Mark McKinnon

File:Mark McKinnon - arrest.jpg

Mark McKinnon was born in Boulder, Colorado, and was raised in Denver.{{Cite news|url=http://articles.latimes.com/2000/oct/07/news/mn-32825/3|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160807191756/http://articles.latimes.com/2000/oct/07/news/mn-32825/3|url-status=dead|archive-date=August 7, 2016|title=For One Ad Man, a Leap of Faith|access-date=April 5, 2016|date=October 7, 2000|work=Los Angeles Times|first=Jeff|last=Leeds|issn=0458-3035|oclc=3638237}}{{Cite news|url=http://blog.chron.com/txpotomac/2008/05/where-are-they-now-mark-mckinnon/|title=Where are they now? Mark McKinnon|access-date=April 5, 2016|work=Houston Chronicle|first=Patrick|last=Brendel|date=May 14, 2008|issn=1074-7109}} He performed in a band called Daybreak and, following his junior year, dropped out of high school and hitchhiked to Nashville, Tennessee.{{Cite news|url=http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2010/02/22/the-gift-of-cancer.html|title=The Gift of Cancer|first=Mark|last=McKinnon|website=The Daily Beast|publisher=IAC|date=February 22, 2010|access-date=April 5, 2016}} There he began his career as a songwriter and worked alongside Kris Kristofferson.{{cite magazine|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,992707,00.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20050120134651/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,992707,00.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=January 20, 2005|title=Mark McKinnon|magazine=Time|date=November 29, 1999|access-date=April 5, 2016|first=James|last=Carney|issn=0040-781X|oclc=1311479}} McKinnon returned to Denver to complete high school,{{cite web|url=http://www.austinchronicle.com/gyrobase/Issue/story?oid=oid%3A76395|title=The Loyal Lieutenants: Bush Applies Litmus Test of Allegiance in Choosing Inner Circle|work=The Austin Chronicle|date=March 17, 2000|access-date=April 5, 2016|first=Robert|last=Bryce}} then made his way back to Nashville to continue pursuing music. He was named the "New Folk" winner at the 1975 Kerrville Folk Festival.{{Cite news|url=http://www.statesman.com/news/news/local-obituaries/rod-kennedy-created-kerrville-folk-festival-as-a-p/nfZg6/|title=Rod Kennedy created Kerrville Folk Festival as a place for music written from the heart|first=Peter|last=Blackstock|date=April 14, 2014|access-date=April 5, 2016|work=Austin American-Statesman|publisher=Cox Media Group|issn=1553-8451}}

In 1976, McKinnon moved to Austin, Texas, where he earned a living as a musician. McKinnon enrolled at the University of Texas at Austin and served as editor of the student newspaper The Daily Texan during 1980–1981. While working for the newspaper, he was jailed briefly on a First Amendment issue after refusing to provide to police unpublished photographs of an Iranian student protest. During this period he also investigated Child prostitution rings he alleged operated within Texas, discussing his findings on the public access TV show, Alternative Views.{{cite web |title=Alternative Views #126,127: BOYS FOR SALE (PARTS I&II) |year=1981 |url=https://archive.org/details/AV_126_127-BOYS_FOR_SALE/AV-126.mpeg |access-date=27 October 2020 |ref=tv_interview}} He left the university before completing his undergraduate work.

McKinnon's first political campaign experience was volunteering for then Texas State Senator Lloyd Doggett's 1984 U.S. Senate campaign, where he worked with James Carville and Paul Begala, who promoted McKinnon to the role of press secretary.{{cite web|url=http://www.texasmonthly.com/1996-11-01/feature5-1.php|title=The Spin Doctor Is Out|work=Texas Monthly|date=November 1996|access-date=April 5, 2016|publisher=Emmis Communications|issn=0148-7736}}{{cite news|url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rory-oconnor/the-best-reason-to-suppor_b_87473.html|title=The Best Reason to Support Obama|first=Rory|last=O'Connor|date=May 25, 2011|access-date=April 5, 2016|work=The Huffington Post}} McKinnon then worked for former Texas Governor Mark White during his 1985–1986 re-election campaign, followed by former Louisiana Governor Buddy Roemer's campaign in 1987. In the late-1980s, he went to work for the New York-based international political media consulting company Sawyer Miller Group.{{Cite journal|url=http://adage.com/article/news/eclectic-execs-bush-league/60171/|title=Eclectic execs aren't bush league|date=November 29, 1999|access-date=April 5, 2016|journal=Advertising Age|publisher=Crain Communications|first=Ira|last=Teinowitz}}

