Republican campaign operatives are very worried.

"I don't see myself as a professional campaign operative."

But several political analysts and campaign operatives said the new date might mean a less competitive primary.

"A campaign operative can't use a filing center or a phone cord to limit your access to what's happening in the world."

They talk inside-the-Beltway politics with elected officials, campaign operatives and journalists, and they explore their personal stories too.

Mr. Carville said that campaign operatives tended to overschedule late in the game.

The presidential candidates have spoken out against such violence, but in the rural areas there are still campaign operatives using force to influence the vote.

"The only way of knowing what the opposition says about us is to catch them like this," one campaign operative said.

He hired several of the mayor's former campaign operatives and won over several unions that had been the infantry of the James organization.

Brett Buerck began his political career as a campaign operative for the Ohio Republican Party.