Are They Hot or Not?

The high-profile presidential and congressional election season is a distant memory. Now, it's time to take a look at some less-known winners and losers (not named Kerry or Daschle) from the campaign trail of the past year, both locally and nationally. To that end, here's the Political Notebook Who's In and Who's Out list:

In:

Darwin Beauvais

Dealing with the contentious zoo called City Council during the past year has been no picnic, particularly for Beauvais, who serves as counsel to Majority Leader Jannie Blackwell. His peacekeeping responsibilities can be labeled nothing short of hefty. An unsung council-staff hero, Beauvais is a true insider who, at times, can influence and bring together even the most difficult of personalities. When council members are not directly speaking to each other, Beauvais keeps a dialogue going with high-ranking members of their staffs to accomplish positive action on some of the pressing issues of the day.

Sean Reilly

Reilly made a wise career move when he left his position as U.S. Sen. Rick Santorum's state and political director some three years ago. Now a lawyer and lobbyist for Greenberg Traurig, he has been instrumental in raising money and identifying campaign opportunities for U.S. Sen. Arlen Specter.

Reilly also helped Republican Sam Mirarchi in his quest to unseat Democratic incumbent state Sen. Michael Stack III. Although Stack handily beat Mirarchi, the challenger received 34 percent of the vote, which is a lot for a political unknown.

Reilly knows it's tough to be a Republican in this city but manages to maintain a cohesive network. Calling state House Speaker John Perzel the GOP's great hope, Reilly says he wants a more progressive Republican coalition to build alliances and make inroads in the city. Well known for his exclusive soirees during the Pennsylvania Society's annual December bash, Reilly plans to play a part in selecting future Republican candidates for district attorney and city controller.

Rebecca Shapiro

Shapiro quit her job as an associate at the lobbying firm Hill Solutions last year to help her brother, Joshua Shapiro, run for a state House seat in Abington.

He bested Jon Fox — a tough foe who had name recognition as a former congressman in Montgomery County — after running a grass-roots, door-to-door campaign with little money and no big guns to help him.

Rebecca Shapiro was an inexperienced but savvy campaign manager who updated the media with campaign news and organized well-planned and well-staged fund-raising events. She deserves a lot of credit for helping out her older brother and can now write her own ticket, picking and choosing from the inevitable high-paying campaign offers.

Micah Mahjoubian

Mahjoubian, Mayor John Street's 30-year-old openly gay deputy secretary of external affairs, has put some pizzazz into Street's office by arranging hip parties bringing city officials together with young, networking professionals. Last month, Majoubian — along with Street's senior advisor (and nephew) Shawn Fordham — organized a successful bash at the Seamen's Institute, the former location of MTV's Real World series. More than 500 people attended the party that boasted two open bars and plenty of substantial eats — not to mention live R&B artists, a rock band and a celebrity DJ. But while most parties offer food, drink and song, the event set a new standard for government hipness.

Out:

Jim Eisenhower

Stop acting like Al Gore and just concede already. Eisenhower, an attorney at Ballard Spahr, needs to accept the fact that he lost the attorney general's race to Republican Tom Corbett rather than wait for provisional ballots to be counted — even though he's already been mathematically eliminated.

Sam Katz

It is unlikely that Katz will be able to convince Republicans to support his fourth run for mayor, let alone back him for another office. His best chance of winning the mayor's office was after last year's City Hall bug fiasco, but Katz blew a golden opportunity.

A recent court ruling forces him to pay $2.1 million to his former business partners. That decision, stemming from a failed attempt to develop a skating rink, also found that Katz and his firm made fraudulent misrepresentations to potential investors, a charge that further complicates any future political prospects.

James Carville

When Carville worked on spin for Bill Clinton in 1992, he suggested Clinton focus on rebuilding the economy. That suggestion helped get Clinton elected.

Conversely, when advising John Kerry on the issues this campaign, he made some big mistakes, including the fact that he didn't push the candidate toward the same focus that Clinton took. Kerry focused too much on Iraq and not enough on the short-term policies for everyday people, which was part of his downfall. Bye-bye to expensive consulting and lecture fees?