Kirsten Anne Powers (born December 14, 1967) is an American author, columnist, and political analyst. She currently writes for "USA Today", and is an on-air political analyst at CNN, where she appears regularly on "Anderson Cooper 360°", "CNN Tonight with Don Lemon", and "The Lead with Jake Tapper". "The Washington Post" called her "bright-eyed, sharp-tongued, gamely combative". "The New Republic" noted Powers "held her own in any debate" at Fox News and quoted columnist Erik Wemple, who called her "a ferocious advocate for her points of view".