"We do things socially," she says. "My son takes singing lessons from Camille. We have dinner or see a movie with them. Camille is one of my best friends in the world."

The pile-on continued. Ron T. Nielsen, a former campaign consultant, had filed a lawsuit against Cook in 1997, claiming he was owed money for services rendered. After several postponements by Nielsen's attorneys, the trial took place between the 2000 convention and the primary while Cook was trying to regain the Republican nomination.

In the end, Cook was ordered to pay for Nielsen's services as well as attorney fees for both sides. It wound up costing him more than $500,000, eating up his entire congressional salary and forcing him to liquidate his stock portfolio.

Out of favor

None of this helped Cook's standing with the Republican Party, which was shaky to begin with. Not only had he left the party previously and opposed party agenda, while in Washington he had hired Democrats for his

staff and continued to vote against the party line. In Washington, Cook says he was frequently taken to the so-called Cloak Room, an area in the Capitol where frequent arm twisting takes place to win votes for certain bills.

"I never felt I owed a thing to a party hierarchy or to a large contributor," he says. "I felt I owed a lot to the people who elected me. They spent hours on me in that Cloak Room. When they found they could not do anything to change my mind, they gave up on me."

Cook says party power brokers really turned up the heat on him when he indicated he would vote against a bill granting China most-favored-nation trade status. Because he refused to capitulate, Cook says he lost more than $250,000 in campaign contributions from BIPAC — the Business Industry Political Action Committee, which is comprised of blue-chip corporations (which had previously endorsed him).

Cook didn't win the Republican nomination for 2000.

"He is so passionate about what he believes in, and it was his undoing," says Reed. "He stood his ground on China. There was a lot of arm twisting. He didn't care. There were people telling him, 'We'll make sure you win; we'll put up money for you.' But he refused, even at the cost of losing."

In the years that followed, which included two lost political races (for Congress and county mayor), Cook has been dogged by the lunatic brand. Reed, among other Cook associates, was approached frequently by people asking her, "Is he crazy?"