A lot of people are asking me about John McCain. When I worked for Common Cause, I worked on the McCain-Feingold bill and worked closely with Sen. John McCain’s office. After Sen. McCain lost the Republican primary in 2000, I traveled with him as part of a group of campaign finance reform staffers as we criss-crossed the country working to secure support for the McCain-Feingold bill. I have long admired Sen. McCain’s work on campaign finance reform and his independent streak. If Sen. McCain runs for president, he’s got my support.
EchoDitto, the company that I co-founded and am CEO of, has not in the past, does not now, and will not in the future do any work for Sen. McCain in any way.
Right now, I’m involved in many projects that have nothing to do with presidential politics. While I currently don’t know what role I’d like to have in 2008, if Sen. McCain runs I hope to be helpful. This is a personal decision for me based on my own first-hand experience. I like Sen. McCain – I think he should be president!
As If It Matters 
August 24, 2006 at 8:41 am |
Even though Senator MccCain has recently decided to abandon campaign finance reform?
August 24, 2006 at 11:09 am |
i say good on you, muchacho 🙂
August 24, 2006 at 11:10 am |
also, can’t believe that the hotline could cause the slashdot effect…
August 24, 2006 at 6:21 pm |
[…] More signs that McCain is loading up the best and brightest for what may be his last political campaign. The first catch is Robert Zoellick, current US Deputy Secretary of State has agreed to work full-time for the 08′ campaign. He will consult on foreign and trade policy issues. In a more surprising move, Nicco Mele will work on the campaign website. Mele is known for being the webmaster for HoHo Dean’s 2004 White House run. Zoellick and Mele will be joining Mike Connell of New Media Communications. He designed, developed and managed the Bush campaign’s websites in 2000 and 2004. Bush’s media guru, Mark McKinnon, consults for McCain on strategy and the husband-wife team of Mark and Nicole Wallace out of the WhiteHouse and U.N. will consult also. What this means is McCain is assembling the political equivalent of the New York Yankees for his 2008 run. […]
August 24, 2006 at 8:13 pm |
McCain has been a very strong supporter of the trumped-up Iraq war, and will likely be a strong supporter of a premature Iran war. Are you sure you want him to be president? Are you sure you want another war? Are you sure you want to have someone who is against universal healthcare to be president? Are you sure you want to strip our nation’s treasury of estate taxes by helping McCain be president?
He may have an independent streak, but it’s not long enough. Please reconsider.
August 25, 2006 at 12:31 pm |
[…] Nicco is always surprising. Yesterday, I just found out, he announced he’s going to work for a Republican, John McCain. Moral of the story — be careful who you help today, they may become a Republican tomorrow. And to think Nicco is a Mets fan. What now, is he going to start rooting for the Yankees? Arrrgh. […]
August 25, 2006 at 12:45 pm |
[…] Nicco is always surprising. Yesterday, I just found out, he announced he’s going to work for a Republican, John McCain. Moral of the story — be careful who you help today, they may become a Republican tomorrow. And to think Nicco is a Mets fan, and therefore, presumably has a philosophy. What now, is he going to start rooting for the Yankees? Arrrgh. […]
August 25, 2006 at 1:09 pm |
[…] Nicco is always surprising. Yesterday, I just found out, he announced he’s going to work for a Republican, John McCain. Moral of the story — be careful who you help today, they may become a Republican tomorrow. And to think Nicco is a Mets fan, and therefore, presumably has a philosophy. What now, is he going to start rooting for the Yankees? Arrrgh. […]
August 25, 2006 at 10:57 pm |
[…] UPDATE: The Hotline notes that Mele has posted a statement, including “EchoDitto, the company that I co-founded and am CEO of, has not in the past, does not now, and will not in the future do any work for Sen. McCain in any way.” […]
August 26, 2006 at 5:50 pm |
[…] A couple days ago, my friend Nicco Mele (most famous for being the webmaster for Dean for America, but also known as the founder at Echo Ditto) announced that he was supporting John McCain for president in 2008. Reaction was swift: Markos wrote him off. Zack Exley (formerly at MoveOn, and former tech guy at the Kerry campaign), while saying Nicco’s still his friend, wrote that he should be persona non grata in Democratic circles. […]
August 26, 2006 at 11:05 pm |
Let me introduce myself. I am a Democrat.
I don’t support Republicans, ever, and am quite fine with letting foks know who is with us, and who is not.
You are not.
