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'Almanac of American Politics' Hits Bookstores
Aired July 28, 2003 - 15:21 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CANDY CROWLEY, CNN SR. POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Last week, we tested your political I.Q. using some of the juiciest nuggets from a book most election junkies regard as gospel. The 2004 edition of "The Almanac of American Politics" hit bookstores last Tuesday. But, because of breaking news, we had to hold the segment. Fortunately, we can do it now.
RICHARD COHEN, NATIONAL JOURNAL: Good to be here.
CROWLEY: We're joined by Richard Cohen, a contributor to "The American Almanac."
So if, for instance, someone wanted to know something that would give them insight into a California recall election, what could we find from there?
COHEN: Well, you certainly would find political history of California and the governor, Gray Davis. There would be all sorts of data about the political trends in the state. There would be a sort of profile here of the congressman, Darrell Issa, from San Diego who's kind of led the charge for the recall, and all sorts of political information about California and the other 49 states.
CROWLEY: So I've always wondered who buys -- I mean, we all buy it, obviously, and use it and read it like crazy during election years and off-election years. How much of a market does it have, outside the junkies?
COHEN: Well, it depends how you define junkies.
Here in Washington, folks all over town, Capitol Hill, the political consultants, trade associations, lobbying firms, anyone who deals with Congress and politicians, they probably have this book in their office, because they want to know who the members of Congress are and the 50 governors, and then around the country, in government offices, in companies, all sorts of folks. We have fairly -- I mean, 30,000 to 40,000 copies of this book are sold every year, two years. It's well-read.
CROWLEY: So this is your first post-9/11 almanac.
COHEN: Correct.
CROWLEY: Did anything change in this book?
COHEN: I think, certainly, a lot changed in the country. And the book reflects that. We talk about, the context is so much different for Congress. Members of Congress now kind of are more subservient or have acted in a more subservient way to President Bush. We talk about how the agenda has changed. What had been more of a focus on cultural issues has shifted to defense and national security. And just, generally, the relationship between the president and Congress clearly has been affected by the events of 9/11. And those changes are reflected throughout the profiles in the almanac.
CROWLEY: We've got less than a minute left. But I want to know what's the most fun part of this book for you to help put together.
COHEN: Oh, it's just kind of -- it's the opportunity to bring together so many different aspects of American politics and the politicians and to be -- to hope that, when politicians come into the news, for example, last week with Bill Thomas, Ways and Means Committee chairman, we know that all sorts of readers and users are going to the almanac to see, well, what was it about Bill Thomas or Pete Stark or whoever?
CROWLEY: So you didn't ever look at something and think, oh, boy, I wish we hadn't written that?
COHEN: More often than not, it holds up pretty well, and we're grateful for that.
CROWLEY: Richard Cohen, we love it, "Almanac of American Politics." Read it all the time. Thanks.
COHEN: Thank you.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired July 28, 2003 - 15:21 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CANDY CROWLEY, CNN SR. POLITICAL CORRESPONDENT: Last week, we tested your political I.Q. using some of the juiciest nuggets from a book most election junkies regard as gospel. The 2004 edition of "The Almanac of American Politics" hit bookstores last Tuesday. But, because of breaking news, we had to hold the segment. Fortunately, we can do it now.
RICHARD COHEN, NATIONAL JOURNAL: Good to be here.
CROWLEY: We're joined by Richard Cohen, a contributor to "The American Almanac."
So if, for instance, someone wanted to know something that would give them insight into a California recall election, what could we find from there?
COHEN: Well, you certainly would find political history of California and the governor, Gray Davis. There would be all sorts of data about the political trends in the state. There would be a sort of profile here of the congressman, Darrell Issa, from San Diego who's kind of led the charge for the recall, and all sorts of political information about California and the other 49 states.
CROWLEY: So I've always wondered who buys -- I mean, we all buy it, obviously, and use it and read it like crazy during election years and off-election years. How much of a market does it have, outside the junkies?
COHEN: Well, it depends how you define junkies.
Here in Washington, folks all over town, Capitol Hill, the political consultants, trade associations, lobbying firms, anyone who deals with Congress and politicians, they probably have this book in their office, because they want to know who the members of Congress are and the 50 governors, and then around the country, in government offices, in companies, all sorts of folks. We have fairly -- I mean, 30,000 to 40,000 copies of this book are sold every year, two years. It's well-read.
CROWLEY: So this is your first post-9/11 almanac.
COHEN: Correct.
CROWLEY: Did anything change in this book?
COHEN: I think, certainly, a lot changed in the country. And the book reflects that. We talk about, the context is so much different for Congress. Members of Congress now kind of are more subservient or have acted in a more subservient way to President Bush. We talk about how the agenda has changed. What had been more of a focus on cultural issues has shifted to defense and national security. And just, generally, the relationship between the president and Congress clearly has been affected by the events of 9/11. And those changes are reflected throughout the profiles in the almanac.
CROWLEY: We've got less than a minute left. But I want to know what's the most fun part of this book for you to help put together.
COHEN: Oh, it's just kind of -- it's the opportunity to bring together so many different aspects of American politics and the politicians and to be -- to hope that, when politicians come into the news, for example, last week with Bill Thomas, Ways and Means Committee chairman, we know that all sorts of readers and users are going to the almanac to see, well, what was it about Bill Thomas or Pete Stark or whoever?
CROWLEY: So you didn't ever look at something and think, oh, boy, I wish we hadn't written that?
COHEN: More often than not, it holds up pretty well, and we're grateful for that.
CROWLEY: Richard Cohen, we love it, "Almanac of American Politics." Read it all the time. Thanks.
COHEN: Thank you.
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
