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The business of calling elections.
From: Inc. Magazine, November 2004 | Page 36 By: Patrick J. Sauer
Say "government" in a word association game to most entrepreneurs and the
responses will range from "an annoyance" to "all that is wrong in this
universe." Not so for Charlie Cook, who started the Cook Political Report in
1984 as a nonpartisan newsletter handicapping every presidential, senatorial,
congressional, and gubernatorial race in the U.S. His has become the first (and
last) name in election analysis.
Originally, the Cook Political Report struggled to find an audience. "My sole
contract was canceled right around when my first child was born," Cook recalls.
Fortunately for the infant, a governmental research company hired Cook, agreeing
that he could still publish the newsletter, which the company bought for a low
six figures -- more than it was worth.
When an international PR conglomerate acquired the research company, an unhappy
Cook took to drawing cartoons of himself behind bars that said "Day 38 of Cook
Held Hostage" and leaving them under the windshield wipers of his boss's car.
Later, when the PR firm got into financial trouble, it relented and sold the
business back to Cook.
Even-numbered years are always better for Cook's firm, and 2004 will be no
different. Revenue will top a million dollars, Cook says. The newsletter has 800
subscribers who pay $295 a year -- it only breaks even, but "it establishes our
credibility," he says. The real money, ever since Congress banned honoraria for
its members, is in speeches. Cook has traveled to 30 states this year to address
groups such as the associations of International Housewares and the Metropolitan
Sewerage Agencies. He is paid between $6,000 and $12,000 per event. "I'm a ham
so I like it," he says, "but by December I am tired of politics."
The most important news these days, he says, is that income no longer determines
party affiliation. Upscale northeastern suburbs no longer vote Republican.
Meanwhile, poorer white voters of the sort who used to be Democrats vote on
guns, abortion, and cultural issues. "It's a fundamental shift," says Cook. And
shifts are good for his business.