Bainwol has "the ability to manage an organization. His intellect allows him to fully appreciate all the nuances of issues," said Connie Mack, the former Florida senator who was Bainwol's boss for 12 years. "He has an incredible ability to grasp in a very short period of time the essence of a debate."

Mack learned to appreciate this quality almost two decades ago when Bainwol managed his first Senate race -- the first time the up-and-coming Hill staffer had ever managed a campaign of any sort. Bainwol helped Mack to victory against former Rep. Buddy McKay (D-Fla.) in what became the closest Senate contest in Florida history.

"We went through some very intense times and at the end of it I had nothing but good things to say about him and Connie," said Farmer, the Nortel vice president, and McKay's campaign manager in the '88 race.

Farmer isn't the only Democrat to heap praise on Bainwol.

"He's a pretty affable guy despite his partisan background and bare-knuckles style in a political fight," said Jim Jordan, campaign director for presidential candidate John Kerry (D-Mass.).

Jordan ran the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee in the 2002 election season while Bainwol worked as his opposite number in the Republican camp.

"We found it was helpful to have lines of communication open," said Jordan, adding that they would meet occasionally over beers to talk through various issues in their respective campaigns. "He'll get things done, but with a minimum of bloodshed."

Then there's the human touch that any tough political operative needs to not just be respected, but liked.

"Mitch is the only person I know in Washington who returns every single call he gets," said Laura Dove, a Republican Hill staffer who has worked in various capacities with Bainwol for about seven years. "Ninety-nine percent of the time he does it the same day. He genuinely wants to help people."

Bainwol's entire career in the political world started with a helping hand. After enrolling at Georgetown University in 1977, he was looking for something to do in D.C. besides studying. He took an acquaintance's recommendation to make a cold call on Rep. Robin Beard (R-Tenn.).

"My secretary called and said there's this young man from Georgetown that wants to come here and work as an intern, so I said, 'Who is he?' They said, 'We don't know. Nobody sent him. Nobody's recommended him. He just said he wants to work in Robin Beard's office,'" Beard said in an interview. "I said I have no money in the budget. He said, 'I'll do it for free.'"