Mckinnon Quotes & Sayings

Public employees contribute real value for the benefit of all citizens. Public-union bosses collect real money from all taxpayers for the benefit of a few. — Mark McKinnon

Technology has had more of an impact on the presidency and how the presidency communicates than anything. — Mark McKinnon

Temporary tax cuts don't create permanent confidence, nor permanent jobs. — Mark McKinnon

I think the press has an interest in communicating to its viewers or readers, and their viewers or readers drive profit for those news organizations, so I think those news organizations have a certain bias toward their own readers. Yeah, I think they are a special interest. Of course they are. — Mark McKinnon

'Deadwood' was just a wonderful opportunity for me. Outside of my own things that I've written, I hadn't had the opportunity to play a character with that amount of depth and range. — Ray McKinnon

I don't think that the press in 2004 was any more unfair to Bush than they were to Kerry. — Mark McKinnon

Negativity drove me out of politics in the mid-Nineties. — Mark McKinnon

Ronald Reagan was long thought to be the most conservative of Republicans. And by any standard today he is the most popular Republican in modern history. Yet he raised taxes 11 times, supported a ban on assault rifles and the Brady Bill, which mandated background checks, and established amnesty for 3 million undocumented workers. — Mark McKinnon

Republicans working in leadership and the trenches are largely old, white, male, out-of-touch, out of ideas, technology averse, and living in the past. — Mark McKinnon

For an impression, I just find that I can do a lot of the people I love without much research, because I've already watched hours and hours of them on video and it seeped into my brain while I wasn't thinking about it. — Kate McKinnon

Then shadows and shapes, shrouded figures, appeared to join him, apparitions, ancient, mythical faces, wise and beautiful, like holy ghosts, shimmering around around him, beside him, beyond him, enveloped by a brume indescribable, shot through with shafts of pink and blue and gold, as though the heavens themselves had opened up and poured out the light into the world. — Peter McKinnon

Debates require a lot of hard work and preparation. If you try to wing it, it shows. — Mark McKinnon

When I'm writing something and I'm really into it, that's all I can think about, and it becomes the most important thing in the world to me, and it may not be that, in reality. — Ray McKinnon

Middle America believes in fair play, an equal opportunity to succeed or to fail. — Mark McKinnon

As in nature, politics abhors a vacuum. Without a strong voice for more moderate leadership, the Tea Party is filling that vacuum. — Mark McKinnon

I always gravitate towards things that are not beautiful, but broken and weird and fascinating — Kate McKinnon

When you look at the money spent by labor unions for Democrats, it comes as no surprise the Democrats crafted a campaign-finance 'disclosure' bill with the thresholds adjusted to exempt unions. — Mark McKinnon

Social Security and Medicare are necessary safety nets, but they are nearing insolvency as fewer pay in, more take out, and more take out more. — Mark McKinnon

With heart for mind, we love not wise
Besieged by what Man took for eyes. — Helen McKinnon Doan

A few words about Sarah Palin: She is one of the most fascinating women I have ever met. She crackles with energy like a live electrical wire and on first meeting gets about three inches from your face. — Mark McKinnon

Immigration is the most explosive issue I've seen in my political career. — Mark McKinnon

There are three opportunities that you have during a general election campaign where you can substantially move the needle of public opinion. One, is your convention speech; two, are the base; three, is the selection of your vice president. — Mark McKinnon

I'm saying it loud: I'm a Republican who supports gay rights. — Mark McKinnon

It's rare when a president wins the campaign without winning independents. — Mark McKinnon

Wind and solar power are land-intensive, a green sin, but not energy-dense, and affordable only when heavily subsidized. And wind power must be supplemented with hydrocarbons for reliability. — Mark McKinnon

Outside events can change a presidential campaign, a president, and the history of the nation: the Iranian hostage crisis, the bombing of the Marine barracks in Beirut, the downing of the helicopter in Mogadishu, Somalia, the suicide attack on the USS Cole, and, of course, the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. — Mark McKinnon

If you're running for office, it's tough to be an incumbent. It's tough to run out of Washington. It's better to be an outsider. And Establishment support doesn't help; it more likely hurts. — Mark McKinnon

Twitter is not a business. I know its founders would like to think it is. It is, for the most part, a diversion. — Mark McKinnon

Conservative women in politics run a punishing gauntlet. They endure psychological evaluations and near-gynecological exams their male and liberal counterparts do not. — Mark McKinnon

What strikes me when I leave Washington is the extent to which there's a huge disconnect between Washington and the rest of the country. The rest of the country is not hyper partisan. — Mark McKinnon

George W. Bush is not preoccupied with his legacy - nor with his popularity. He never has been. He has always led based on core conviction and strong principles and has believed that time and distance would allow for context. — Mark McKinnon

