CockRing Casanova

By Duane Wells | 5/23/2008

Several months ago Mark McKinnon, Sen. John McCain’s chief advertising strategist, publicly announced that he would resign his role with the McCain organization if Barack Obama became the Democratic Party’s 2008 nominee for president. At the time, McKinnon explained his decision by pointing out that while he believed Mr. Obama was “wrong on some fundamental issues” and that Sen. McCain was best suited for the presidency, Barack Obama’s election to the presidency “would send a great message to the country and the world.”

This week, with Obama now being touted as the likely Democratic president nominee following his primary win in Oregon, Mr. McKinnon, true to his word, stepped down from his post with John McCain’s campaign, saying, "I’ll be transitioning, shifting position from linebacker to head cheerleader," according to a New York Times article. McKinnon also simultaneously acknowledged that he would remain a “friend and fan” of the McCain campaign post the transition.

Please feel free to start scratching your head now.

While Mark McKinnon is to be applauded for his integrity in honoring the commitment he made months ago, the rationale behind his decision to not lead the charge against Barack Obama in a general election match-up against John McCain and his ongoing role within the McCain campaign subsequent to that decision, make his bold and unconventional move both hypocritical and somewhat suspect to this political observer.

First of all, when did considerations about the message a candidate’s election might send to the country or the world begin to outweigh those about that particular candidate’s ability to lead or his or her stance on key policy issues? Are we not electing a commander-in-chief rather than a commander-in charm? Listening to Mr. McKinnon’s logic might lead one to believe that America is choosing the latter.

It hardly seems valid that Mark McKinnon would walk away from his role as the architect of John McCain’s advertising strategy solely on the basis of any grand statement Barack Obama’s election might make. Particularly not if he genuinely believes John McCain is the man who should ultimately reside at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue come January.

I mean, why would anyone so publicly jump off the bandwagon of a candidate they profess to support "1,000 percent" as Mr. McKinnon claimed about Sen. John McCain in an email to campaign staffers? It just doesn’t add up, but then again… it does.

A much more likely reason for Mr. McKinnon’s decision to move to the sidelines of the McCain campaign lies in his desire to win and his uncertainty that Mr. McCain can do that against Barack Obama in the fall. After all, who ever enjoys being a loser? In fact, McKinnon has been quoted as saying, “I just don’t want to work against an Obama candidacy.”

See how it’s all getting a little clearer now?

McKinnon was a media adviser for both George W. Bush’s successful 2000 and 2004 presidential campaigns as well as his winning 1998 gubernatorial campaign. Interestingly, McKinnon, a former Democrat, was also a consultant to the late Ann Richards who Dubya defeated to become governor of Texas in 1994. Perhaps that’s where he first developed a disdain for being on the losing side of an election… an experience upon which his choice to get out of the driver’s seat as McCain’s ad guru in chief in this election may have been predicated.

You know what they say… once bitten, twice shy.

There’s also the nagging issue of race that running against Barack Obama raises. As some Democrats, Clinton supporters in particular, have learned the hard way in this year’s primaries and caucuses, it’s not easy to attack an African-American candidate without being labeled a racist. As a recent New York Times piece on the subject observes, “Mr. McKinnon’s decision highlights challenges Mr. McCain may face in running against a man who will be the first black presidential candidate from a major American political party if he cinches the Democratic nomination.”

Here’s the deal. This race could get very ugly, very quickly despite calls from all sides—Obama, Hillary Clinton and McCain—to focus on the issues, rather than the muck. But we all know that this may well be the political fight of the century and that there’s no way the ultimate nominees are going to be playing kissy face with one another up through November. For the love of all things holy, this is a fight for America’s soul as well as its future and it’s going to get bloody! Period.

Maybe McKinnon does not want any part in all of the ugliness that is sure to ensue. Maybe Mr. McKinnon just doesn’t want to be the man responsible for tearing down and dissecting a man who, whether you like him or not, will make history if he becomes the nominee, win or lose. Maybe, just maybe, McKinnon wants no part of a strategy that will likely involve Republicans angling for the swing state votes of the white, middle class voters, seniors, Latinos and women who now favor Hillary Clinton, but could quite easily be swung into the Republican column with a little help from the race card and a reprise of Mr. Obama’s ‘bittergate’, Rev. Jeremiah Wright and William Ayers scandals.

Any of the above would offer valid reasons to distance oneself from the McCain camp. But to leave a campaign because you think the message a rival candidate’s election might convey to the world at large, however inept that candidate might be, is quite beyond the pale.

Another more believable reason for McKinnon’s decision to take a back seat in this election is the possibility that perhaps he’s just not that into John McCain. According to some published reports, McKinnon has a tendency get totally swept up by the candidates he represents.

In a 2005 PBS Frontline interview, McKinnon spoke almost lovingly of how he was charmed out of a lifetime of service to the Democratic Party by George W. Bush’s ‘humanity’ and ‘character’.

When asked what made him decide to accept Pres. Bush’s invitation to work on his 1998 gubernatorial campaign, McKinnon said: “Well, what tipped it for me was his humanity. And again, it was a character. When I first met the governor, our discussion was really framed—I’m not surprised that he was a good politician; I was surprised at what a great human being he was, what he cared about. He talked about his family and priority in life. All the other politicians I’ve met before and worked for were trying to convince me about what great politicians they were. This guy was like: ‘Let’s forget about politics—how are your kids? What’s going on in their lives?’ It was just so different and refreshing.”

Sounds like a blissful union. It also sounds like it wouldn’t be such a stretch to conclude that while McKinnon is probably a great fan of John McCain’s, he’s no George W. Bush to him either.

If Mark McKinnon had stepped down as he said he would because he didn’t want to campaign against Barack Obama and left it at that, it would have been an unvarnished act of true political courage. If he had then thrown his support to Barack Obama’s camp, even I might have been convinced of Barack Obama’s ability to bring together the parties.

But because he decided to relinquish the reins of John McCain advertising strategy while still advising him about the same and describing himself as a "1,000 percent McCain man" in an email, McKinnon is the hypocrite of the week.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, May 27th, 2008 at 4:24 pm and is filed under The Ring. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.