Charlie Cook
| Charles Edward "Charlie" Cook, Jr. | |
|---|---|
| Born | November 20, 1953 Shreveport, Caddo Parish Louisiana USA |
| Residence | Chevy Chase, Maryland |
| Nationality | American |
| Alma mater | Georgetown University |
| Occupation |
Political analyst |
| Spouse(s) | Lucy Cook |
Charles Edward Cook, Jr., known as Charlie Cook (born November 20, 1953), originally from Shreveport, Louisiana, is an American political analyst who specializes in election forecasts and political trends.
Cook was the son of the late Mary Hudgens Cook and Charles Cook, Sr. (1916-2012). The senior Cook was a native of Magnolia, Arkansas, a highly decorated officer in the United States Army Air Corps during World War II, and an electrical engineering graduate from the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville. He spent his entire postwar working career at Southwestern Electric Power Company in Shrevport (now AEP-SWEPCO).[1] Cook has two sisters, Carole Cook Lacefield of Shreveport and Margaret Cook Dickson of Leavenworth, Kansas, and a brother, Robert Cook of Shreveport.[1]
Cook graduated in 1972 from Captain Shreve High School in Shreveport and attended Georgetown University in Washington, D.C.[2] He delivers election forecasts and rankings in his own publication, The Cook Political Report, and in other media venues. Cook writes two columns for National Journal, the "The Cook Report" for the main publication and "Off to the Races" for NationalJournal Daily. Since the 1984 presidential election, Cook has provided election night commentary for various television networks. He is a political analyst for the National Journal and since 1994 with NBC.
In 1984, he founded the newsletter The Cook Political Report,[2] which publishes analysis of the primaries and general elections for federal political offices and state governorships. The Report's predictions are accorded high credibility among journalists and politicians.[3] CBS News' Bob Schieffer called the Cook Political Report, “the bible of the political community.”
The New York Times has called Cook “one of the best political handicappers in the nation” and has said the Cook Political Report is “a newsletter which both parties regard as authoritative.” The late David Broder wrote in The Washington Post that Cook was “perhaps the best non-partisan tracker of Congressional races.”
Prior to founding his newsletter in 1984, Cook worked on Capitol Hill for then-Senator J. Bennett Johnston, Jr., a Democrat from Shreveport who served from 1972 to 1997. Cook also worked for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, and the Democratic Policy Committee. In addition, he worked as a pollster and campaign consultant and on the staff of BUILD-PAC, the political action committee of the trade association, the National Association of Home Builders.[4]
In 2006, Cook was inducted into the Louisiana Political Museum and Hall of Fame in Winnfield.[5]
In 2010, he won the prestigious Carey McWilliams award from the American Political Science Association. The award is given annually to honor a major journalistic contribution to our understanding of politics.
In 2013, he served as a Resident Fellow at the Harvard Institute of Politics.[6]
Cook and his wife Lucy reside in Chevy Chase, Maryland.[1]
Notes [edit]
- ^ a b c "Obituary of Charles Cook, Sr.". Shreveport Times, June 20, 2012. Retrieved June 21, 2012.
- ^ a b CNN 1996
- ^ Milbank 2006
- ^ All Politics website:http://www-cgi.cnn.com/ALLPOLITICS/1996/analysis/bios/frames/cnn/cook.html
- ^ "Louisiana Political Museum and Hall of Fame". cityofwinnfield.com. Retrieved August 22, 2009.
- ^ http://www.iop.harvard.edu/charlie-cook
References [edit]
- CNN. 1996. Capsule biography of Charlie Cook.
- Cook, Charlie. July 12, 2008. Weekly column in the National Journal.
- Milbank, Dana. October 25 [sic], 2006. When It Comes to Politics, Charlie Cook Has the Prophecy Market Cornered. Washington Post.
