all students were excused from classes "because so many of them were working on campaigns or wanted to go to the swing states to get out the vote for George W. Bush."

Most interesting fact: Eighty-five percent of the students are homeschooled before entering college.

"In conservative circles, however, homeschoolers are considered something of an Èlite, rough around the edges but pure -- in their focus, capacity for work, and ideological clarity -- a view that helps explain why the Republican establishment has placed its support behind Patrick Henry, and why so many conservative politicians are hiring its graduates."

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Taegan D. Goddard is the founder of Political Wire, one of the earliest and most influential political web sites.

Goddard spent more than a decade as managing director and chief operating officer of a prominent investment firm in New York City. Previously, he was a policy adviser to a U.S. Senator and Governor.

Goddard is also co-author of You Won - Now What? (Scribner, 1998), a political management book hailed by prominent journalists and politicians from both parties. In addition, Goddard's essays on politics and public policy have appeared in dozens of newspapers across the country, including the Washington Post, USA Today, Boston Globe, San Francisco Chronicle, Chicago Tribune, Philadelphia Inquirer and Christian Science Monitor.

Goddard earned degrees from Vassar College and Harvard University. He lives in New York with his wife and three sons.

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