Happy New Year and welcome to the January 2010 issue of Politics magazine. The complete magazine is available for our digital edition subscribers, and our print edition subscribers should check their mailboxes soon. Some of the stories are posted here on politicsmagazine.com to give you an idea of what’s coming.

This is a landmark edition of the magazine: 2010 marks the 30th anniversary of Campaigns & Elections. Check out the cover gallery for a trip down memory lane.

Of the 76 pages in this issue, it is the cover that I’ve already heard questions about.

January’s cover story looks at the slow death of campaign finance legislation. Politics staff writer Jeremy P. Jacobs writes about the piece-by-piece destruction of McCain-Feingold and what it means for the future of political fundraising.

Our editorial and design teams tried to find the best way to illustrate the story—including the devotion Sens. McCain and Feingold show to their namesake legislation—and we decided to pay homage to two American icons: Schoolhouse Rock and Muhammad Ali.

The headline and the design concept are drawn from the inspired April 1968 Esquire cover featuring Ali pierced by arrows. That Esquire issue—with The Greatest suffering as Saint Sebastian did—was named one of the top three magazine covers by the American Society of Magazine Editors, and we agreed it was a great idea.

But who would pay the price for his beliefs on our cover? Well, he started out as just a bill, sitting on Capitol Hill. Hopefully many of you remember the Schoolhouse Rock’s tribute to the legislative process—I certainly do. We decided that after the bill became a law, it would be his passion displayed on the front of Politics.



Jeff Brown, our creative director, and Kristin Grogg, our art director, took over and turned the concept into a beautiful image.

Also in the January issue:

► Politics senior editor Shane D'Aprile checks the political winds and sees a ten year storm on the horizon. Redistricting is almost here, and Democrats say they won't get fooled again.

► Pennsylvania gets special attention from us in January as Gov. Ed Rendell serves as this month's guest editor. The guys from PoliticsPA also identify the 100 most important opinion brokers in the Keystone State in "The Influencers."

► Republican new media strategist Mindy Finn asks—and answers—the question: "What Wins A Vote?"

Check out the table of contents here.

---

James Klatell is the managing editor of Politics magazine.