Sally Bradshaw, 37, is Bush's alter ego, sounding board and, by all accounts, closest political adviser. After managing his two previous campaigns, she is in the background this time but every bit as formidable a presence.

Every key decision bears her stamp of approval, from the hiring of a media consultant to "pulling the trigger" on those negative TV ads on Bill McBride before the primary. Indeed, Bradshaw is to Jeb Bush what Karl Rove is to Bush's brother, the president.

Bradshaw worked in former President Bush's White House as a political liaison to elected officials and state party leaders in the South, and was Florida director of Bush-Quayle '92. She ran Jeb Bush's 1994 and 1998 campaigns and was his first chief of staff after his election.

She left the all-consuming demands of that job two years ago to devote more time to raising a family with her husband, Paul, a lobbyist for Southern Strategy Group, whose own rise to prominence paralleled that of his wife.

Sally Bradshaw draws a $10,000 monthly salary from the Republican Party as a consultant. From her home in Gadsden County, she is in daily, sometimes hourly, contact with the campaign office -- cajoling, suggesting and most of all, protecting her mentor.

Karen Unger, campaign manager

Karen Unger, 32, is Bush's campaign manager, responsible for matters large and small, from organizing a big campaign trip to the location of a lectern.

She started out as a young foot soldier in the most hostile territory for Florida Republicans: Broward County. With scant resources in 1998, she made lemonade out of lemons and held the Democrats' margin to "only" 88,000 votes in Broward, a symbolic victory for the GOP even though it was mostly the result of a weak Democratic campaign.

Even though she's several months' pregnant with her first child, Unger works long hours for the campaign. She also has been an appointments director and external affairs director in the governor's office.

Several days ago, Unger sat in the back of the room at a Bush campaign news conference, nodding approvingly as her boss unveiled a plan to increase penalties for sex offenders in Florida. Suddenly she bolted from her seat. "Back to work," she said to herself.

Brian Yablonski, adviser

Brian Yablonski, 34, deputy chief of staff in the governor's office, holds no formal campaign role. But more than anybody else in either the campaign office or the governor's office, he knows every nuance in the policy-wonk mind of his boss.

Yablonski can take a Bush idea from drawing board to finished product. He helped create Bush's One Florida initiative, which replaced affirmative action in university admissions and state contracting. He pursued Oklahoman Jerry Regier to run the Department of Children and Families. He helps Bush prepare for debates, focusing on the dense policy stuff rather than the political jabs.

Between the 1994 and 1998 campaigns, Yablonski worked at the Bush nonprofit think tank, the Foundation for Florida's Future. While there, he helped open a Liberty City charter school and co-authored Profiles in Character, the book that is a manifesto on the Bush style of governing. He's a graduate of Wake Forest and the University of Miami law school.

One day some time ago, Yablonski bounded out of Bush's office sporting a several-day-old growth of beard after a camping trip (his other passion besides public policy). Surprised reporters immediately likened him to Al Gore, the former vice president who was growing a beard at the time. Yablonski's beard didn't take, and neither did the Gore comparison. Soon he was his old clean-shaven self.

McBride's circle

Cathy Kelly, campaign manager

Cathy Kelly isn't one to get worked up.

When the phones are ringing and it seems everyone Bill McBride ever met wants to tell her what the campaign must start doing right now, the campaign manager seems the model of restraint.

It is her mantra: We have a plan. You stick to your plan.

McBride reorganized his campaign staff shortly after winning the Democratic nomination. Kelly replaced Robin Rorapaugh, McBride's campaign manager for most of the primary.

"I've just tried to bring a little bit more focus and really picked up where people were," she said. "I've just tried to continue that work and tried to help organize the increased intensity that a general election brings."

Kelly, 59, has known McBride and his wife, Alex Sink, for several years through their involvement in various civic organizations. She is on loan from the Florida Education Association, the teacher's union and McBride's biggest institutional investor. She has been the union's political director for 15 years and plans to retire in January.

She got into politics in 1977, joining Bob Graham's first campaign for governor. She worked for his administration, overseeing appointments to boards and commissions, then worked on Graham's first U.S. Senate campaign in 1986.

"I have a lot of historical perspective on things," she said. "Although, as I get older it gets harder to remember."

Alan Stonecipher, communications director

The night of the first debate, when Bill McBride's supporters felt moderator Michael Putney had favored Gov. Jeb Bush, Alan Stonecipher rang him up. "You little dweeb," he said on Putney's answering machine.

Stonecipher often takes this race more personally than his candidate. As the communications director, he guides McBride's public message. He also writes policy and is the chief author of McBride's education plan.

Stonecipher, 52, served as executive director of the Florida Democratic Party in 1990 and 1991, then as U.S. Sen. Bob Graham's deputy campaign manager. For the next six years, he was spokesman for the Board of Regents, which Bush abolished last year. He also served as co-director of Gov. Lawton Chiles' Commission on Education, formed to find a way to relieve school overcrowding.

Now Stonecipher has the manic look of a scientist who has stayed too long in his lab, working on what he's sure is the next great thing. He says he's smoking way too much. "That, and caffeine and cheeseburger intake is way up," he said.

In Tampa, Stonecipher works in a gray cubicle on a desk surrendered to a tidal wave of reports, papers and policy statements. Pinned to the wall are crayon-colored messages from his children, ages 6 and 9. He tries to get home to Tallahassee to see them every other week.

"Daddy," one in green reads, "I hope you have fun."

Buddy Schulz, adviser

George E. "Buddy" Schulz manages to stay fit on the campaign trail. Most mornings, he rises an hour early to run.

Schulz is Bill McBride's shadow, the man who tries to keep the candidate on time and out of trouble.

McBride is loquacious and virtually unable to refuse requests for autographs. Schulz finds himself grabbing McBride by the arm to tug him away.

Schulz, 57, is one of McBride's best and oldest friends. They met at age 16 at Boys State, enrolled in law school at the University of Florida and dropped out to serve in Vietnam. When they returned to Gainesville, they shared a trailer outside town.

After practicing law for 15 years in Miami, Schulz joined the Jacksonville office of Holland & Knight in 1989. When McBride became managing partner in 1992, he put Schulz in charge of litigation. Schulz is on leave from the firm to volunteer full time for the campaign.

Schulz's wife, Mary Lou, volunteers in the Tampa campaign headquarters, and the couple lives in a guest house -- a converted mobile home -- next to the McBrides' home in Thonotosassa.

"When people ask me, I say the best part about it is riding down the highway at 10 or 11 o'clock (at night), just sort of cutting up, talking about old times," Schulz said.

"We've done a lot of things over the years together. We've paddled rivers, we've backpacked, fished, gone to ballgames. This is an extension of some of those experiences."

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Lucy Morgan

From the Times state desk