However you cut it, John McCain is a member of the gay bashing far right Rick Santorum party. Anyone who supports him McCain supports them.
Say goodbye to your Democratic clients and good riddance to you & EchoDitto.
August 27, 2006 at 9:24 pm |
If I only had friends that thought just as I do I’d never have to worry about anyone borrowing my tools.
August 29, 2006 at 9:56 pm |
[…] Soon after the news broke, and while the leftosphere was scrambling to react, Mele confirmed at his own sporadically-updated blog: While I currently don’t know what role I’d like to have in 2008, if Sen. McCain runs I hope to be helpful. This is a personal decision for me based on my own first-hand experience. I like Sen. McCain – I think he should be president! […]
September 1, 2006 at 5:11 pm |
[…] Nicco Mele, the CEO at my old company, EchoDitto, recently posted this gem on his blog: I have long admired Sen. McCain’s work on campaign finance reform and his independent streak. If Sen. McCain runs for president, he’s got my support. … I like Sen. McCain — I think he should be president! […]
September 1, 2006 at 8:04 pm |
hello my friend! one of the comments at echoditto says that nicco.org is a political site. such a long way from the typewriter you designed in williamsburg.
i wonder what the politics of eamon grennan are? or jack gilbert or sophia or monkeys or good dogs who have died or cortez or dollar brand? or donuts or bluetooth or orchids?
ah well. i did some googling about all of this web-action, now that i’m resurfacing from paper writing and ernesto is whipping its way through my town. it’s great to read of so many people who think highly of you, even if there are a lot of folks who don’t understand your decision. even if some of those folks who think highly of you are also folks who don’t understand your decision. and it’s great that those who know you, i can tell that they’re talking about the same nicco i have thought so highly of for a decade.
anyway, i’ll be up near you for my sister’s wedding shower tomorrow, so while i’m enduring the conspicuous consumption and wishing they had a bloody mary bar, i’ll be looking forward to the monks. thomas keating has a new book out, i’m sure they’ll have it in the store there. and they sell fudge from gethsemani!
gotta run, dinner is served….
anne
September 3, 2006 at 6:00 pm |
[…] 21. Shira Toeplitz and Marc Ambinder, “Exclusive: McCain’s Web Team. And Nicco Mele.“, hotlineblog.com (National Journal), 23 August 2006; Matthew Yglesias, “MORE McECCODITTO“, Tapped (The American Prospect), 24 August 2006; nicco, “MCCAIN?“, As If It Matters, 24 August 2006 […]
September 3, 2006 at 6:17 pm |
[…] 21. Shira Toeplitz and Marc Ambinder, “Exclusive: McCain’s Web Team. And Nicco Mele.“, hotlineblog.com (National Journal), 23 August 2006; Matthew Yglesias, “MORE McECCODITTO“, Tapped (The American Prospect), 24 August 2006; nicco, “MCCAIN?“, As If It Matters, 24 August 2006 […]
September 9, 2006 at 9:50 pm |
You gotta love the man from Arizona. John McCain is indeed the perfect individual to lead America forward. He is a moderate republican and the perfect candidate to get us back to the “middle” politically without upending the left or right of our nation.
For more McCain coverage, I would check out MCain08.com or TheMainMccain.blogspot.com. It has updates and info on McCain’s race for D.C.
September 9, 2006 at 9:52 pm |
Check out MCain08.com!
September 10, 2006 at 3:19 pm |
[…] I am friends with many of the people who work for the political consulting company EchoDitto. They recently asked their CEO to take a leave of absense after he announced on his personal blog he would support U.S. Senator John McCain if he ran for president in 2008. Their actions kicked off a long comment thread about whether it was the right thing to do, whether the CEO was a “traitor,” or if the decision was an unfair “knee-jerk” reaction. […]
January 30, 2007 at 5:15 pm |
[…] Part of it is that the shock of loss just interrupts your routine, quiets your schedule. It’s also about memory: dwelling on my grandmother’s long life, it’s only natural to turn to my own. I’ve been wrestling with the direction I want my future to take – my glorious future! – and it’s exciting and terrifying. There are so many exciting things to do and incredible projects to work on, every day brings more opportunity. That’s where it gets terrifying: I can’t (despite my enormous appetite) do everything. So I’ve got to make choices. One choice I made a while back was, despite all the madness of my initial interest in McCain’s presidential run, to stay clear of presidential politics and continue to build the company that I helped to found and that I love so very much. […]