After returning to Texas, McKinnon joined the firm Public Strategies, Inc. in 1990, serving as its vice chairman beginning in 1991. He spent the next several years working on many Texas Democratic winning campaigns,{{cite web|url=http://www.politicsdaily.com/2009/07/20/bush-consultant-mark-mckinnon-obama-hasnt-gotten-all-ideologi/ |title=Bush Consultant Mark McKinnon – Obama Hasn't Gotten All Ideological|website=Politics Daily|access-date=March 1, 2010}} including those of Governor Ann Richards (1990), former Houston Mayor Bob Lanier (2001), and the Congressman Charlie Wilson.{{Cite news|url=https://news.wgbh.org/2016/02/05/boston-public-radio-podcast/mark-mckinnon-politics-predictions-and-producing-circus|title=Mark McKinnon: Politics, Predictions, And Producing The Circus|date=February 5, 2016|access-date=April 13, 2016|first=Tori|last=Bedford|publisher=WGBH-TV|location=Boston, Massachusetts}} In 1994, McKinnon worked on Bob Bullock's re-election campaign for Lieutenant Governor of Texas. In 1996, he announced that he was shifting gears and leaving partisan politics. In his Texas Monthly article entitled "The Spin Doctor Is Out", McKinnon wrote that he "won't miss desperate candidates, manic campaign managers and last-minute attack and response ads".

McKinnon returned to politics after meeting then Governor George W. Bush at a dinner at the governor's mansion. Following this encounter, McKinnon and Bush developed a personal relationship. According to Karl Rove, "Bush and McKinnon clicked from moment one. In a bow to McKinnon's cool image, Bush dubbed him 'M-Kat.{{'"}}{{Cite book|last=Rove|first=Karl|title=Courage and Consequence|page=119|publisher=Threshold Editions|year=2010}} Of his relationship with Bush, McKinnon said, "We had a personal relationship before we had a professional relationship. And when Texas' Democratic lieutenant governor Bob Bullock endorsed Bush over the Democratic gubernatorial nominee — his own god-son — well that's when I crossed the bridge. But it was not an easy decision."

During a Frontline interview describing the former president's ascendance into the national political arena, McKinnon said, "Governor Bush was doing some things that really got my attention. He was talking about education reform. He was talking about immigration reform. He was talking about issues that had typically been Democratic issues. He was talking about them in a really compassionate way."{{cite web|url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/architect/interviews/mckinnon.html|title=The Architect – Karl Rove – Interview with Mark McKinnon|date=12 April 2005|publisher=PBS|access-date=April 5, 2016}} McKinnon said that he was particularly "impressed with how he'd gotten ahead of the Republican Party".

After being recommended to Bush by Bullock,{{Cite book|last=Rove|first=Karl|title=Courage and Consequence|page=118|publisher=Threshold Editions|year=2010}} McKinnon led the advertising and media team for Bush's gubernatorial campaign in 1998. That same year, he became president of Maverick Media, which was created for the purpose of electing Bush as president.{{cite web|url=http://projects.publicintegrity.org/consultants/default.aspx?act=profiles&pid=2|title=Accountability: Mark McKinnon (Maverick Media): Consultant profile: Major clients in 2003-2004: George W. Bush (R)|access-date=April 5, 2016|publisher=Center for Public Integrity|first=Chris|last=Landers|date=September 26, 2006}} He worked on Bush's first presidential campaign as the chief media advisor, directing the advertising effort in 2000, a role he would reprise in the 2004 elections. President Bush appointed McKinnon to serve as a member of the Broadcasting Board of Governors, the independent, autonomous entity responsible for all U.S. government sponsored, non-military, international broadcasting.{{cite web|url=http://www.charlierose.com/guest/view/2707|title=Mark McKinnon Interview on Charlie Rose|publisher=CharlieRose.com|access-date=March 1, 2010|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090716161937/http://www.charlierose.com/guest/view/2707|archive-date=July 16, 2009}}

