Steve Schmidt

Political Career

While a twentysomething, Schmidt was helping manage Republican congressional campaigns and working on Capitol Hill.before landing his first high-profile job as communications director for Matt Fong's (R) 1998 U.S. Senate race in California.

Fong was hammered by incumbent Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.), but Schmidt's reputation grew and a year later he signed on as communications director for the 2000 presidential campaign of now-Sen. Lamar Alexander (R-Tenn.).

Bush, Cheney Connection

Schmidt, called "The Bullet" as much for his knack for being on target as for his shaved head, was a spokesman for the Republican Party and its House campaign committee before being tapped by the White House to join Bush's 2004 reelection campaign. He was assigned to the campaign's war room, where he monitored and provided rapid response to the media.

After Bush's reelection, Schmidt became an adviser to Vice President Dick Cheney, for whom he led the efforts to win Senate confirmation of two Supreme Court nominees, John Roberts in 2005 and Samuel Alito in 2006. Flush with success, Schmidt returned to the West Coast after Maria Shriver, the first lady of California, asked him to take over her husband's reelection campaign.

Working for Schwarzenegger

Schmidt went to work for Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger at a time when the former actor was seriously lagging in the polls and fundraising. Schmidt insisted on remaking Schwarzenegger, forcing the governor to give up his leather jacket and gas-guzzling Hummer and start spending more time working on state business in Sacramento.

It worked. Schwarzenegger won and Schmidt walked away with credit for turning around a high-profile race on the brink of disaster.

Joining McCain

Schmidt intended to play only a limited role when he signed on to McCain's 2008 presidential campaign, hoping to remain at home in California while McCain traveled the country. But many prominent Republicans were growing concerned about McCain's organization, which they said lacked focus and appeared incapable of going on the offensive against Democrat Barack Obama.

In July 2008, McCain responded to those concerns by putting Schmidt in charge of every aspect of the campaign except fundraising, and Schmidt was quick to change the way most things were done inside McCain's organization. Schmidt immediately centralized control of the campaign and insisted that McCain and his entire staff start delivering a more disciplined, consistent message.

Shortly after Schmidt took over, McCain began airing ads aimed at Obama's superstar image and questioning whether the Democrat had the experience to lead the country. Schmidt also cut off reporters' access to the candidate. McCain, who regularly allowed reporters to travel with him wherever he went, didn't hold a single press conference for 40 days.

Picking Palin

McCain's plans to ask Sen. Joe Lieberman, a Democrat turned independent, to be his vice presidential running-mate were foreclosed after GOP conservatives rebelled. So Schmidt and others began pushing McCain to pick a virtually unknown conservative, Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin (R), for the job.

Schmidt, who helped prepare Palin for her early media interviews and her debate with Democratic vice presidential candidate Joe Biden, would later reveal that Palin proved a disappointment to the campaign because she remained overly fixated on her standing back in Alaska, was dishonest and susceptible to embarrassing slip-ups, like referring to Biden as O'Biden.

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