Democratic presidential candidate Senator Joseph Lieberman is surrounded by press as he leaves a meeting. A candidate's press secretary is the person who must make sure the candidate is prepared to answer all the press's questions. A candidate never wants to be caught off guard. (Photo: Bebeto Matthews/AP Wide World)

This is why you need a good press secretary. Your press secretary will take some of the pressure off you by answering many of the questions you'll be asked by reporters.

Your press secretary will also teach you how to answer the questions. One of his or her main jobs is to keep the press—and you—on message. That means sticking to the topic you want to project for your campaign that day without letting the press throw you off track.

It's easy to get off message by answering charges from a challenger in the race, rather than strictly talking about your issues. That's sometimes hard to do, because you instinctively want to respond. Your press secretary can help settle you down and keep you talking about health care when your opponents want to talk about taxes.

So what should you look for in a press secretary?

First and foremost, you need a press secretary who is loyal.

“My job is to represent the President,” said Ari Fleischer, President Bush's former press secretary. "And that's what I always remember when I come to this podium [in the White House press office]."

Your press secretary should be poised, educated, and funny. A good sense of humor helps in dealing with the press, but look out! You don't want a comedian who takes nothing seriously. The press won't take him or her seriously either.

Your press secretary needs to be quick and able to handle anything. He or she will have to have a vast amount of knowledge about the issues, both foreign and domestic.

Anyone wanting to be a press secretary will have to be a quick study—someone who learns quickly.

A good press secretary has a lot of charisma, charm, and finesse. He or she has to be one of the best spin doctors in the business. A spin doctor is someone who can take a negative and turn it into a positive. A spin doctor can make mistakes look like they were planned positives. The best of the spin doctors can mold a reporter's story to suit the candidate without the reporter even realizing what's happening. Since most reporters are pretty savvy, that's hard to do.

“It occurred to me that something more restful, more relaxing now, would be to wrestle alligators for a living," Fleischer said when he retired.