Maverick: Mark McKinnon

In this episode, Democrat turned Republican media consultant, Mark McKinnon discusses his life in music, politics, and media. In our interview, McKinnon talks about his time working with President George W. Bush, Karl Rove, and many others during his days of Texas, Louisiana, and national politics.

Mark McKinnon is best known for being Governor George W. Bush’s ad maker for his 1998 re-election campaign for Texas Governor then leading Bush’s media ad-team for his 2000 and 2004 Presidential campaign. Being the winning ad maker for two consecutive Presidential campaigns is an honor few consultants-of either party-have accomplished in American history. This puts Mark McKinnon on the political consultants Mt. Rushmore (if there was such a thing). But before that, McKinnon was an award-winning songwriter who lived with Kris Kristofferson in Nashville. Not the typical path to politics, which is one reason why Mark McKinnon is an original political Maverick.

Since the 2004 election, Mark McKinnon has been a fixture on Morning Joe and other political programs as well as developing and producing the popular Showtime program “The Circus: Inside The Greatest Greatest Political Show on Earth.”