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Matt Mackowiak

Matt Mackowiak

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Matt Mackowiak is an Austin and Washington, DC-based political and communications consultant and President of Potomac Strategy Group. He has served in senior roles for two U.S. Senators and a Governor, in the Bush administration. Matt appears regularly on MSNBC, Fox News, CNN, CNBC, CBC-TV, and the BBC. From 2007-2009 Matt served as Press Secretary to U.S. Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison (R-TX), the fourth highest ranking member of the Republican Leadership, and from 2005-2007 he served in the same role for three-term former U.S. Senator Conrad Burns (R-MT).

Latest Podcast Episodes of Matt Mackowiak's Mack On Politics

Articles by Matt Mackowiak

FILE - In this Nov. 19, 2016 file photo, then-President-elect Donald Trump shakes hands with Todd Ricketts at Trump's National Golf Club Bedminster clubhouse in Bedminster, N.J. Ricketts, President Donald Trump's pick for deputy commerce secretary has withdrawn from consideration. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster, File)

Too early to panic, but not too early for GOP to be concerned

We are not even 100 days into the Trump presidency, and already journalists and political pundits are desperately looking for clues as to how the midterm elections will turn out 19 months from now. Let's all take a deep breath.

April 19, 2017
President Trump decided that inaction against Syria posed far greater risk to the U.S. than action. (Associated Press/File)

Donald Trump’s Syria strike passes presidential test

When President Trump was presented with his first foreign policy crisis last week, forced to determine the U.S. response to a heinous chemical attack unquestionably perpetrated by Syrian president and war criminal Bashar Assad, the world looked to the new U.S. president.

April 12, 2017
President Trump listens as Iraqi Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi speaks during a meeting in the Cabinet Room of the White House in Washington. In an eventful week of politics, Mr. Trump will need to restore his credibility so he can handle the next crisis, says Matt Mackowiak. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)

Donald Trump will need to rebuild his credibility for the next crisis

While President Trump's Supreme Court nominee held up superbly under long days of confirmation hearings questioning, and the administration and the House GOP leadership furiously worked to assemble votes for the Obamacare replacement bill, the scene at Monday's House Intelligence Committee hearing verged on the truly incredible.

March 22, 2017
Democrats appear to be missing in action as President Trump and congressional Republicans forge ahead on a health care fix. (Associated Press/File)

No Democrat Obamacare fix proposed

I have seen no major Democratic legislation filed this Congress to "fix" Obamacare. Nothing to address rising costs, or the declining quality of coverage, or the increasing lack of choice in the market.

March 15, 2017
President Trump

Donald Trump must adapt to crises, controversy

Republicans have unified control in Washington. This opportunity may last only two years, but if they get their act together, it can last far beyond that on Capitol Hill. Merging new staff with a loyal campaign team is always difficult -- especially given the stress of working in the West Wing.

March 8, 2017
President Trump gestures toward Democrats while addressing a joint session of Congress on Tuesday. (Associated Press)

Donald Trump’s speech builds support for agenda

After a roller-coaster ride during his first six weeks in office, President Trump faced a choice: Take another victory lap with a narrow speech tailored to his base, or try something radically different. Mr. Trump took the road less traveled, and the benefit from his decision will be significant.

March 1, 2017
President-elect Donald Trump, accompanied by Vice President-elect Mike Pence, speaks during a news conference in the lobby of Trump Tower in New York, Wednesday, Jan. 11, 2017. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)

As Trump stands his ground, the press doubles down on failure

The spectacle of President-elect Donald Trump's first post-election press conference, held 64 days after the election, was unprecedented. Like a pack of rabid dogs, the White House press corps displayed more ferocity in 10 minutes with Mr. Trump on Wednesday than they had in eight years with President Obama.

January 11, 2017
President-elect Donald Trump. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci, File)

An inbox full of urgent issues awaits President Trump

President-elect Donald Trump is inheriting an abnormally large number of pressing issues as he takes office. We will see whether he spends his entire first term blaming his predecessor as President Obama did. My guess is that he will not.

January 4, 2017
In this Friday, Dec. 16, 2016, file photo, President Barack Obama speaks during a news conference in the briefing room of the White House in Washington. Obama said one of his missions after leaving office will be to develop a new generation of leaders on issues such as climate change, criminal justice reform and expanding health insurance coverage. Obama said in the interview with NPR airing Monday, Dec. 19, that the issues he cares most about will be well served when that new generation moves into positions of authority. (AP Photo/Pablo Martinez Monsivais, File)

Obama can’t see his legacy is in tatters

With only weeks left in his presidency, President Obama has been reduced to issuing unprovable boasts, sounding like the senior quarterback at a small high school.

December 28, 2016
Six years after the Obamacare market exchanges went online, the experiment looks faulty, and broadcasters appear to be ignoring the problem. (Associated Press)

Sunset Obamacare

In retrospect, you honestly must admire the Machiavellian way that the Obama administration sold their health care reform law:

December 14, 2016