GOP strategist Mike Murphy chooses NBC over rejoining McCain camp
Mike Murphy, the garrulous Republican political strategist who helped Sen. John McCain dump the Karl Rove-led George W. Bush candidacy on its butt in the 2000 New Hampshire primary, is joining NBC News in an expanded role as political pundit.
In the past 48 hours Murphy, who remains a close confidante of the presumptive Republican presidential nominee, has been the subject of much speculation in the East Coast press.
The New York Times' columnist Bill Kristol indicated Monday that Murphy would soon join the rebuilt McCain campaign team with newcomers Steve Schmidt and Mike DuHaime. Not everyone in the McCain camp would be joyful over Murphy's addition.
But just now, Murphy told The Times' Dan Morain, that ain't gonna happen. Instead, Murphy said he intended to head to NBC News where he will expand his role as a political pundit and commentator on this year's dramatic unfolding general election campaign.
He'll appear on the network's "Nightly News" and "Meet the Press" as well as on several of NBC’s cable shows.
“I don’t intend to join the campaign,” Murphy said, adding that further details would be announced in coming days.
Murphy was McCain’s top strategist in his 2000 campaign, which faded in South Carolina after the dramatic 19-point upset of the Texas governor in the Granite State.
In conversations, McCain has made clear that he remains fond of Murphy. Murphy was also top campaign strategist to Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and to former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney in his 2002 gubernatorial contest.
His lasting friendship with both McCain and Romney caused the 46-year-old Murphy to sit out this election cycle's Republican primary contests.
In addition to his punditry for NBC, Murphy heads an influential lobby-consulting firm, Navigators, with offices in Washington, Sacramento and elsewhere. He also is involved in Hollywood projects.
--Andrew Malcolm
Photo credit: Getty Images
Andrew Malcolm's immigrant parents repeatedly stressed the importance of active participation in a democracy. Early lessons included learning the alphabetical list of states by watching televised roll calls of national political conventions. That childhood exposure led to a lifelong fascination with politics, including 40-plus years of covering them and a brief stint practicing them as press secretary to Laura Bush in 1999-2000. A veteran foreign and national correspondent, Malcolm served on the Times Editorial Board and was a Pulitzer finalist in 2004. He is the author of 10 nonfiction books and father of four.
Johanna Neuman is a veteran Washington correspondent for both The Los Angeles Times and USA Today, having covered presidents and politics as far back as Ronald Reagan. A former president of the White House Correspondents Assn., she authored a book on media and foreign policy, “Lights, Camera, Wars.” Most recently she was co-author of the 
Subscribe to this Blog
I guess Fox was all filled up with the losing campaign consultants, and staff.
VJ Machiavelli
http://www.vjmachiavelli.blogspot.com
ps Obama = Chamberlian = victory for terrorists = Keeping our shoes on forever.
Posted by: VJ Machiavelli | July 08, 2008 at 08:35 PM
Mike Murphy is one of the top strategists in the business today. We'll be fortunate to hear his insights on NBC News and elsewhere.
Posted by: Geoffrey Baum | July 08, 2008 at 08:39 PM
Guess he didn't want to jump onto the Titanic mid-iceberg.
Posted by: Harry | July 08, 2008 at 09:26 PM
Aren't there any INDEPENDENT political thinkers out there?
It seems a BLATANT conflict of interest to have lobbyists with ties to a campaign on the nightly news commenting about the campaigns.
WHATEVER HAPPENED TO OBJECTIVITY IN THE MEDIA?
Shame, shame, shame on NBC.
It's disgusting to listen to CNN, FOX, and now NBC for their blatant partisanism. How can there not be gridlock in Washington if we can't keep it out of the newsroom???
Posted by: Ethan Q | July 08, 2008 at 11:30 PM
McCain has admitted he is weak on economic knowledge and understanding. His voting record in Congress show that is true. He needs a real economist versus a Marxist spinner to develop his economic plan and to educate the poor guy about capitalism and economics.
McCain is lucky for one reason: His opponent is an openly racist radial no matter how much he tries to spin to the center during the election. His record is clear - the MOST liberal Senator in the Senate. His racism is clear - in his own books on tape in his own voice.
No matter McCain's faults in the ignorance of blowing with the winds of limo liberal fads, without an anchor in knowledge; he is not a rookey and he is not a racist nor is he a committed Marxist.
Posted by: Sara | July 09, 2008 at 09:49 AM
Man, look at that guy's forehead. You could ski down that thing.
Posted by: Andrew | July 09, 2008 at 11:26 AM
Another blow for McCain.
Posted by: renee | July 09, 2008 at 10:11 PM
When McCain loses this campaign, his biggest regret will be not bringing on Mike Murphy. Love him or hate him, Murphy is the only guy that can save the McCain campaign at this point.
Posted by: Jason | July 10, 2008 at 09:34 AM
I wonder if Murphy is so skeptical about McCain's chances that he is not interesting in being associated with the McCain team at this point. It makes sense to think that if Murphy believed McCain would win - he would want to be part of the team. After hearing Murphy's off camera remark (on utube) about McCain and Palin it sure does not seem that Murphy has much expectation for McCain's success.
Posted by: Phil | September 04, 2008 at 10:46 PM