Charlie Cook: 40 Years of the Gold Standard for Handicapping Congressional Races

Feb 26

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Charlie Cook, editor and publisher of the Cook Political Report, speaks on NBC's 'Meet the Press' July 4, 2004 during a taping of the show at the NBC studios in Washington, DC. Cook talked about the presidential race between President George W. Bush and Senator John Kerry. (Alex Wong/Getty Images)

The Cook Political Report is the gold standard in covering campaigns. Its founder Charles Cook started it in 1984 to provide unbiased, nonpartisan analysis of every House and Senate race in the nation.

One of the tools Cook developed is a shorthand for analyzing those races — a rating system that ranges from solid Republican to solid Democrat to “toss-ups,” which are races that could go either way.

On today’s Political Breakdown, Scott chats with Cook about how analyzing political campaigns has changed, and his decision to step back and have Amy Walter be the lead face of the Cook Political Report.

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Charlie Cook: 40 Years of the Gold Standard for Handicapping Congressional Races

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