McKinnon signs up with McCain for possible '08 run
8 June 2005. Austin American-Statesman
Ken Herman

WASHINGTON — Media adviser Mark McKinnon, a top strategist in George W. Bush's bruising 2000 presidential campaign against John McCain, has committed to working for the Arizona senator if he runs for president again in 2008, a top GOP consultant confirmed Tuesday. McKinnon called himself "a fan of Senator McCain," but said that any talk about working for a McCain presidential bid is "a hypothetical wrapped in a triple caveat."

"Right now I'm focused on the president's second-term agenda," said
McKinnon, who remains a Bush adviser but has returned to work at
Austin-based Public Strategies, where he is vice chairman.

The source who confirmed McKinnon's plan to sign on with McCain spoke on condition of anonymity because neither McKinnon nor the McCain camp was ready to announce any agreement. The source has been involved in GOP politics at the highest levels for many years.

McCain has said he will make no decision about a 2008 presidential bid until after the 2006 congressional elections.

McCain adviser John Weaver confirmed that McCain and McKinnon have had discussions, but Weaver said it is premature to talk about a role for
McKinnon.

"There is not a campaign to commit to at this point," Weaver said. "They've gotten to know each other. They are friendly with each other.

"The senator admires Mark's excellent work, which we have seen firsthand," Weaver said.

Bush and McCain waged nasty campaigns against each other during the 2000 GOP primaries. The unpleasantness, magnified after McCain's big win over Bush in the New Hampshire primary, included a series of Bush ads that McCain characterized as unfairly negative.

At one point, after removing his negative ads and challenging Bush to do the same, McCain said, "I'm going to do everything in my power not to get down into those weeds. When you wrestle with a pig you both get dirty and the pig likes it."

McKinnon was the Bush campaign's chief media strategist in 2000 and 2004.