The Silver Bullet

In truth, he mentored an army of young GOP professionals who adore him. Most are fanned out among local races around the country, in the White House or working for various public officials. "The heart of all campaigns is kids in their 20s, many of whom are in the early stages of work experience, and these are concepts not taught in college, but you have to learn in the real world," he says.

"He was like a big brother to me," says Matt David, a spokesman for Schwarzenegger who worked for Schmidt in 2004. "He made me earn my stripes, and I've followed him ever since."

In 2006, Schmidt went right from the Supreme Court nominations of John Roberts and Samuel Alito -- which he managed from Dick Cheney's office -- to the reelection campaign for Schwarzenegger, who was in trouble. He had lost several important ballot initiatives, his popularity had plummeted, and he had little money to launch an aggressive campaign.

Schmidt's first course of action was to remove Schwarzenegger from all the props and sideshows that had caused the actor-turned-governor to be dubbed the "Governator," and to present him as a serious chief executive who was committed to the state.

Bill Carrick, the media strategist for Democratic challenger Phil Angelides, said Schmidt and company were effective in turning Angelides into a hapless politician with a series of ads that manipulated footage to show him walking backward.

"He is widely applauded for getting Arnold out of a mess," Carrick says. "In the end, he was able to restore Arnold's original appeal. The face of Arnold became less about ideology and back to the idea of bipartisanship."

Schmidt is aware that in running campaigns, he can be intimidating. On the Schwarzenegger campaign, he stopped attending the scheduling meetings because people were afraid to talk when he was in the room.

He and his wife liked the West Coast so much that they decided to stay put and raise their two young children in California.

Which brings us to the fire. Last December, unbeknownst to guests at a neighborhood Christmas party, the host's attic was in flames. Smoke slowly started seeping into the house, but not fast enough to slow down the party.

"People were still trying to get drinks at the bar -- it was unbelievable," recalls Kelly Resendez, the home owner. "Steve and another guy were responsible for getting everyone out of that house. . . . I was in shock, and here's Steve taking down pictures from the walls -- he saved all our family photos."

Schmidt was the last person out of the house.

"Not 10 minutes later the roof popped," says Resendez, "and the house went up in flames."