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McKinnon Denounces "Mutiny"
The Page by Mark Halperin —
... is Seabiscuit, and/but Obama is Secretariat -- so don't blame Steve Schmidt if the Democrat wins -- and he urges an end to the burgeoning circular firing squad in GOP ranks.
"I don't defend everything the campaign has done. . . . [I]t doesn't mean that I disagree with the fundamental strategic premise that in order to win, McCain had to disqualify Obama. I knew that, and I knew that's where the campaign would have to go."
Essential reading here. ...
The Economy, Stupid
The Stump —
Former McCain advisor Mark McKinnon: If not for a major economic event that interceded a few weeks ago (for
which a strong majority of voters blame Republicans), this race might
still be competitive. It isn’t Steve Schmidt’s fault. It’s the economy,
stupid. Obama's run a terrific campaign, but I think it's easy for Democrats to forget this. I had a similar thought looking at the latest ABC News/Washington Post tracking poll today: Obama kills McCain on the economy, 55-40. But the candidates are tied on ...
Mark McKinnon Dissents a Bit, But Also Defends Steve Schmidt
Swampland —
... George W. Bush's old ad man, Mark McKinnon was once at the center of the John McCain brain trust, but he walked away months ago because he knew the campaign would have to "disqualify Obama," and he didn't want to do that. Like many Republicans, he has chosen now to weigh in on what went wrong with the campaign. Unlike some of the others, he opines that there are not really any strategies that could have done any better. He writes: ...
Bonus Quote of the Day
Taegan Goddard's Political Wire —
"I just didn't want to be part of a campaign that would inevitably have
to attack Obama and tear him down. But it doesn't mean that I disagree
with the fundamental strategic premise that in order to win, McCain had
to disqualify Obama. I knew that, and I knew that's where the campaign
would have to go. And I so I sat it out." -- GOP media strategist Mark McKinnon, writing for the Daily Beast.
Saturday reading: Standard time
Jonathan Martin's Blog —
Stephen Hayes notices one little subject missing from the campaign: national security.
Fred Barnes calls out the Palin critics.
Mark McKinnon sticks up for Steve Schmidt.
Nagourney traces McCain’s shortcomings in Florida.
As the GOP ticket visits Iowa, the Des Moines register wonders why.
The fourth straight Ohio poll shows Obama leading.
Peggy Noonan ponders the meaning of 43 percent.
Republicans plan for the postgame.
AP scrutinizes ...
Sunday reading: Ambivalence
Ben Smith's Blog —
... Wieseltier and Michael O'Hanlon.
Less ambivalent:
McCain really had good reason to be irritated at his long session with the Des Moines Register.
The Philly Daily News is incredulous at Palin's favoring the rural minority.
The ADN endorses Obama, calls its hometown governor a risk.
Frank Rich celebrates "racists for Obama."
Obama calls the wife of a volunteer who died canvassing.
Mark McKinnon defends Steve Schmidt, and takes veiled shots at other current and former McCain ...
Stop the Circular Firing Squad
The Next Right —
... Folks, listen to Mark McKinnon on this one: There is nothing to be gained by second-guessing the McCain strategy at this point. In ten days, we'll get to have a discussion about where we go next -- about Sarah Palin, Bobby Jindal, Mitt Romney, Mike Huckabee, or Eric Cantor. We'll have to elect a new RNC Chairman who gets to figure out how we rubuild the edifice from scratch and wage the first $1 billion campaign in 2012. We're going to have new people at the NRCC and NRSC who are going to have to come to terms with the fact that there are no safe seats anywhere, and that we need ...
Laying the predicate
Jonathan Martin's Blog —
Mark McKinnon takes to the Daily Beast -- Tina Brown's new venture -- to speak out against the start of the GOP's precriminations.
McKinnon, who did McCain's TV ads gratis for much of the GOP primary before stepping aside rather than take down Obama, devotes much of his piece to sticking up for Steve Schmidt.
We'll see more of this in the days ahead, but as interesting to me is something that I've also picked up in not for attribution conversations with folks in McCainworld in recent days as prospects for a comeback have dimmed and the spin has begun to ...
Events, My Dear Boy, Events
The Daily Dish | By Andrew Sullivan —
Mark McKinnon doesn't blame McCain for the type of campaign he has run: I don’t defend everything the campaign has done. But I also don’t think they had many options, and they tried them all. I left the campaign after serving as McCain’s media adviser during the primary. I left because I respect and admire Barack Obama, though I disagree with him politically. I just didn’t want to be part of a campaign that would inevitably have to attack Obama and tear him down. But it doesn’t mean that I disagree with the fundamental strategic premise that in order to win, ...
Missing Karl Rove
Ross Douthat —
After the election we're going to read a lot of analyses like this one from Mark McKinnon, arguing that second-guessing is unfair, and that in an impossible year for Republicans, Steve Schmidt and company did the absolute best they could. Today, before McCain roars back in the last three days and renders all the second-guessing moot ( ...