I think that the press has a duty and an obligation to report on local government, state government, federal government - to be aggressive, to do its job. And its job is to report on whatever it's covering. — Mark McKinnon

A messy participatory process is representative democracy at its best. — Mark McKinnon

Immigration reform almost happened under President George W. Bush. Twice. And it was comprehensive. — Mark McKinnon

I was very serene, and I still am, until I start talking in another voice, then suddenly I have a lot of volume and I'm frantic. But I didn't want to be one of those people who's always talking in accents in real life, so I started doing sketch comedy. — Kate McKinnon

Who the hell ever dreamed up a tie? It's just such a weird idea, and yet it has been literally hanging around forever as the one constant and boring men's fashion staple. — Mark McKinnon

Wages, investments, and home values are the three legs of the economic stool for most Americans. — Mark McKinnon

Republicans constantly claim to be the party that defends the Constitution. We have no legitimate right to that claim until we get right on gay rights. — Mark McKinnon

America glories in its tradition of the self-made individual. Political candidates compete to be a friend to entrepreneurs, and policymakers, imagining the next Microsoft or Google, design laws to back the innovator in the garage. — Mark McKinnon

Sarah Palin is brilliant. She is a media magnet and a media magnate. She creates headlines and draws crowds wherever she goes, whether it's 98 degrees in the desert of Arizona or below freezing in the snow of Wisconsin. — Mark McKinnon

Drone attacks subvert the rule of law - we become judge, jury, and executioner - at the push of a button. — Mark McKinnon

News is virtual now. It is not 24-hour news cycles; it is instant news cycles. It is live. News is live all the time, around the clock. — Mark McKinnon

Marketers know - no matter how deep the emotional connection or brand loyalty - when a product does not perform, rational thought overtakes emotion, and most consumers make a new choice. — Mark McKinnon

Obama killed Osama. Yes, President Barack Obama gets to crow about the killing of Osama bin Laden. — Mark McKinnon

For most of my life, I've considered myself a political centrist. — Mark McKinnon

When two roads diverge...take the one that leads to the beach! — Hannah McKinnon

Politics at bottom is not all that complicated. It's all about timing. — Mark McKinnon

I don't claim any moral or ethical high ground, but I also have chosen not to run for public office. Shouldn't there be a higher standard of conduct for public officials? — Mark McKinnon

I've spent the better part of my career in politics and public policy working on and fighting for education reforms. — Mark McKinnon

A Rick Santorum presidency would be very, very dangerous for America. — Mark McKinnon

When people see political ads, they think someone's lying to them. — Mark McKinnon

Washington doesn't have just a spending problem, or just an entitlement problem, or just a taxing problem. We have a leadership problem. Fix that, and the first three problems are solved. — Mark McKinnon

Remember your past mistakes just long enough to profit by them. — Clinton D. McKinnon

Ah, political physics. Someone wins an election and, poof, they are a candidate for vice president. Ridiculous. — Mark McKinnon

I love telling stories, whether I'm the human instrument that helps tell that story, or I'm the man behind the curtain. — Ray McKinnon

There's not a conspiracy to prevent really good writing from being found You have to have the humility to fail over and over and over. — Ray McKinnon

Life inside the Beltway bubble dulls your thinking. — Mark McKinnon

To pull off successful attacks in debates, you have to execute with nuance and subtlety. It has to be artful. — Mark McKinnon

Having been heavily involved in the planning of a couple of G.O.P. conventions, my view is, we should just scrap 'em. Cancel 'em. Just figure out an appropriate forum for the nominee to give an acceptance speech and be done with it. — Mark McKinnon

CEOs make hard decisions; sometimes, the least worst is the right one. — Mark McKinnon

I'll tell you, Liz Cheney is going to be a very good candidate. I worked with her during the Bush campaigns. She's smart, she's focused, she's disciplined - and she's got a great back story. She's got a large family. She's a great mom. And she's a hard worker. I think she's going to be a very effective campaigner. — Mark McKinnon

I met Barack Obama, I read his book, I like him a great deal. I disagree with him on very fundamental issues. — Mark McKinnon

Reasonable people can reasonably disagree on policy. — Mark McKinnon

The initial attraction of a political convention was that often the outcome was not preordained. There was at least some element of surprise. But, now it's like tuning in to a movie where you already know the plot and the ending. It's just not that interesting. — Mark McKinnon

As history has repeatedly proven, one trade tariff begets another, then another - until you've got a full-blown trade war. No one ever wins, and consumers always get screwed. — Mark McKinnon

The GOP cannot expect to win the presidency in the future by simply relying on running up big numbers with white voters. — Mark McKinnon

