CQ WEEKLY
– COVER STORY
Aug. 28, 2008 – 4:04 p.m.
McCain’s Political Team
By David Nather, CQ Staff
The top political advisers in John McCain ’s inner circle include veterans of his 2000 presidential race and his Senate office, as well as experienced operatives from President Bush’s campaigns and Rudolph Giuliani’s unsuccessful race for this year’s Republican nomination.
Rick Davis, Campaign Manager
A longtime political ally who ran McCain’s first presidential campaign in 2000, Davis took over the current campaign after a staff shake-up in 2007 and now oversees long-term strategy. He is on leave from his lobbying firm, Davis Manafort. Prior to the 2000 McCain campaign, Davis was a deputy campaign manager for Bob Dole in 1996 and worked on the presidential campaigns of Ronald Reagan and George Bush.
Steve Schmidt, Chief Strategist
The veteran of the “war room” in President Bush’s 2004 re-election campaign took charge of the campaign’s day-to-day operations in July. A former communications director for the National Republican Congressional Committee and the House Energy and Commerce Committee, Schmidt ran California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger ’s successful re-election campaign in 2006.
Mike DuHaime, Deputy Campaign Manager/Political Director
Before joining the McCain team, he was the campaign manager for former New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani’s unsuccessful bid for the White House. He was also the political director at the Republican National Committee and regional political director for Bush’s re-election campaign.
Christian Ferry, Deputy Campaign Manager
Ferry is a former lobbyist for Davis Manafort, Rick Davis’ firm. He also served as a special assistant to the Virginia secretary of natural resources in the administration of Gov. James S. Gilmore III.
Bill Stepien, Field Director
Another veteran of the Giuliani team, Stepien was the national field director in that campaign and also ran the last-minute get-out-the-vote effort at the Republican National Committee in 2006.
Mark Salter, Senior Adviser
The former chief of staff of McCain’s Senate office has been his longtime speechwriter and co-author of his five books. He has worked for McCain for 19 years and is able to channel his thinking better than anyone else in his inner circle.
McCain’s Political Team
Charles R. Black Jr., Senior Adviser
A longtime Republican operative who advised Presidents Ronald Reagan and George Bush, Black is also a top Washington lobbyist who resigned as chairman of BKSH & Associates to work for McCain. He has been a political consultant for Sens. Robert Dole, Phil Gramm, Jesse Helms and Dave Durenberger.
Nicolle Wallace, Senior Adviser
Before joining the McCain campaign earlier this year, she was the communications director for Bush’s re-election campaign and later held the same title in the White House.
John Green, Director of Congressional Affairs
The top liaison between the McCain campaign and Congress is a former aide to Sen. Trent Lott . He is on leave from his job as the managing director of the lobbying firm Ogilvy Government Relations.
Bill McInturff, Polling
The partner and co-founder of Public Opinion Strategies has focused much of his recent work on health care, polling for such clients as the Kaiser Family Foundation. In the 1990s, he did the message and advertising testing for the “Harry and Louise ads” that helped turn public opinion against President Bill Clinton’s health care overhaul plan.
Fred Davis, Mike Hudome, Chris Mottola, Media
The three admakers, who make up the core of a team called Foxhole Productions, took over McCain’s media after chief strategist Mark McKinnon left the campaign in May. McKinnon, who also produced Bush’s ads, had pledged not to work against Obama if he became the Democratic nominee.
Susan Nelson, Finance Director
A former finance director for the Republican Governors Association, Nelson resigned as a lobbyist for the Texas-based Loeffler Group to join the McCain campaign. She also served as deputy national finance director for Sen. Phil Gramm’s 1996 presidential campaign.
Lindsey Graham , Joseph I. Lieberman , Political Advisers
McCain’s Political Team
Graham, a conservative Republican senator from South Carolina with an independent streak similar to McCain’s, has been a close friend and ally since McCain’s 2000 presidential race. Lieberman, the 2000 Democratic vice presidential nominee and now an independent senator from Connecticut, sides with McCain and Graham on foreign policy and heads up Citizens for McCain, an arm of the campaign that reaches out to independent voters.
POST A COMMENT
Oops! The following errors must be addressed: