Top Media Advisor McKinnon: “Working for President Bush… is like working for the Royal British Navy. Working for John McCain is like working for the Pirates of the Caribbean.”
On Saturday, April 28, Mark McKinnon - one of the top media advisors in the nation, who served as chief media advisor to President Bush in both his 2000 and 2004 campaign victories - wittily described the difference between the campaign environments surrounding George W. Bush and Senator McCain.
McKinnon - listed by GWU as “Media Strategist” in the McCain organization, and who clearly is among the McCain high command - told the Washington Post in detail about the 2004 rapprochement between Bush and McCain, after the bitter nomination battle in 2000. According to the Post article:
“Among the Bush advisers who have joined McCain’s campaign are McKinnon, Terry Nelson, Tom Loeffler and Steve Schmidt. McKinnon said he was ‘given a green light’ by the White House, although Bush remains neutral in the nomination contest. Making the switch, McKinnon said, was a bit of a culture shock. ‘Working for President Bush and the Bush world is like working for the Royal British Navy,’ he said. ‘Working for John McCain is like working for the Pirates of the Caribbean.’ “
McKinnon is president of Maverick Media, vice-chairman of Public Strategies, Inc., and co-founder of HOTSOUP.com, according to GWU.