Fleishman-Hillard Inc.

Mercury Public Affairs, the company that helped bring you three terms of George Pataki and is now working on John McCain's presidential campaign, just announced the hiring Arnold Schwarzenegger's campaign manager Steve Schmidt.

Interestingly, the formal announcement from Mercury's managing partner Kieran Mahoney doesn't mention McCain at all.

From the statement:

"[Schmidt's] experience in the presidential campaign, the California governor's race and the Supreme Court confirmation process gives him an unmatched understanding of how polling, grassroots mobilization, issue advocacy, government relations and media relations work together to achieve measurable business results."

Full statement after the jump.  read more »

-- Azi Paybarah