Exclusive Interview with US political strategist Steve Schmidt: McCain, Russia, Ukraine, Palin and more
By Jason Jay Smart
Kyiv Post, Published May 12
American political strategist Steve Schmidt’s long career in U.S. politics includes having famously managed Senator John McCain’s 2008 presidential campaign, an experience that is the basis for the movie Game Change. Mr. Schmidt was also part of the campaign leadership for President George W Bush and California Governor California Arnold Schwarzenegger before going on to found the Lincoln Project in 2019 to stop Republicans from supporting Donald Trump.
Excerpt…
Where does the malignant influence of Russia in the U.S. come from? How is Russia influencing U.S. policy?
Let’s look at some past presidential campaigns: In ’96 Senator Bob Dole was an insider; in 2000 Governor George W. Bush was an outsider; in 2004 we had Bush’s re-election and in 2008 Senator John McCain was an insider. If you take a look at those campaigns, you can see that one firm, in particular, had an inside track. It was a Washington DC firm that had represented Russia’s interests across Eastern Europe.
Take Rick Davis, who you might remember as being the business partner of [political consultant, lobbyist, attorney and convicted fraudster] Paul Manafort. He supported Russian interests for years, such as in Montenegro where he was an adviser. It’s problematic for me that the guy who could have become Chief of Staff of the President had McCain won, had developed such a close relationship with pro-Russian candidates and proxies across Europe.
Continues…
https://www.kyivpost.com/world/exclusive-interview-with-us-political-strategist-steve-schmidt-mccain-russia-ukraine-palin-and-more.html
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