Screw You Steve McMahon

[Sydnie]

He just said on Tweety that "only a few members of Congress" are involved in the Abramoff scandal. He didn't go any further. He didn't point out that the "few" he was talking about were the "few" that were running the whole damn show! McMahon says less than three or four are involved.

This is our guy. He was speaking like he and Ginsberg had been holding hands under the table, for goodness sake.

With guys like this, why do we bother? We need to remove him, Gov Dean. He should NOT be speaking for us ever again!

[Eric J in MN]

1. Is Steve McMahon employed by the DNC?

If not, I don't see how he can be removed.

Chris Matthews could ask Rush Limbaugh to represent the Democratic positions if he so chose.

[Sydnie]

2. His title was "Democratic Strategist"

I suppose he could NOT be but he shouldn't be speaking for us all the same.


Makes me wonder if he might have been the "Dem Strategist" that visited us in the summer of 2004.

I think I will write to Gov. Dean all the same and voice my displeasure in this guy's appearance as being on our team. Perhaps he needs a "talking to" either way.

[Eric J in MN]

7. "Dem Strategist" probalby means consultant.

Someone whose company is paid by Democratic candidates, but not an employee of the DNC.

[BeyondGeography]

3. He makes a fortune off the system

This is a business for Steve; the first rule of any job is you never criticize your industry. Tweety only invites you back if you don't rock the boat too much, because he also makes a fortune off of business-as-usual in Washington.

No surprises there. What MacMahon should have done is deftly turn the question to the issue of why this is a Republican scandal, not a Democratic scandal. No go. He did indeed look as if he was holding hands with Ginsberg.

[Sydnie]

5. thank you

I am so glad someone else was watching that crap too.

I am not familiar with him at all.

[sandnsea]

6. He did at the end

He just didn't have the correct response to Reid & Kennedy. "They kept the tribal money because Democrats have advocated for tribes for decades!" Aagh, he was weak even when he tried to make the case.

[blm]

4. Steve McMahon is another Dem pundit schooled in the DNC's Clinton years

which covers 1993 through 2004.

The worst pack of pundits and spokepeople I've ever seen.

[AlGore-08.com]

8. He also said that some innocent people will be found guilty

because JA would try to cut a deal by fingering as many people as possible, regardless of whether they were guilty. This would require that the various law enforcement agencies and the prosecutor to be unable to corroborate JA's hearsay, but accept it as evidence any way.

This idiot is a "Dem Strategist" - - so expect his quotes to find their way into GOP ads coming your way soon.

[pinto]

9. His profile from his agency's website:

Steve McMahon
Current Position:

Media Consultant and Strategic Advisor to Democratic candidates for federal and statewide office and trade associations and corporations engaged in issue advocacy and imaging campaigns.

Prior History:

Steve McMahon got his start in politics on the Senate and political staff of Senator Edward M. Kennedy, where he served as Assistant Press Secretary and later, as Deputy Director of Kennedy’s PAC, the Fund for a Democratic Majority.

Before co-founding Trippi, McMahon & Squier in 1991, McMahon worked as a political strategist and media consultant and has worked on Presidential, Senate, Gubernatorial and Mayoral campaigns across the country, including Richard Gephardt’s 1988 presidential campaign, David Dinkins’ 1989 campaign for Mayor of New York City, and David Walters’ successful campaign for Governor of Oklahoma in 1990.

McMahon and his partners also managed and served as the principal political strategists and media advisors for former Vermont Governor Howard Dean’s 2004 presidential campaign.

On the international front, McMahon and his partners have worked as strategic advisors or campaign consultants on three successful presidential campaigns—in Venezuela for Carlos Andres Peres, in Nicaragua for Violetto Chamarro, and in Greece for Andreas Papandreaou. He has also done a significant amount of issue advertising for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee (DSCC), the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee (DCCC) and for Trade Association, Issue and Advocacy groups.

Other Information:

Steve McMahon appears regularly as a political commentator on CNN, the FOX news channel and MSNBC, and has appeared on the cover of Campaigns & Elections magazine, which in 1996 named him “A Rising Star” in politics. McMahon is married to Cynthia Alksne, a former federal prosecutor and MSNBC legal analyst, and the couple has four daughters.


http://www.msastrategies.com/mcmahon.html

[Sydnie]

10. Humm , is his brother Tom McMahon?

Tom McMahon sends out email for democracts.org. He signs his emails like this

Tom McMahon
Executive Director
Democratic National Committee

Maybe that is where I need to take my complaint!

[Fredda Weinberg]

11. He made the point that Abramoff only contributed to GOP

and Ginsburg was left sputtering, "Well, that's what the FEC says."

[Sydnie]

12. He is Tom McMahon's brother

There are more "open secrets" that Ambinder didn't get into his story. For example, McMahon worked on independent expenditure ads on behalf of JEB BUSH in 2002 (bashing Democratic candidate Bill McBride) at the same time he was gearing up his work for Howard Dean's presidential bid.

When I talk about consulltants who are in the business to make money and could care less about winning or the cause or the movement, McMahon is Exhibit A. All hesitations I've ever had about Dean stem from the fact that he continues to associate himself closely with this guy -- a man so unprincipled that he has worked for big pharma against progressive principles and on behalf of Jeb Bush.

(Incidentally, my distaste for Steve McMahon doesn't necessarily extend to his brother Tom, who is now Executive Director of the DNC.)

http://www.dailykos.com/tag/Steve%20McMahon

Glad to see I am not the only one that hates this dude!

[GrumpyGreg]

13. What's Tweety? I'm new.

[Sydnie]

14. Chris Matthews = Tweety Hardball show on MSNBC

Belated Welcome to DU GrumpyGreg! :hi:

[GrumpyGreg]

15. Thanks---I sure have some learnin' to do !

[SoCalDem]

16. And every cancer patient knows that "a few few cells" are no biggie

:sarcasm: