INTRODUCTION

Between 1995 and 1998, Mike McCurry grew to become one of the most familiar figures occupying the borderland between American political institutions and mass media. As Press Secretary for the Clinton White House, McCurry delivered the White House message and managed press relations during part of Clinton's second term. He had moved to the White House from his position as spokesman for the State Department following the election of 1994. His mission was to shore up the White House press operation after the midterm setback that had returned Republicans to power, and he brought to the job a long resume in media–state relations. He had previously worked as Communications Director of the Democratic National Committee; political strategist for Senator John Glenn, Senator Bob Kerrey, and Governor Bruce Babbitt; and press secretary to the Senate Labor Committee and Senator Daniel Patrick Moynihan. In May of 1998, in the middle of the Lewinsky scandal, McCurry resigned. To cover hard feelings with the President, he offered the traditional euphemism of wanting to spend time with his family, but he had in mind a more strategic goal: shifting position in the government–press borderland by becoming a principal in the Washington lobbying and communications firm Public Strategies, Inc.

Two and a half years later and one week following the indecisive election day of 2000, McCurry announced another career move. He had accepted the position of CEO of a political Internet business, Grassroots.com.