Featured Speakers

Charlie Cook | Clarence Otis, Jr. | Stuart Rothenberg


Charlie Cook is the publisher of The Cook Political Report and a political analyst for the National Journal Group, where he writes weekly for National Journal magazine and CongressDailyAM. He also writes a regular column for the Washington Quarterly, published by the Center for Strategic and International Studies, and is a political analyst for NBC News. Cook uses his encyclopedic knowledge of American politics, memorable stories, quick with, and important insights to craft speeches that both entertain and provide timely information about the changing political climate.

Widely regarded as one of the nation’s leading authorities on U.S. elections and political trends, Charlie has appeared on the ABC, CBS and NBC evening news programs, as well as on Good Morning America, the Today Show, Nightline, Meet the Press with Tim Russert, and This Week. He has also appeared many times on CNBC, MSNBC, CNN, C-SPAN, CNN, and National Public Radio.

Before joining the National Journal Group in June of 1998, Charlie wrote for 12 years a twice-weekly column in Roll Call, the newspaper of Capitol Hill. Charlie also served as an election night analyst for CBS in 1990 and 1992, and for NBC in 1994, 1996, 1998, 2000, 2002 and 2004.

The New York Times has called Cook, "...one of the best political handicappers in the nation" and noted that The Cook Political Report is "...a newsletter that both parties regard as authoritative," while Bob Schieffer of CBS News has called the Cook Political Report, "the bible of the political community." The Wall Street Journal's Al Hunt once referred to Cook as "the Picasso of election analysis," while David Broder of The Washington Post has written that Charlie Cook is "perhaps the best non-partisan tracker of Congressional races."

A hugely popular political speaker, Cook addresses dozens of national and regional associations and corporate clients each year. Using his encyclopedic knowledge of American politics, memorable stories, quick wit, and meaningful insights, he crafts speeches to provide his audiences with timely information about the changing political climate.

Cook’s speaking topics include a broad overview of upcoming elections, an examination of President Bush’s and Congress’ agendas, and perceptive commentaries on policy-making in Washington. In a balanced manner, he audiences with the concrete information they need to hear about today’s political and legislative environments.

Clarence Otis, Jr. was elected chief executive officer of Darden
Restaurants, Inc. in November 2004, and assumed the duties of chairman of the board one year later.

At Darden, Otis heads the world's largest casual dining restaurant company, which operates more than 1,700 Red Lobster, Olive Garden, LongHorn Steakhouse, The Capital Grille, Bahama Breeze and Seasons 52 restaurants in North America, and employs more than 170,000 people who serve 325 million meals annually.

Otis, 52, has been with Darden for more than 12 years. He joined the company as vice president and treasurer, and was soon named chief financial officer. Otis steered Darden’s complex financing division through years of strong earnings and helped author the company’s long-term financial strategies and strategic framework, which incorporated Darden’s core purpose, values, vision, goals and strategies.

Prior to joining Darden, Otis served as managing director and manager of public finance for Chemical Securities, Inc. (now JP Morgan Securities, Inc.). He has also worked for Siebert
Municipal Capital Group as managing director and principal; The First Boston Corporation as vice president, public finance; and Kidder, Peabody & Company as assistant vice president, public finance.

A member of the New York Bar Association, Otis earned a Juris Doctor degree from Stanford Law School in 1980. In 1977, Otis earned a bachelor’s degree, magna cum laude, from Williams
College in Williamstown, Mass., where he was member of the Phi Beta Kappa Society.

Stuart Rothenberg is editor and publisher of The Rothenberg Political Report, a Washington-based biweekly newsletter that reports on and analyzes United States House, Senate and gubernatorial elections, presidential politics and current political developments.

Rothenberg is a prolific writer, whose commentary has been featured in newspapers throughout the country. He writes a twice-a-week column in Capitol Hill’s Roll Call and has frequently contributed opinion pieces to the Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, Long Island’s Newsday and The Orlando Sentinel.

Rothenberg’s political expertise has made him a frequent soundbite on network television news. He has appeared on ABC’s This Week, the CBS Evening News with Dan Rather, NBC’s Meet the Press, PBS’s News Hour with Jim Lehrer, The McLaughlin Group, The Today Show, CNN’s Inside Politics, and C-SPAN.

Mr. Rothenberg has been an analyst for CNN since 1996. During the 1996 and 2000 Presidential elections, he also served as an analyst for the Voice of America (VOA), and he was an on-camera election night analyst for CNN for over ten years.

Mr. Rothenberg has been speaking to corporate and association audiences around the country for over a decade, helping them identify and stay on top of political trends. His humorous anecdotes and voluminous knowledge keep his audiences entertained and informed.