James Carville
Political Consultant and Television Commentator

James Carville is America's best-known political consultant. He’s steering overlooked campaigns to unexpected victories and turned political underdogs into upset winners.

Carville’s winning streak began in 1986 with the gubernatorial victory of Robert Casey in PA, a loser in three previous attempts, over popular Lieutenant Governor William Scranton, Jr. In 1987, Carville helped Wallace Wilkinson go from 1% in polls to winning a gubernatorial campaign in Kentucky. Carville guided NJ’s Frank Lautenberg’s campaign for US Senate to victory, followed by the 1990 gubernatorial campaign of Georgia’s Lieutenant Governor Zell Miller.

In 1991, Carville drew national attention when he led Senator Harris Wofford from 40 points behind to an landslide victory. With this win, Carville exposed the political vulnerability of George Bush, who enjoyed 91% approval ratings during the Gulf War.

Having wounded the sitting President, Carville finished the job by guiding William Clinton to the Presidency in 1992. Carville was the focus, with George Stephanopoulos, of the Academy Award nominated documentary The War Room.

Carville has consulted to high international officials in Greece, Brazil, Ecuador, Canada, Argentina, Mexico, Israel, and more.

James Carville is also an author, actor, producer, talk-show host, speaker, and restaurateur. With co-author and wife Mary Matalin, he wrote All's Fair: Love, War, and Running for President, which spent eight weeks on The New York Times bestseller list. Carville’s other books have included We’re Right, They’re Wrong: A Handbook for Spirited Progressives; And the Horse He Rode In On: The People vs. Kenneth Starr; and Had Enough? A Handbook for Fighting Back. Carville also appears on television as a CNN commentator and is hosting XM radio's 60/20 weekly sports show.

Mary Matalin
Republican Activist and Television Commentator

Mary Matalin served as assistant to former President George W. Bush and counselor to former Vice President Dick Cheney, and she was the first White House official to hold that double title.

Before joining the Bush/Cheney White House, Matalin hosted CNN’s debate show, Crossfire. Mary Matalin is the former founding co-host of the Washington-based political weeknight talk show, Equal Time, which premiered in 1993 on CNBC. She served as co-host until shortly after the 1996 national conventions. Her political astuteness and antics contributed to the show’s being called "the best talk show on television" by Knight Ridder News Service. Matalin’s humor, straightforward discussion, and ability to discuss hot political issues helped to make the show one of the most talked about programs of that network.

Mary has appeared as a TV political commentator, and has written for various periodicals including Newsweek. Her most recent book, Letters to My Daughters (April 2004), was named a Book of the Month Club selection as well as The New York Times and The Washington Post best-seller lists.

Matalin took her sharp wit and free-spirited political repartee to the airwaves during her own three-hour afternoon radio program on the CBS Talk Radio Network. The Mary Matalin Show highlighted current events with guests and listener calls. Talkers Magazine listed Matalin as one of The 100 Most Important Talk Show Hosts in America in 1996 - 1998. Matalin recently appeared, with Carville, on HBO’s critically acclaimed series K-Street, about the world of powerful political consultants.

Active in politics since college, she started in her native Illinois. The Reagan Revolution brought her to Washington, DC where she served the Republican National Committee.

After attending Hofstra Law School, Mary returned to the RNC as national voter contact director for the Reagan-Bush Campaign. She held senior positions in the George H. W. Bush 1988 campaign and, upon President Bush's election, was appointed chief of staff for the RNC.

In 1992, former President Bush named her the deputy campaign manager for political operations, responsible for the overview and organization of all state operations. She emerged as the vocal, and occasionally controversial, defender of Bush and his policies.

Keith McFarland
Best-Selling Author of The Breakthrough Company

As a technology CEO, business school dean, consultant, and author, Keith McFarland has provided management insight to organizations for more than 20 years. He writes regular columns for BusinessWeek and , and is founder of McFarland Strategy Partners.

Prior to establishing his consultancy, he served as CEO of two technology firms, most recently Nivo International, the exclusive provider of certification services for Microsoft Office products through more than 2000 testing centers in 56 countries.

McFarland previously served as chairman and as CEO of Collectech Systems, a two-time Inc. 500 company. He led the transformation of Collectech into the leading customer contact and accounts receivable management service provider for the telecommunications industry. As a result of his efforts, Collectech’s revenues grew from $10 million to $100 million in four years.

While running Collectech, McFarland pursued the life-long dream to study with management theorist Peter Drucker. He has completed his coursework and qualifying exams for a doctorate from the Drucker School of Business at Claremont University.

McFarland’s new book, The Breakthrough Company, is being heralded as the Good to Great for growth companies. It represents the most exhaustive study of successful growth companies in history. He and his research team spent five years assembling and analyzing a database of more than 7,000 companies — every company to ever be named to Inc. Magazine’s annual list of 500 fastest growing companies.

In addition to debuting at number one on the Wall Street Journal’s best-seller list, The Breatkthrough Company was also listed on the national best-seller lists of the New York Times, Businessweek, the Los Angeles Times, and USA Today.