Charlie Cook's "objectivity"...

[babylonsister]

http://www.boomantribune.com/story/2013/5/17/10434/0592

Launder the Scandals

by BooMan
Fri May 17th, 2013 at 10:43:04 AM EST


I am amused by Charlie Cook's advice for Republicans. He thinks they will basically be throwing a boomerang at their own heads if they have a bunch of faux-scandal hearings that the public doesn't give a shit about. Much better to launder these scandals through willing and witting reporters.

...as much as congressional Republicans are enjoying their schadenfreude, they would be well advised to think long and hard about their next steps. Even the most cursory look at opinion polls or focus groups reveals that the public is convinced we have an ineffectual and out-of-touch Congress that spends too much time backbiting, grandstanding, and Monday-morning quarterbacking while the country’s problems fester. Arguably, showboating for the cameras and holding hearings are what Congress does best; the temptation is unavoidable.

Republicans would be much wiser to pursue a third option: Dig up as much damaging information as they can about the Obama administration and leak it to reporters they know will write tough stories that won’t be traced back to the source. That way, the public won’t see the GOP as being obsessed with attacking the other side and playing gotcha at the expense of the big issues facing the country—the ones voters really care about.

Meanwhile, everyone in Washington will watch polls for signs of blood in the water, indications that the controversies or scandals—depending upon your perspective—are taking a political toll on Obama’s job-approval numbers.

It's actually good advice, but it says something about Charlie Cook's lack of objectivity, don't you think?

[tableturner]

1. It says something about his thorough knowledge of politics & doesn't address possible partisanship

You obviously are a progressive and you wrote that "It's actually good advice". I agree that it would be smart for the GOP to adopt this strategy, and I too am a progressive. Nothing in the article illuminates Cook's political leanings. Maybe he isn't objective, but these quotes don't show that.

[babylonsister]

2. He's giving advice to the gop that is dishonest

and encourages them to dupe the public. That makes him a rat fink in my book. And I didn't write this, Booman did.

[byeya]

3. If Charlie Cook is that cadaverous looking guy who was on PBS before I got rid of the tv

I wouldn't expect anything but neoliberal shite from him.
Whoever Charlie Cook is, this is purely partisan unethical advice.

[babylonsister]

4. No, he's far from cadaverous.

From wiki: this is over-the-top b.s. from him. I used to give his opinion some weight. No more.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlie_Cook


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]

[malaise]

5. That scumbag of a ReTHUG hack

was a big time Bushie.

[babylonsister]

6. He was? I didn't know that.

[malaise]

7. I never saw an objective comment from him