McKinnon began serving as the principal media advisor for Senator McCain's presidential bid for the Republican primaries in January, 2007, but decided to leave the campaign on May 21, 2008. Explaining his decision, McKinnon said that he preferred not to campaign against Illinois Senator Barack Obama, the presumptive Democratic Party nominee for president because Obama's election "would send a great message to the country and the world."{{cite news|url=http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/washington/2008/05/mccain.html|title=Mark McKinnon, true to vow, exits McCain team rather than fight Obama|work=Los Angeles Times|date=May 20, 2008|access-date=April 5, 2016}} In leaving his advisory role, McKinnon said he preferred to be a "fan, friend, and cheerleader" for McCain's campaign,{{cite news |url=http://www.huffingtonpost.com/rory-oconnor/nbc-wrong-on-mccainmckinn_b_121555.html|title=NBC Wrong on McCain/McKinnon Claim|work=The Huffington Post|date=September 27, 2008|access-date=April 5, 2016|first=Rory |last=O'Connor}} but preferred not to be the "tip of the spear in attacking him [Obama]."{{cite web|url= http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2009-07-04/how-her-mind-works/|title=How Her Mind Works|work=The Huffington Post|date=July 4, 2009|first=Mark|last=McKinnon|access-date=April 5, 2016}}

On August 27, 2008, the Dallas Morning News reported that McKinnon helped Cindy McCain in her preparation for her GOP convention speech.{{cite web|url=http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/politics/national/stories/0826dnpol-mckinnon.1642d2cb.html|title=Texas consultant Mark McKinnon, who quit McCain campaign, lends Cindy McCain a hand|work=Dallas Morning News|date=August 27, 2008|access-date=July 1, 2009}} At this time McKinnon clarified that he was not returning to his role as media advisor to the McCain campaign, but that he was instead helping the McCains out of his "friendship" to them. According to Rory O'Connor from The Huffington Post, McKinnon felt that he was keeping true to his pledge in not attacking Obama by only "acting as a facilitator to help with Cindy's speech. That means helping to identify speechwriters, Mari Will and Lionel Chetwynd, and working with them and Cindy on the speech." O'Connor also noted that McKinnon said that he was not helping the McCain campaign with advertising.

Although it was also reported by Vanity Fair that McKinnon had returned to the McCain campaign to prepare Sarah Palin for the United States vice-presidential debate, 2008,{{cite web|url=http://www.vanityfair.com/politics/features/2009/08/sarah-palin200908?currentPage=2|title=It Came from Wasilla|work=Vanity Fair|date=June 30, 2009|access-date=April 5, 2016|issn=0733-8899|publisher=Condé Nast}} in their book Game Change (2010), journalists John Heilemann and Mark Halperin suggest that McKinnon was extremely reluctant to help coach Palin for the debate. According to the duo, "(Rick) Davis had pleaded with Mark McKinnon, who had decided to sit out the general election because he wanted no part of flaying Obama, to ride to their rescue; he agreed, but just for that one night."{{Cite book|first1=John|last1= Heilemann|author-link1=John Heilemann|first2=Mark|last2=Halperin|author-link2=Mark Halperin|title=Game Change|page=404|publisher=Harper Collins|year=2010}} In Game Change, it is reported that McKinnon was not impressed with Palin's performance during the run-through before the debate. When one of McCain's campaign advisors asked him what he thought about Palin's practice runs, McKinnon replied "Oh.My.God."

File:Mark McKinnon, Jeb! 2016 bus.jpg bus]]

McKinnon developed the show concept, co-created, co-hosts, and serves as co-executive producer of Showtime's real-time political documentary series, The Circus: Inside the Greatest Political Show on Earth.{{cite journal|last=Adams|first=Myra|title=On the Bus and in the Arena with Cruz and Sanders and Trump: The Insiders' View on The Circus|journal=National Review|date=January 18, 2016|issn=0028-0038|url=http://www.nationalreview.com/article/429953/showtimes-circus-presidential-campaigns-inside|access-date=April 5, 2016}}{{cite web|last=Gold|first=Hadas|author-link=Hadas Gold|title=John Heilemann, Mark Halperin, Mark McKinnon launching Showtime series|url=https://www.politico.com/blogs/on-media/2015/12/john-heilemann-mark-halperin-mark-mckinnon-launching-showtime-series-216779|website=Politico|publisher=Capitol News Company|date=December 15, 2015}} He also served as a consultant for the political drama television series, The Newsroom (HBO)The Newsroom:

