The First Campaign Manager?

Not sure what to make of this, but while at Church this morning, the pastor of my parish, in the context of the weekly scripture readings which focused on the baptism of Jesus by John the Baptist, spoke of the political primary campaigns currently underway in the U.S. Now, my pastor didn't exactly use the terminology of Campaign Manager to describe John the Baptist, but it seemed to me that the picture he was painting of John the Baptist's example as it related to the current political environment in the United States sure sounded a lot like that of a Campaign Manager of sorts, albeit for a different kind of campaign. I must say that the thought rather intrigued me.