Potomac Flacks: McCain's 08 Team Shows Their Rapid Response Chops

January 26, 2007

McCain's 08 Team Shows Their Rapid Response Chops

Johnmccain_2 We've lavished praise on Mitt Romney's '08 comms team for demonstrating early in this cycle their ability to beat back an attack in the new media (or "Freak Show") environment. This past week has seen Barack Obama's team do the same thing, with MadrassaGate.

But we managed to overlook John McCain's pushback this week to the "sleeping during State of the Union" story. David All has a nice recap that gives credit to Team McCain where credit is due. One thing's for sure -- it's become gospel truth among campaign comms operatives that even a minor criticism must be forcefully rebutted, lest it turn into a Swift Boat scenario. It's as if the strategic option of not responding to an attack (lest you amplify it) has been permanently shelved.

Posted by Matt Mackowiak on January 26, 2007 in 2008 | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

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Matt Mackowiak - Site Manager
Matt Mackowiak is a Washington, D.C. and Austin,TX-based Republican strategist and communications consultant and President of Potomac Strategy Group, LLC. In his career he has managed a winning Congressional campaign and worked in the U.S. Senate, at the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, at a leading international PR firm, on a presidential campaign in Iowa and in White House presidential advance. Follow him on Twitter - @MattMackowiak

Laura Gross - Contributor
Laura Gross is currently president of Scott Circle Communications. She has served as deputy director of communications at the DNC, was Gov. Howard Dean's Communications Director and she worked in the press office at USAID during the Clinton administration. Her experience also includes time in the PR department of National Public Radio and she was part of Vice President Gore's advance team when he was in The White House.
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Blain K. Rethmeier - Contributor
Blain K. Rethmeier is currently the Senior Vice President for Public Affairs for the American Insurance Association (AIA). Rethmeier joined AIA from the White House where he served as Special Assistant to the President for Communications and directed communications for the National Economic Council and Homeland Security Council. Prior to joining the White House, Rethmeier served as Press Secretary for the Senate Judiciary Committee.
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