Stephen Edward Schmidt (born September 28, 1970) is an American communications and public affairs strategist who has worked on Republican political campaigns, including those of President George W. Bush, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, and Arizona Senator John McCain. He is best known for pushing McCain to select Sarah Palin as his running mate. He specialized in "message development and strategy".Schmidt was the senior campaign strategist and advisor to the 2008 presidential campaign of Senator John McCain. He was a Vice Chair at the public relations firm Edelman until he stepped down in July 2018.In June 2018, Schmidt renounced the Republican Party as "fully the party of Trump".