"Ace is very mischievous, in a dark way," said real estate developer Steve Soboroff, whose unsuccessful campaign for Los Angeles mayor in 2001 marked Smith's transition from opposition researcher to campaign manager.
Soboroff recalled that Smith was annoyed at a reporter and invited him to a meeting, promising to give him a scoop and telling him he had to be there at a certain time.
"So when the reporter showed up," Soboroff said, "we were holding the elevator, and as soon as he got close enough to see us, Ace said, 'Oh no, it's too late.' " The elevator doors closed, leaving the reporter behind, scoopless.
Smith -- whose company, SCN Public Relations, has earned about $140,000 from the Clinton campaign since 2007 -- works out of his home in the upscale Marin County town of Kentfield, where he lives with his wife, Laura, a fundraiser, and their children, Abram, 17, and Lili, 14.
He specializes in California races, but Smith has worked all over the country. In the late '80s, he traveled nationwide as political director of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee. In 1992, before Bill Clinton's first presidential campaign, he produced "vulnerability studies" (the genteel term for "oppo" on your own guy) for the Arkansas governor.
When Smith heard that the Clintons wanted him in North Carolina, he did what he always does before parachuting into a state: grabbed his copy of "Inside U.S.A.," a 1947 guidebook by journalist John Gunther. "I always start there," he said. Then he picks up a AAA guidebook: "I read that start to finish 'cause it has all these odd little facts and pieces about small towns and you get a real flavor for what's going on."
This year in particular, small towns are a major part of his strategy. With Obama faring better in the big cities and among the affluent and well-educated, hitting the smaller population centers has been crucial to Clinton's success. Smith will often send Bill Clinton, who can pop in and out of small towns with ease. (Getting Hillary Clinton there is a cumbersome operation: big jet, lots of aides, the national press.)
Indeed, on Wednesday the former president held rallies in seven North Carolina towns whose populations ranged from less than 3,000 to 23,000. Smith said his internal polling shows that African Americans still have the highest regard for Bill Clinton, even though he has made remarks about Obama that offended many.
