So You Think You Can Be a Pundit

WaPo‘s hunt for America’s next great pundit is moving along. The contestant pool has been narrowed down to 10. And the Post isn’t making it a cake walk. The powers that be are putting them through rigorous blogging to determine if they have what it takes.

Meet the contestants and read their blog posts here.  One contestant writes about the p-word (unfortunately she means “poor”). Another says, “My resume suggests that I’m black. I’m not.” Still another wants to know, “Was Beaver’s mom a Grizzly?” Potential pundits range from a political speechwriter and journalists to a Georgetown PhD candidate and a Columbia grad student. They are black, white, bald, polished and not so much. “I hold a doctorate in American government, but I don’t pretend to know everything,” admits a contestant from Shaker Heights, Ohio.

Find out what the judges think here. But be forewarned: the judges need judging. They wouldn’t last long on American Idol – they are long-winded and way too nice (one contestant is told he should be a guest blogger for WaPo‘s Ezra Klein. The worst complaint, if you can even call it that, is one contestant is told he writes “a bit long,” and another is told to avoid “dialogs between famous people on improbable topics.”)

Voting for the first challenge begins on October 22.

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