Larry Sabato
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| Larry J. Sabato | |
|---|---|
| Born | August 7, 1952  Norfolk, Virginia, U.S. |
| Occupation | Professor |
| Website | http://www.larrysabato.com |
Larry J. Sabato (born August 7, 1952) is the Robert Kent Gooch Professor of Politics at the University of Virginia, director of their Center for Politics, and a political analyst. He was called "the most-quoted college professor in the land" by the Wall Street Journal in 1994.[1]
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[edit] Early life
Sabato grew up in Norfolk, Virginia, graduating from Norfolk Catholic High School in 1970. Four years later, he graduated from the University of Virginia. A 1974 Cavalier Daily poll showed more people could identify Sabato as student government president than could name Edgar Shannon as University president. [1] Sabato graduated Phi Beta Kappa with a degree in government before studying at Princeton University. Following his study at Princeton, he was awarded a Rhodes Scholarship that brought him to study at Queen's College at Oxford University.
[edit] Author
Sabato has authored over twenty books on politics, his best-known volumes including Feeding Frenzy: Attack Journalism and American Politics and The Rise of Political Consultants: New Ways of Winning Elections. His most recent book, released in October 2007, is A More Perfect Constitution. Other Sabato books include The Sixth Year Itch: The Rise and Fall of the George W. Bush Presidency, Divided States of America: The Slash and Burn Politics of the 2004 Presidential Election, and Get in the Booth! A Citizen's Guide to the 2004 Election. He also issues a political newsletter, Sabato's Crystal Ball. He has also written textbooks used by high school and college American government classes. He has been a frequent guest analyst on cable news outlets as well as radio programs.
Prior to his time as a political analyst, Sabato worked for nine years with Virginia Democratic politician Henry Howell. At the age of 15, Sabato joined Howell's first campaign for the Virginia governorship in 1968, and then worked on his successful run for lieutenant governor in 1971, and his campaigns for governor in 1973 and 1977.[2]
He was classmates at the University of Virginia with former Senator George Allen. Sabato was the subject of controversy in 2006 when he appeared on MSNBC's Hardball with Chris Matthews and said that he knew Allen had used the word nigger, but later admitted to the Hampton Roads Daily Press that he had never heard Allen say the word himself. [3]
[edit] Predictions
In 2004, he correctly predicted the outcome of 525 of the 530 political races, missing only one House race, one Senate race, one governor's race, and two states in the Electoral College. [4]
In 2006, Sabato predicted that the Democrats would gain 29 seats in the House of Representatives and 6 seats in the Senate, which would provide them with a majority in both houses. Sabato's prediction that the Democrats would win back both houses proved correct; his Senate predictions were exactly correct while, in the House, Democrats gained 30 seats, just one more than Sabato's predictions. [5]
[edit] References
[edit] Sources and External links
- Center for Politics bio
- Sabato's Crystal Ball
- 2004 predictions
- Barnes, Lindsay. "Life of Larry: How Sabato faces the election." The Hook. November 2, 2006. Retrieved November 3, 2006. [6]
