A biography for Mark McKinnonhasn’t been written yet.
“Weary of wily politicians who say one thing and do another, voters and advocacy groups insist presidential contenders commit to the cause du jour in writing, but candidates are foolish to comply. Words matter.”
“The press doesn't just cover presidential campaigns, they influence them by making arbitrary decisions about who is 'top tier' and merits coverage.”
“A Rick Santorum presidency would be very, very dangerous for America.”
“Drone attacks subvert the rule of law - we become judge, jury, and executioner - at the push of a button.”
“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.”
“There's only one way we're going to change our political climate and ensure we establish some respect in our discourse. And that is to show there is a real price to pay for being a disrespectful partisan idiot.”
“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.”
“The problem with State of the Union speeches is that they are, by their nature and design, alphabet soup. It's hard to know what a president really cares about when they run down a laundry list and check every issue box under the sun for fear they will offend some constituency if they don't.”
“Mitt Romney is a nice guy. But, we know where nice guys finish in politics.”
“The GOP cannot expect to win the presidency in the future by simply relying on running up big numbers with white voters.”
“Contrary to conventional military and game theory, the most effective offense is sometimes a direct attack against your political opponent's greatest strength - not his weaknesses - to place him immediately on the defensive.”
“The office of the president is the most powerful in the world. It is also, at times, the most powerless.”
“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.”
“Temporary tax cuts don't create permanent confidence, nor permanent jobs.”
“For most of my life, I've considered myself a political centrist.”
“Republicans constantly claim to be the party that defends the Constitution. We have no legitimate right to that claim until we get right on gay rights.”
“There's no question that many factors contribute to voters' perceptions about debates and who wins and who loses.”
“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.”
“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.”
“To pull off successful attacks in debates, you have to execute with nuance and subtlety. It has to be artful.”