handicapper

As a result, election handicappers at The Cook Political Report, Inside Elections and Sabato’s Crystal Ball all rate Virginia as more competitive than New Jersey.

Nonpartisan handicappers say this leans Republican but could go Democratic under the right conditions.

In fact, circumstances seem so dire for the GOP that election handicappers like the Cook Political Report think the Democrats — once underdogs — are slightly favored to take back the GOP-controlled Senate, too.

According to Charlie Cook, the Capitol Hill handicapper, nine Senate races now qualify as "tossups."

If he has one it is because the handicapper has been careless.

Then again, he is the official handicapper—another strong man's job—with powers which cannot be overestimated.

He is also the official handicapper, which is a mighty good thing to bear in mind when you play against him.

He's a fourteen pound better horse than Ding Dong ever was; a handicapper would separate them that much on their form.

I had just received it from the "official handicapper," and was considerably interested to find what my men had been given.