Sniping piles pressure on campaign chief In a Republican party that has swung to the right in recent years, Stuart Stevens stands out as something of a Renaissance man, an author and social liberal not usually associated with running conservative campaigns. But Mr Stevens" personal qualities have become a lightning rod for criticism of Mr Romney's campaign from conservatives who fear an election that should be theirs for the taking is slipping away. Mr Stevens was the subject of a lengthy article by Politico, the influential Washington publication, which described him as impulsive, and a "tortured artist" whose chaotic management habits were undermining Mr Romney. Whether he is tortured or not, Mr Stevens would not balk at the description of him as an artist. In a buttoned-up campaign dominated by a core of long-term devotees, he is an interloper, with multiple careers beyond politics. A longtime political consultant, the Mississippi-born Mr Stevens has always had another life, as an author of titles on subjects as varied as on eating his way through three-Michelin-star restaurants in Europe, travelling across China and driving dangerously across Africa. A witty, cinematic writer, he has also written screenplays, including an episode of Northern Exposure, the 1990s television show about a transplanted New Yorker in Alaska. In his insider's book on the 2000 campaign to elect George W. Bush, Mr Stevens played up to his image as a tough fighter, writing: "I revelled in the sheer combat of campaigns, the smell of napalm in the morning and all that." If Politico, and months of low-level sniping, is to be believed, Mr Stevens" colleagues are tiring of his eccentricities and his failure to create a more positive image of Mr Romney in the face of relentless attacks from the Obama campaign. So bad has been the campaign, especially the relaunch of Mr Romney at the Republican convention last month, say critics, that insiders had joked Mr Stevens needed a Bain & Co consultant to sort it out. Mr Stevens has been criticised for doing three jobs at once, as the chief strategist, his official title, as well as taking charge of speechwriting and advertising. He defends his responsibilities, saying the Romney campaign is flexible and "uncompartmentalised." Ironically, the other criticism of him is not that he has been too adventurous in structuring Mr Romney's campaign messages, but that he has been too cautious, relying on the bad economy alone to win. Such backbiting stories about a campaign's internal machinations, filled with vituperative, anonymously-sourced quotes, usually follow defeat rather than landing in the midst of the final stretch of the election itself. This "pre-bituary," as one commentator dubbed the article, is a dangerous sign in that respect, of a campaign imploding with the finish line in sight. But in today's rapid-fire media universe, the article may be quickly forgotten. Mr Romney is trailing in the polls, but Mr Stevens, for his part, says his patient campaign will ensure his candidate wins.