The Cook Political Report is the gold standard in covering campaigns. Its founder Charles Cook started it in 1984 to provide unbiased, nonpartisan analysis of every House and Senate race in the nation.

One of the tools Cook developed is a shorthand for analyzing those races — a rating system that ranges from solid Republican to solid Democrat to “toss-ups," which are races that could go either way.

On today's Political Breakdown, Scott chats with Cook about how analyzing political campaigns has changed, and his decision to step back and have Amy Walter be the lead face of the Cook Political Report.

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