you have all kinds of highfalutin political rhetoric. >> chuck mccutcheon does what? >> he is a longtime washington dc journalist who has been the co-editor of the almanac of american politics, the co-editor of congressional quarterly politics in america. he has written several other books on his own. he wrote a book called "nuclear waste disposal in new mexico." he wrote a middle school book on climate change and how to teach it. he has some other works as well. we are longtime friends. we worked on the hill together. staking out meetings, covering news conferences, trying to piece together what happened. that is how we have known each other. >> where did you learn how to write? >> i was always interested in at the contentst of how stories or articles were written, but the form they took. i was one of those kids who actually read the encyclopedia. i would look up old politicians or cities, or whatever it might be. when the internet really blossomed, this is a cliche in and of itself, but it was like a light went off in my head. i didn't have to lug around books or go

he co-authored "dog whistles, walk-backs and washington handshakes," with chuck mccutcheon. thanks very much for joining us. >> thanks for having me. ♪ >> for free transcripts or to give us your comments about this program, visit us at q-and-a.org. [captions copyright national cable satellite corp. 2014] [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org] this thanksgiving week, c-span is featuring interviews from retired members of congress. watch the interviews monday through thursday at 8:00 p.m. eastern. that to -- some of the people involved in congress back in the 1830's to 1860's. . henry clay, stephen douglas, these people were struggling desperately to try to work out compromises to keep the union of avoid it splitting up. >> i think we have a lot of talented younger members. it is not just, by the way, mrs. pelosi. i think she has been a great leader and she is really good at raising money, but that is not my forte. i was never good at that. traininghave to start younger people and

>> my co-author and i, chuck mccutcheon, had covered congress, we covered campaigns, been out on the trail, watched hundreds of hours of news, maybe thousands of hours. we had heard politicians of all stripes use many of the same phrases. republican, democrat, they would use a lot of these clichÉs. we wanted to explain to people who don't work in politics what these folks are actually getting at. >> when did you become interested in politics? >> that would be in my early college years. i grew up in a political house in southern california where my parents talk about it around the dinner table but i got interested myself around 1992 when i was a freshman in college. the bill clinton presidential campaign was going on against george h.w. bush. i found myself after that very exciting campaign in which a sitting president was defeated, starting to watch congressional proceedings on television. i watched the house and senate. i would hear members of congress use phrases like "my good friend." being young and naive, i figured they actually were friends with each other. years later, i reali

>> my co-author and i, chuck mccutcheon, had covered congress, we covered campaigns, been out on the trail, watched hundreds of hours of news, maybe thousands of hours. we had heard politicians of all stripes use many of the same phrases. republican, democrat, they would use a lot of these cliches. we wanted to explain to people who don't work in politics what these folks are actually getting at. >> when did you become interested in politics? >> that would be in my early college years. i grew up in a political house in southern california where my parents talk about it around the dinner table but i got interested myself around 1992 when i was a freshman in college. the bill clinton presidential campaign was going on against george h.w. bush. i found myself after that very exciting campaign in which a sitting president was defeated, starting to watch congressional proceedings on television. i watched the house and senate. i would hear members of congress use phrases like "my good friend." being young and naive, i figured they actually were friends with each other. years later, i reali