I love to just get in the booth. Put some tracks down. I'm basically Rihanna. — Kate McKinnon

You know, the Tea Party is a - first of all, it is a significant movement, and I think the media and some pundits have tried to write it off as a bunch of cranks or something. But, in fact, it's really a very legitimate and fairly significant swath of voters out there. — Mark McKinnon

It's much more powerful and compelling to create a positive vision than it is to tear somebody down. — Mark McKinnon

America's commitment to religious freedom and tolerance should not be conditional. — Mark McKinnon

Unfortunately, in American politics there are no standards for shame. — Mark McKinnon

Democrats love to criticize Republicans on guns, but they are generally mute when it comes to taking on Hollywood or the gaming industry. — Mark McKinnon

Special interests and opponents have figured out how easy it is to disrupt town halls and get their own message out. The days of the truly free-form town halls may be over. — Mark McKinnon

The cube contained knowledge of every person born and every battle fought; every kiss enjoyed and every secret kept; every word that was ever uttered and every thought that was ever conceived, from The Beginning until The End of Time.
"Looks a bit shit," said Sid. — Steven McKinnon

I think the press are good people; I think they're educated people. — Mark McKinnon

If we cannot come together to pause, to respect our dead and the heroic lives of meaning they led, then ours is truly a civilization lost. — Mark McKinnon

From my experience and observing a lot of other people that often times that only happens - a transformational experience or shedding of the skin - happens when we are at the end of our road and there is pain involved. We have to change or we continue to live in that almost intolerable pain. — Ray McKinnon

Convention speeches are powerful tools to bend the curve of public opinion. George H. W. Bush's 1988 convention speech is a great example. His son's speech was also quite powerful. — Mark McKinnon

Defending birthright citizenship is about being on the right side of liberty. The 14th Amendment is a great legacy of the Republican Party. — Mark McKinnon

Now personally, I think the president should golf every day and never have a press conference. I want the leader of the free world to be as stress-free as possible. And if golf helps fade the psychic heat from the job, by all means tee it up often, Mr. President. — Mark McKinnon

Be aware that a halo has to fall only a few inches to be a noose. — Clinton D. McKinnon

Contrary to conventional military and game theory, the most effective offense is sometimes a direct attack against your political opponent's greatest strength - not his weaknesses - to place him immediately on the defensive. — Mark McKinnon

Donors, like voters, increasingly expect candidates to exercise fiscal discipline. — Mark McKinnon

Technology and social media have brought power back to the people. — Mark McKinnon

Weary of wily politicians who say one thing and do another, voters and advocacy groups insist presidential contenders commit to the cause du jour in writing, but candidates are foolish to comply. Words matter. — Mark McKinnon

Running for president is hard. But it's good preparation. Because being president is a lot harder. — Mark McKinnon

It doesn't matter if I go on CBS, PBS or Fox. Whoever is interviewing me is going to want to create some conflict in the story, or it's not interesting. That's just the way the news is. — Mark McKinnon

Be a wonderful role model because you will be the window through which many children will see their future. — Thomas McKinnon Wood

A competition of the best ideas - that should be what Congress is about. — Mark McKinnon

Consumers can choose from hundreds of channels today, including dozens for kids. At a time of dwindling resources, we don't need to be subsidizing PBS. It's time for Big Bird the mooch to compete with 'Dora the Explorer' and 'Bob the Builder.' — Mark McKinnon

The Newtown massacre created a tipping point on the gun debate in America. — Mark McKinnon

Normally, when politicians talk about 'cutting the budget,' they really mean reducing the amount of increase. Actual spending goes up while the politicians claim to have 'cut the budget.' — Mark McKinnon

People who know Paul Ryan say, 'He will be president one day.' — Mark McKinnon

Mention the name George W. Bush in mixed company, and you're likely to spark a lot of debate and emotion - hot and cold, good and bad. Not a lot of neutral reaction. He was elected in the most controversial contest in American electoral history and governed during one of the most tumultuous decades. — Mark McKinnon

The Hippocratic Oath says do no harm. It's the Hypocritical Oath that says do no harm to one's political future. — Mark McKinnon

Public unions are big money. — Mark McKinnon

Presidential primary debates are an important part of our political process. But the media has wrested complete control from the parties and candidates over everything, including the number, the format, the qualifications, and the moderators. And they've become a circus. — Mark McKinnon

'Rectify' is un-busy. It might soothe you, if not distract you, from all you got going on. — Ray McKinnon

I'm no economist. I don't even play one on TV. I'm just a husband, a father, a taxpayer. — Mark McKinnon

It's never popular among young people to be part of the establishment. — Mark McKinnon