A graying man - once the baby-faced press wrangler for Sen. Barack Obama's nascent presidential campaign - nursed an absinthe cocktail as he mingled near a former spokesman for President George W. Bush's 2004 reelection bid. Nearby, one of Sen. John McCain's most aggressive public advocates in his 2008 presidential campaign huddled with a man who spent the last several years as former President Bill Clinton's liaison with the public.