Political Animals

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Jallad was barely a teenager when she started answering phones at her father's company, Accredited Surety and Casualty, which she took over, in 1993. At the time, Accredited insured bail bonds in eight states and had a staff of 11. Since then, the business has expanded into notary bonds and other noncontract commercial surety and is licensed in all 50 states. Revenue is five times what it was 15 years ago, and the head count stands at 50. It is the only woman-run business of its type in the country.

Given her line of work--and Giuliani's law-and-order reputation--Jallad says backing the former mayor was a no-brainer. She also likes the fact that he has executive experience and has overseen a budget. "He's proven himself as a good financial manager in the way he ran New York City," Jallad says.

Jonathan Prince
John Edwards's deputy campaign manager
Former chairman and CEO, Govolution
Arlington, Virginia

These days, you'd never guess that Jonathan Prince was ever anything other than a political operative. Intensely on-message, he's a critical component of the John Edwards machine, running much of the campaign's day-to-day operation. But seven years ago, Prince left a job at the White House to co-found a start-up called Govolution. The business, which handles financial transactions online for federal, state, and local government agencies, was acquired by a larger payment processor in 2005.

Even while running Govolution, Prince remained active in politics. In 2002, he signed on with Edwards. The following year, he became the candidate's deputy campaign manager for strategy and policy; in that capacity, he helped refine Edwards's positions on a variety of issues. This time around, Prince is the campaign's second in command, part of an inner circle that includes Elizabeth Edwards and Joe Trippi, the strategist who ran Howard Dean's campaign in 2004. Insiders say Prince is a master at spin; he remains in constant contact with reporters and bloggers, pushing back on negative stories published about Edwards. According to a reporter on the campaign trail, Prince is also adept at dishing on the other candidates.

John Catsimatidis
Hillary Clinton's New York City fundraiser
Founder and CEO, Red Apple Group
New York City

Though he runs one of the largest privately held companies in the country, with 7,800 employees and more than $3.8 billion in revenue, John Catsimatidis is perhaps best known as New York's grocer. He opened his first supermarket in 1969 and expanded the business rapidly, through organic growth and acquisition. Today, his company, Red Apple Group, maintains interests in businesses as varied as real estate and aircraft leasing, but it is still best known for operating Gristede's, one of the largest grocery chains in New York City.

One of Hillary Clinton's strengths as a candidate has always been fundraising, and Catsimatidis played a key role in helping her open the money spigot in New York. Soon after she announced her presidential bid, Catsimatidis--who calls Hillary and Bill Clinton "two of the smartest people I've ever met"--put together an exclusive reception at his Fifth Avenue home. The haul that evening: $175,000.

In addition to fundraising for Clinton, Catsimatidis may run for mayor of New York City in 2009, and like City Hall's current boss, Mike Bloomberg, he refuses to hew to party labels. If he runs, it will be as a Republican, he says. And if Clinton fails to win her party's nomination? Perhaps with an eye down the road, Catsimatidis has also donated money to Rudy Giuliani.

Eric Carbone
Joe Biden's director of online communications
Co-founder, Real Fans Sports Network
Evanston, Illinois

After selling his company, Real Fans Sports Network, to AOL, in 1997, Carbone tried his hand at a few other Web-related ventures. Then, in 2003, he got into politics, joining the Draft Wesley Clark campaign. He went on to run the former general's Internet operation. The work was nonstop, and, as in the heady dot-com days, so was the innovation. "We were trying to bring new things into play, but we had to move fast," Carbone says. "We didn't have time for product launches and review periods."

Clark, of course, didn't make it out of the primaries. But Carbone's work won plaudits. Soon after the 2004 election, Biden, the Delaware senator, snatched him up. Today, working out of campaign headquarters, Carbone oversees voter outreach online, coordinates internal technological development, and helps hire vendors. Even so, a cool website hasn't been able to propel Biden to a higher ranking in the polls, in part because, this time around, all the campaigns are aggressive online. "Every candidate has a department with multiple people," Carbone says. "No one's surprising anyone."

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