Democrats' 2012 Election Strategy for the House & Senate

John Dickerson

John Dickerson is Slate magazine’s chief political correspondent and a political analyst for CBS News. He is also author of On Her Trail, a book about his mother and pioneering newswoman, the late Nancy Dickerson. He has written extensively about the 2008 campaign, the Obama presidency and the tumultuous 2010 campaign. He is also the author of an in-depth series of articles about risk-takers. Prior to joining Slate, Dickerson covered politics for twelve years for TIME magazine. The last four of those years, he was the magazine’s White House correspondent and previously, Capitol Hill correspondent. Dickerson has also written for The New York Times, The Washington Postand Men’s Vogue. At CBS News he has guest-hosted “Face the Nation” several times.

Jennifer Duffy

Jennifer Duffy is a Senior Editor for The Cook Political Report, where she is responsible for U.S. Senate and Governors races. Duffy has 25 years of experience in campaign politics, the last 22 of which have focused on non-partisan political analysis. In 1985, she served as Press Secretary for the National Republican Senatorial Committee; she joined The Cook Political Report in 1988 as its first Assistant Editor. While continuing to work as the Report's contributing editor, Duffy also was a senior account executive with Hill and Knowlton Public Affairs Worldwide and an associate with the lobbying firm of Cassidy & Associates. In 1995, Duffy rejoined Cook & Company full-time. She served as an off-air analyst for NBC News on Election Nights from 1996 through 2008. She has been quoted in numerous publications and has appeared on ABC, NBC, CBS, CNN, PBS' "The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer," and C-SPAN's "Washington Journal." A native of Rhode Island, Duffy received a Bachelor of Arts degree in American Government from Georgetown University in 1985.

Robby Mook

A campaign phenom, Mook is Democrats' best hope to take back the House in 2012.

As the new executive director of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) under Chairman Steve Israel (D-N.Y.), Mook is trying to orchestrate a House Democratic comeback in 2012 after the party suffered record losses in 2010. His work has already started.

Mook has spent most of the last decade jumping from campaign to campaign, working for Democratic heavyweights like Howard Dean, Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.), Hillary Rodham Clinton, Martin O'Malley and Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.), among others.

Chris Van Hollen

Christopher "Chris" Van Hollen, Jr. is a Democratic member of the United States House of Representatives, representing Maryland's 8th congressional district since 2003. The district includes most of Montgomery County, a suburban county adjacent to Washington, D.C., as well as parts of Prince George's County, another county that borders Washington, D.C. Van Hollen was elected as the ranking member on the House Budget Committee on November 17, 2010.

After the Democrats regained control of the House in the 2006 elections, Van Hollen became the chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, the fifth-ranking position among House Democrats. In this post, Van Hollen is responsible for leading efforts to get more Democrats elected to Congress.

David Wasserman

David Wasserman is House Editor of The Cook Political Report, a non-partisan publication that provides analysis of the Presidential, U.S. Senate, House and gubernatorial races for its subscribers. Wasserman is responsible for handicapping and analyzing U.S. House races. Wasserman served as an off-air analyst for NBC News on Election Night 2008, and has appeared on NBC Nightly News, ABC World News, C-SPAN Washington Journal, CNN, and NPR. His commentary on House races has been cited in numerous print and online publications including Politico, The New York Times, The Washington Post, USA Today, The Wall Street Journal, U.S. News & World Report, The Economist, Pollster.com, RealClearPolitics.com, and FiveThirtyEight.com. Prior to joining The Cook Political Report in June 2007, Wasserman served for three years as House Editor of Sabato's Crystal Ball, a widely respected political analysis newsletter and Web site founded by renowned Prof. Larry J. Sabato, Director of the University of Virginia's Center for Politics. In that role, he led the publication to correctly predict Democrats would score a gain of 29 House seats in November 2006. He also served as an off-air analyst for BBC America's Election Night coverage of the 2006 midterm races. Wasserman previously served as an intern for the Cook Political Report in the summer of 2005, and has also worked on numerous political campaigns, including competitive races in Iowa, South Dakota, and Virginia. A native of New Jersey, he holds a B.A. in Government with distinction from the University of Virginia and was awarded the 2006 Emmerich-Wright Outstanding Thesis prize for his study of congressional redistricting standards.

Reid Wilson

Reid Wilson is editor-in-chief of National Journal Hotline, Washington’s premier daily tip sheet on campaigns and elections. He regularly contributes analysis of the national political environment in his weekly column, “On The Trail,” to National Journal Daily and to National Journal Magazine, as well as writing for 2012 Decoded. He regularly appears on MSNBC, CNN, and C-SPAN and is a political contributor to Sirius-XM Radio.

Before becoming Hotline’s editor-in-chief, Mr. Wilson was editor of the political blog Hotline On Call. He has also served as a staff writer at The Hill newspaper, where he covered Congress, politics, campaigns, and elections.

Mr. Wilson spent the 2008 election cycle authoring a popular political blog at RealClearPolitics.com and hosted a nationally-broadcast political talk show on XM Radio, on which he talked with top newsmakers, reporters, and political analysts. He has also written for The New Republic, The Arizona Capitol Times, The Seattle Times, and The Seattle Post-Intelligencer. A native of Seattle, Mr. Wilson graduated from George Washington University.