• {{Cite news|url=https://www.latimes.com/entertainment/tv/la-xpm-2013-aug-23-la-ca-st-newsroom-critics-fans-20130825-story.html|title='The Newsroom' has its critics, fans among journalists|date=August 23, 2013|work=Los Angeles Times|first=Meredith|last=Blake}}
• {{cite news|last=Romano|first=Andrew|title='The Newsroom' Season 2 Premiere: How Aaron Sorkin Saved the HBO Drama|url=http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/07/14/the-newsroom-season-2-premiere-how-aaron-sorkin-saved-the-hbo-drama.html|website=The Daily Beast|date=15 July 2013|access-date=April 5, 2016}}

and House of Cards (Netflix).{{cite web|title=Mark McKinnon|date=17 January 2016 |url=http://www.sho.com/sho/the-circus-inside-the-greatest-political-show-on-earth/cast/31172/mark-mckinnon|publisher=Showtime|access-date=April 5, 2016}} McKinnon has been a regular columnist for The Daily Beast{{cite web|url=http://www.thedailybeast.com/author/mark-mckinnon/|title=Mark McKinnon|website=The Daily Beast|access-date=April 5, 2016}} and The Daily Telegraph (London).

File:Mark McKinnon, John Heilemann, Alex Wagner - The Circus.jpg, and Alex Wagner (left to right) of the Showtime series The Circus]]

He was a fellow at the John F. Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University's Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy (2007, 2011){{Cite web|url=http://shorensteincenter.org/fellowships/former-fellows-by-semester/spring-2007/|publisher=Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy|access-date=April 5, 2016|title=Past Fellows and Visiting Faculty: Spring 2007 Fellows}}{{Cite web|url=http://shorensteincenter.org/fellowships/former-fellows-by-semester/fall-2011/|title=Past Fellows and Visiting Faculty: Fall 2011 Fellows|publisher=Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy|access-date=April 5, 2016}} and the Harvard Institute of Politics (2012).{{Cite web|url=http://www.hks.harvard.edu/news-events/news/press-releases/youth-political-engagement|title=Harvard's Institute of Politics Leads National Effort to Foster Youth Political Engagement|access-date=April 5, 2016|publisher=The President and Fellows of Harvard College}} In addition to Harvard, McKinnon has lectured at the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs at the University of Texas at Austin.{{Cite web|url=http://www.utexas.edu/lbj/archive/news/spring2005/campaign_course.html|title=Political insiders to teach new course on American political campaigns at LBJ School of Public Affairs|publisher=Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs|access-date=April 5, 2016}}{{Dead link|date=March 2020 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}{{Cite web|url=http://www.utexas.edu/lbj/videos/movie/100|title="Message" presentation in P A 388K – Advanced Topics in Public Policy: Modern American Political Campaigns|date=October 2, 2007|publisher=Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs|access-date=April 5, 2016}}{{Dead link|date=March 2020 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} He currently serves on the advisory board for the Austin Film Society.{{Cite web|url=https://www.austinfilm.org/board-of-directors/|title=Board of Directors|access-date=April 12, 2024|publisher=Austin Film Society|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240310105353/https://www.austinfilm.org/board-of-directors/|archive-date=March 10, 2024|url-status=live}}

