The United States of Ambition by Alan Ehrenhalt

Alan Ehrenhalt is executive editor of Governing magazine. Prior to joining Governing, his professional career included stints with the Associated Press, Washington Star, and Congressional Quarterly. He is the author of Democracy in the Mirror (1998), The Lost City (1995), and The United States of Ambition (1991). He served as editor of the first four editions (1982-88) of Politics in America, a biennial reference book profiling all 535 members of Congress and their districts. Mr. Ehrenhalt is a member of USA Today's Board of Contributors and has written frequently for the New York Times, The Washington Post Book World, and the New Republic. In 2000, he was the winner of the American Political Science Association's Carey McWilliams award for distinguished contributions to the field of political science by a journalist.