The Battle of the Band

"We're getting the band together," White House Communications Director Dan Bartlett told the group on their first conference call last week. "The 'Band' is made up of the people who brought you the war in Afghanistan -- or at least the accompanying public-relations campaign," explains Martha Brant. "Now, they're back for a reunion tour on Iraq." Members include: "Deputy Communications Director Jim Wilkinson, 32, a fast-talking Texan who has become an unlikely but keen student of Islam"; "Tucker Eskew, 41, a savvy South Carolinian, who will soon be named the director of the new Office of Global Communications"; and "British spin master Alastair Campbell."