McKinnon has also dedicated much effort toward political reform. He is a co-founder of the bi-partisan organization No Labels,{{cite news|first=James|last=Oliphant|url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2010-sep-26-la-na-moderates-20100926-story.html|title=Tired of 'tea party' sniping, moderates organize|work=Los Angeles Times|date=September 26, 2010|access-date=April 5, 2016}}{{cite web |last=Hodge |first=Shelby |date=June 2, 2010 |title=Houston ground zero for a radical political movement reaching both Democrats and Republicans |url=http://culturemap.com/newsdetail/06-02-10-houston-ground-zero-for-a-radical-political-movement-reaching-both-democrats-and-republicans/ |url-status=usurped |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100613230033/http://www.culturemap.com/newsdetail/06-02-10-houston-ground-zero-for-a-radical-political-movement-reaching-both-democrats-and-republicans/ |archive-date=June 13, 2010 |access-date=April 5, 2016 |work=Culture Map Houston}} which advocates nonpartisan solutions to political and social problems. He has served on the boards of non-profit organizations countering the influence of money in politics, including CounterPAC, Mayday PAC, and Take Back Our Republic. He co-chaired for Arts+Labs{{cite web|url=http://www.artsandlabs.com/about_us/people.aspx|title=About Us|publisher=Arts+Labs|access-date=April 16, 2010}} and served on the boards of the Livestrong Foundation and Change Congress,{{cite web|title=Mark McKinnon|url=http://www.aspenideas.org/speaker/mark-mckinnon|publisher=Aspen Ideas Festival|access-date=April 5, 2016}} an organization dedicated to campaign finance reform.{{cite journal|last=Baumann|first=Nick|title=Blame Bush for Citizens United|journal=Mother Jones|date=January 22, 2010|url=https://www.motherjones.com/mojo/2010/01/blame-gop-citizens-united|access-date=April 5, 2016|issn=0362-8841|publisher=Foundation for National Progress}} Following Lance Armstrong's admission to doping, McKinnon felt "betrayed" by Armstrong and supported the board's effort to distance the organization from its founder.{{Cite web|url=https://www.npr.org/2013/01/16/169486534/measuring-the-fallout-after-lance-armstrong-talked-to-oprah|title=Austin Measures Fallout from Lance Armstrong Scandal|date=January 16, 2013|publisher=NPR|first=John|last=Burnett|access-date=April 5, 2016}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424127887323551004578120970534509946|title=Livestrong Erases Armstrong from Name|work=The Wall Street Journal|access-date=April 5, 2016|date=November 15, 2012|first=Reed|last=Albergotti|issn=0099-9660|oclc=781541372}}{{Cite journal|url=http://www.texasmonthly.com/articles/the-man-who-fell-to-earth/|journal=Texas Monthly|first=Michael|last=Hall|date=March 2013|title=The Man Who Fell to Earth}}

McKinnon helped lead the effort to overturn the United States' same-sex marriage ban by serving as co-chair of Southerners for the Freedom to Marry, alongside Julian Castro. In 2013, he was a signatory to an amicus curiae brief submitted to the Supreme Court in support of same-sex marriage during the Hollingsworth v. Perry case.{{Cite news|url=http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/02/28/the-pro-freedom-republicans-are-coming-131-sign-gay-marriage-brief.html|title=The Pro-Freedom Republicans Are Coming: 131 Sign Gay-Marriage Brief|access-date=April 5, 2016|first=John|last=Avlon|website=The Daily Beast|date=February 28, 2013}}

McKinnon is a two-time Ironman Triathlon finisher and an avid bicyclist.{{Cite web|url=http://www.politico.com/arena/bio/mark_mckinnon.html|title=Mark McKinnon|website=Politico|access-date=April 5, 2016}}Ironman Triathlon:

• {{Cite news|last=Eskenazi|first=Stuart|title=Double Image|access-date=April 5, 2016|work=Houston Press|publisher=Voice Media Group|date=October 7, 1999|url=http://www.houstonpress.com/news/double-image-6566352}}
• {{Cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/onpolitics/elections/mckinnon080100.htm|newspaper=The Washington Post|title=The Refocused Democrat|date=October 13, 1999|page=C01|first=Howard|last=Kurtz}}Bicycling:
• {{cite news|last=Davis|first=Julie Hirschfeld|title=Presidential hobby with a thrill|url=https://www.baltimoresun.com/2005/02/12/presidential-hobby-with-a-thrill/|access-date=April 5, 2016|work=The Baltimore Sun|publisher=Tribune Publishing|date=February 12, 2005}}
• {{cite web|title=National Bike Summit Update #2: Mark McKinnon's Keynote Address|url=https://www.imba.com/blog/mark-eller/national-bike-summit-update-2-mark-mckinnon|publisher=International Mountain Bicycling Association|access-date=April 5, 2016}} He has a tattoo on his right arm of the number "40," in remembrance of the NFL football player and US soldier, Pat Tillman, who was killed by friendly fire in Afghanistan. He met his wife Annie before he could drive; they now have two grown daughters.

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