Mark McKinnon
Mark McKinnon
Mark McKinnonis an American political advisor, reform advocate, media columnist and television producer. He was the chief media advisor to five successful presidential primary and general election campaigns, and is a co-founder of No Labels, an organization dedicated to bipartisanship and political problem solving. He served as vice chairman of Public Strategies, Inc., which was acquired by the international communications consultancy Hill & Knowlton Strategies, and was president of Maverick Media. McKinnon is the co-creator, co-executive producer, and co-host of...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionBusinessman
CountryUnited States of America
Presidential primary debates are an important part of our political process. But the media has wrested complete control from the parties and candidates over everything, including the number, the format, the qualifications, and the moderators. And they've become a circus.
The No Child Left Behind Act will be one of President Bush's enduring legacies. And it was engineered and inaugurated with a truly bipartisan coalition in Congress. Accountability, standards, and truly measuring student performance just makes sense. The only real debate about the law was and is whether or not it was adequately funded.
I've slipped on occasion into the realm of irresponsible invective, but I try to avoid it and generally recant when I fall short. Because name-calling does nothing to improve understanding or move the political debate forward.
To pull off successful attacks in debates, you have to execute with nuance and subtlety. It has to be artful.
The public will see that partisan axes are being ground.
I've never seen the president burdened by the presidency. He's built to deal with really big events. It's in his DNA.
Conventional wisdom may be upside-down. The economy is always an issue, but I think . . . it has to be viewed in different terms. The Gore camp will try to take credit for the economy. I don't think the voters see it that way.
Drone attacks subvert the rule of law - we become judge, jury, and executioner - at the push of a button.
Both campaigns did all they could do. I think both sides will say we both went out swinging and we didn't leave anything on the field.
There's no question the president's legacy will be dominated by Iraq. The war is really driving almost everything in government.
You adapt to the circumstances and the circumstances are different. I get zero sense of that. This is an administration and a president that are like the Marines -- they're used to taking the beach, they're used to getting shelled. But they dig in and they do their jobs.
I think Karl is right back in the middle of the picture, and will be for the foreseeable future.
You know, the Tea Party is a - first of all, it is a significant movement, and I think the media and some pundits have tried to write it off as a bunch of cranks or something. But, in fact, it's really a very legitimate and fairly significant swath of voters out there.
War is often about making the least-worst decision. The same could be said about politics. But the stakes are higher in war, when the commander-in-chief is called upon to defend the nation.