When you look at the money spent by labor unions for Democrats, it comes as no surprise the Democrats crafted a campaign-finance ‘disclosure’ bill with the thresholds adjusted to exempt unions. – Mark McKinnon
Republicans working in leadership and the trenches are largely old, white, male, out-of-touch, out of ideas, technology averse, and living in the past. – Mark McKinnon
Conservative women in politics run a punishing gauntlet. They endure psychological evaluations and near-gynecological exams their male and liberal counterparts do not. – Mark McKinnon
I don’t claim any moral or ethical high ground, but I also have chosen not to run for public office. Shouldn’t there be a higher standard of conduct for public officials? – Mark McKinnon
Who the hell ever dreamed up a tie? It’s just such a weird idea, and yet it has been literally hanging around forever as the one constant and boring men’s fashion staple. – Mark McKinnon
Now personally, I think the president should golf every day and never have a press conference. I want the leader of the free world to be as stress-free as possible. And if golf helps fade the psychic heat from the job, by all means tee it up often, Mr. President. – Mark McKinnon
Running for president is hard. But it’s good preparation. Because being president is a lot harder. – Mark McKinnon
Sometime in the not too distant future, denying gays the right to marry will be viewed as historically corrupt – as corrupt as denying slaves their freedom. – Mark McKinnon
Having been heavily involved in the planning of a couple of G.O.P. conventions, my view is, we should just scrap ’em. Cancel ’em. Just figure out an appropriate forum for the nominee to give an acceptance speech and be done with it. – Mark McKinnon
As history has repeatedly proven, one trade tariff begets another, then another – until you’ve got a full-blown trade war. No one ever wins, and consumers always get screwed. – Mark McKinnon
Public employees contribute real value for the benefit of all citizens. Public-union bosses collect real money from all taxpayers for the benefit of a few. – Mark McKinnon
What strikes me when I leave Washington is the extent to which there’s a huge disconnect between Washington and the rest of the country. The rest of the country is not hyper partisan. – Mark McKinnon
Immigration reform almost happened under President George W. Bush. Twice. And it was comprehensive. – Mark McKinnon
Wages, investments, and home values are the three legs of the economic stool for most Americans. – Mark McKinnon
Special interests and opponents have figured out how easy it is to disrupt town halls and get their own message out. The days of the truly free-form town halls may be over. – Mark McKinnon
The press doesn’t just cover presidential campaigns, they influence them by making arbitrary decisions about who is ‘top tier’ and merits coverage. – Mark McKinnon
I think Barack Obama is one of the most exciting politicians to come along in a long time. – Mark McKinnon
Technology has had more of an impact on the presidency and how the presidency communicates than anything. – Mark McKinnon
If you’re a Democrat and ‘The New York Times’ is calling for your head, you know it’s time for an exit strategy. – Mark McKinnon
I don’t think that the press in 2004 was any more unfair to Bush than they were to Kerry. – Mark McKinnon
My brother is one of my true heroes. Steady and sober where I am impulsive and emotional. – Mark McKinnon
Outside events can change a presidential campaign, a president, and the history of the nation: the Iranian hostage crisis, the bombing of the Marine barracks in Beirut, the downing of the helicopter in Mogadishu, Somalia, the suicide attack on the USS Cole, and, of course, the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. – Mark McKinnon
You know, Republicans should have a consistent philosophy. And if your philosophy is about limited government and not intruding in people’s lives, you shouldn’t just inconveniently take a social issue like gay marriage and say, ‘Well, unless we think – actually we should be intruding your life.’ – Mark McKinnon
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. – Mark McKinnon
As a husband and as a father of girls, I cannot imagine any woman in my family making the sacrifice of sanity required to run for office. The limited reward for public service cannot blunt the cost. – Mark McKinnon
Politics only makes the difficult challenge of marriage even harder, with the demands of the job and the public spotlight it casts on a union. – Mark McKinnon
I’ll tell you, Liz Cheney is going to be a very good candidate. I worked with her during the Bush campaigns. She’s smart, she’s focused, she’s disciplined – and she’s got a great back story. She’s got a large family. She’s a great mom. And she’s a hard worker. I think she’s going to be a very effective campaigner. – Mark McKinnon
Great presidents, and even those not so great, never complained about the hands they were dealt. Just the opposite. They assumed they were in the big chair to meet big challenges, no matter how difficult. – Mark McKinnon
