Charlie 'Daily Kos' Cook? [Updated: Cook Responds]

Photo of Tim Graham.
  • Bookmark and Share

Political analyst Charlie Cook sells himself as "independent, nonpartisan" pundit, but then how does it look when he’s donating his time and talent to a fundraising auction for Netroots Nation, the hard-left blogger convention? He’s offering "Coffee with Charlie Cook and a 1-Year Subscription to the Cook Report."

That’s not the biggest surprise: the Daily Kosmonaut crowd can also bid on the "Survivor Gabon Buff Autographed by Jeff Probst." At least that gift wasn't donated by the celebrity. The Netroots Nation convention began with the name Yearly Kos in 2006 and 2007.

UPDATE: Charlie Cook responded by e-mail with this message:

So with a waiting period, it doesn't seem like much of an opportunity to respond immediately to the item about me this morning, but maybe you will post this anyway.

Did I participate in a panel at Netroots Nation and when asked, did I say yes on donating "a lunch with Charlie Cook? Yes.

But then again, over the years I have participated in panels or given talks to each of the four national Republican campaign committees, on Conservative Values Conference, several county GOP committees and, within a couple of weeks of the Netroots thing, a donor maintainence event for a prominant conservative Republican Senator's leadership PAC, all for free.

Does that make me a conservative or a Republican? No.
I've done the same thing on the Democratic side as well. When you make your living in politics, you try to give some of your time back, balanced on the two sides, for free, because it is a decent thing to do.

Sadly, people would rather seize on one event and extrapolate bias.

As for the commentor about never being right, maybe being the first to predict that the House was turning over in 2006 my remind them. Maybe they should hope I am right when I started writingv a couple of months ago that Democrats seem to be headed toward heavy losses in 2010. Was that bias? And I assure the other commentor, my hair is only mind, not a rug, sorry. $1,000 to anyone who can prove I have ever worn a wig or hairpiece or for that matter, dyed my hair.

I would concede that Cook probably takes on panel discussions from all directions, but participating in a fundraiser (or in a lesser way, a "donor maintenance event") is a different matter.

—Tim Graham is Director of Media Analysis at the Media Research Center.


Comments Policy

All comments are owned by whoever posted them and are subject to our terms of use. They should not be assumed to represent the views of NewsBusters.

Viewing options

Select your preferred way to display the comments and click "Save settings" to activate your changes.

Apparently Charlie's got

Apparently Charlie's got something cooking with the Nutroots Nation. 

"Beauty is only skin deep, but liberal's to the bone." - me

Charlie 'Daily Kos' Cook?

Charlie 'Daily Kos' Cook?

Charlie 'Daily Kos' -ook?

Charlie 'Daily Kos' Kook.

There, FIFY, Tim.

-Dave

The election of 2010 will be our last chance to save our republic. -Neal Boortz

"Poor old Charlie...he

"Poor old Charlie...he don't know what he missed."

I never expected anything different from Cook...ever.

His bacon was obviously fried eons ago. ..along with the hair-piece he wears on op of that crooked phony smile that is always plastered to his face.

Doubling down on stupid is not a particularly good idea'~Breitbart

That's a hairpiece?  Dang,

That's a hairpiece?  Dang, I thought he was trying to revive the coonskin cap craze. 

"Beauty is only skin deep, but liberal's to the bone." - me

Never Been Impressed

I have heard Charlie Cook speak on a number of occasions and have never been impressed--I have yet to hear him make the right call and no one ever holds him to account. He has, in my estimation, always seemed to lean toward the most liberal candidates, even those in the Republican Party.

 

"Never tell
people how to do things. Tell them what to do and they will surprise you with
their ingenuity." -- General George S. Patton, Jr.  (1885-1945)

 

Coffee with Charlie Cook and a One Year Subscription.

This is a prize?

I'll take the coffee, black, hold the subscription and Charlie Cook. 

That's FIRST Prize...

Second prize is DINNER with Charlie Cook and a 2 year subscription.