The Tao Of Schmidt

 I commend to you this fair and not unsympathetic portrait of Steve Schmidt, McCain's campaign operations chief.

Weaver describes Schmidt as "hardly a right-wing reactionary guy" and counts him among a corps of Republican operatives in their late 30s and early 40s--most of whom have served in the Bush White House--who hope to chart a less divisive course for the party in the coming years. Still, there's been no indication that Schmidt, whom Mark McKinnon swears is a "total marshmallow ... [and] a really sweet guy," struggles with separating his personal politics from the task at hand.