Democrats Seek Diverse Array of Advisers

Hillary Clinton's campaign manager Patti Solis Doyle, poses for a photo in her office, Tuesday, May 8, 2007 in Arlington, Va. Solis Doyle is a charter member of "Hillaryland" who went to work for Clinton during the 1992 presidential campaign and stayed through eight years in the White House. Her Mexican immigrant parents came to the first Clinton inauguration in 1992, and wept with joy that their daughter would be part of the first lady's staff. (AP Photo/Chris Greenberg) (Chris Greenberg - AP)

"It's not perfect, but the good news is that there are more people of color and more women in the pipeline," Brazile said. "We just need to give them a seat at the table, even if it's a folding chair."

Progress among the Republican campaigns lags well behind the Democrats', Bositis said.

"Republicans always say they go for the best, and the best to them usually means some white guy," he said.

Among Republicans, Romney's campaign has Alex Castellanos, a native of Havana, Cuba, as media consultant, but could not point to any top-tier black advisers.

Romney does have some influential women. His campaign manager is Beth Myers, a one-time acolyte of Karl Rove who was chief of staff to Romney as governor of Massachusetts. His policy adviser is Sally Canfield, previously an adviser to former House Speaker Dennis Hastert. Barbara Comstock, a former Justice Department spokeswoman, is a communications consultant.

Giuliani has no high-ranking minorities, but a few women have top jobs. His chief financial officer is Sandra Pack, a former assistant Treasury and Army secretary, and his communications director is Katie Levinson, formerly part of the communications team at the Bush White House.

"We're focused on hiring the best-qualified staff and proud to have such an accomplished and talented team," said Maria Comella, a Giuliani campaign spokeswoman.

The top echelon of McCain's team is the domain of white men, although the campaign did identify two campaign deputies who are women, including strategist Sarah Simmons. Deputy communications director Danny Diaz is Hispanic.

Simmons said that while the Democrats have made progress at diversifying, "all these campaigns can do better." Rarely are the most indispensable campaign positions filled by blacks, he said.

Looking at campaign staffs, "Locating an African-American research director is tougher than finding weapons of mass destruction in Iraq," Simmons wrote in a 2005 column, and not much has changed since then, he says now.

John Edwards' inner circle is heavy with white men, but his political director, David Medina, is Hispanic. Jennifer Palmieri is senior adviser and Kathleen McGlynn is chief of staff. Constituency director Matt Morrison and Treasurer Julius Chambers are black.

The campaign of Bill Richardson, whose mother was Mexican, includes a number of Hispanic staff members at the top, including national field director Dan Sena and senior adviser Mike Stratton. Women on the staff include deputy campaign manager Amanda Cooper, nicknamed "The Machine" by Richardson and "Demanda" by some others because of her drive, and finance co-chairs Colleen Turrentine and Linnea Dyer. Senior policy adviser Calvin Humphrey is black.

Sen. Joe Biden's campaign manager, Luis Navarro, is Hispanic and his finance director is a woman, Chris Koerner. Deputy political director Muthoni Wambu is a black woman. Sen. Chris Dodd's campaign is managed by Sheryl Cohen.

To increase minority representation, Simmons advocates a political version of the so-called Rooney Rule from the National Football League, which requires teams to interview at least one minority candidate when filling a head coaching vacancy.

Part of the challenge, Simmons says, it to get more women and minorities ready for the top tier by giving them a chance to prove themselves in other roles, such as chiefs of staff and spokesmen for members of Congress.

In the past 15 years, Simmons says, the most successful presidential campaigns _ Bill Clinton's and George W. Bush's _ have been the most diverse. Bush's campaign advisers in 2000, he noted, included Karen Hughes, Alberto Gonzales and Condoleezza Rice.

"I may disagree with his policies and the policies of his advisers, but he certainly seems comfortable taking advice from people of color," Simmons said of Bush.