You never forget your first

A "thank you" to the people who taught me politics.

Last night, I trekked into DC — and it is a trek at rush hour — for a very special event.

The Cook Political Report turns 40 this year and they threw a party to celebrate that birthday.

What is the Cook Report? I asked myself that same question when, in my senior year of college, George Will, who I worked for as an undergraduate, told me I needed to go work there.

I had never heard of them and had no idea what they did. But, my career as an aspiring novelist was, um, progressing slowly — and as an English major I didn’t have a whole hell of a lot of other options.

The Cook Report was started by a guy named Charlie Cook. He came to Washington from Louisiana to go to college — a little place called Georgetown! — and then spent several years working on Capitol Hill.

In 1984, he had an idea that revolutionized politics and political journalism. He started his own tipsheet for campaigns. Rather than trying to follow every Senate or governors race — or, God forbid, House race — in the country yourself, Charlie would do that for you. For a small fee of course!

The Cook Political Report was born. And with it the idea of ratings like “toss up” and “lean” for close contests. In that way, Charlie — and his report — invented the words we still use to talk about campaigns.

I came on board in the summer of 1998 — when the Cook Report was a known commodity in campaign circles but not, totally, in the wider political world just yet.

I still remember my first day. We were moving offices so I spent it packing old copies of the Report — back in those days it was an actual paper book that came out every few months — and other political paraphernalia into boxes. (Charlie kept everything.)

At the time the office was behind the Union Station, the train station in DC. Which meant that to get to Union Station — and the food contained therein — you had to cross the train tracks. Which meant you had to watch a video — required of ALL employees — on train safety. And, yes, that video showed a dude — or maybe a dummy in retrospect — getting hit by a train.

Good times.

I had no idea what I was getting into. I knew next to nothing — actually just plain nothing — about politics. I just knew I needed a job. And Charlie had a job.

Like so many times in my life, I got lucky. Because not only was Charlie the best boss you could possibly ask for (he would spontaneously give you raises!), I also got a chance to pick his brain as well as that of Amy Walter (the editor of House races at the time) and Jennifer Duffy (the Senate race editor). Every day. For three years.

Those first few years were some of the best of my professional life. (It helped that I met my wife, who worked on the floor above me, around that time too.) I just soaked up all the knowledge that Charlie, Amy and Jennifer threw off. The joy they had in doing their jobs was totally infectious. They did this stuff to make a living, sure. But they really and truly loved it too.

Within a few months, I was sold. I wanted to learn as much about politics as possible. And spend my foreseeable future modeling my career off of what Charlie and Amy and Jennifer were doing.

I sometimes still think of those times, when I was young and dumb but also just totally and completely filled — most of the time — with the joy of learning something new and loving it

I was thinking of those days as I walked into the restaurant last night. And how much those moments — and those people — meant to me.

Much has changed over the intervening 25 years. Charlie is retired. So is Jennifer. Amy now owns the business — she bought it from Charlie in 2021 — and it’s now formally known as the “Cook Political Report with Amy Walter.”

The staff has tripled — 9 people now! — from the days when I worked there. Amy is a legit media star. David Wasserman, another senior member of the team, is THE definitive voice on calling elections in America. (His catchprase: “I’ve seen enough.”)

Political handicapping is big business now and Amy, David and the rest of the team are at the forefront of the market.

(Sidebar: I didn’t write this as an advertorial for Cook. But, their product — if you care about elections — truly is indispensable. You can subscribe here if it sounds like your sort of thing.)

But, for me the Cook Report will always be that small mom and pop shop where I learned to love politics. Everything that I have done since those early days are due to the time I spent with Charlie and Amy and Jennifer.

I realized something as I was driving home from the party last night. I have never — really — said “thank you” to them for all they did for me: Their kindness, their willingness to share their knowledge, their passion for the work.

So, this post is that much belated “thank you.” I’m forever grateful.