Obama Hires Solis Doyle: A Bad Omen For VP Hillary

The Obama campaign announced today what had long been suspected: Hillary Clinton's former campaign manager Patti Solis Doyle was going to work for the Illinois Democrat. What came as a surprise was Solis Doyle's title, "chief of staff to the vice presidential candidate."

The move was seen as shrewd but potentially controversial. Solis Doyle was let go by Clinton because of what was widely regarded as poor campaign and financial management. But she still is a prominent Hispanic figure with ties to the former first lady -- attributes that could endear Obama to a sought-after political constituency.

One thing the move does suggest, insiders believe, is that Hillary Clinton's chances of being tapped for the vice presidency are now slim to nil.

"This alone means that Hillary won't be the V.P. choice," wrote one.

According to two close Clinton confidantes, the Senator and Solis Doyle have not spoken since her firing months ago. And there is a sense that bad blood lingers between the two. Some officials in Clinton's orbit were disappointed, if not angered, by the fact that Solis Doyle had been in touch with the Obama campaign about possibly coming on board. Solis Doyle, meanwhile, is rumored to have felt particularly scapegoated by her firing.

Said one individual with knowledge of the Clinton campaign's political leanings: "It would be pretty awkward if Hillary Clinton were picked as vice president and Patti was there to be her chief of staff."

Indeed, while on the surface it may seem that hiring Solis Doyle would provide a soft landing for Clinton to be brought in as V.P., others see her hiring as simply a logical political move.

"Patti knows that world certainly and knows the kinds of things the vice president would do because she saw it so much in the White House," said a source. "She is from Chicago and she knows all those folks. I knew she had visited with them and she wants to get on with her life too."

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But time does heal wounds and in politics a shared objective like, say, the White House, could compel Obama to reunite Clinton and her former campaign manager.

Update: Jason Horowitz over at the New York Observer reports the following: "A former bundler to Hillary Clinton just called in to tell me that Barack Obama's selection of Patti Solis Doyle as chief of staff to the campaign's eventual vice presidential nominee is the "biggest fuck you I have ever seen in politics."

[snip]

"Either one of two things happen," said the bundler. "Hillary is selected as vice president and they fire Patti, or Hillary is not going to be the vice president."

Later Update: A source with knowledge (though not direct) of Sollis Doyle and Clinton's relationship writes in to dispute the idea that they haven't spoken since her firing. Though, he adds, the move by Obama seems likely to shut the door on the idea of Clinton as VP.

Comments

[merle7]

Ms Doyle was very helpful to Hillary with the Hispanic voters, maybe she can help Obama with this group. This might have nothing to do with Hillary being the VP pick or not,besides if she is his choice why not hire someone she is familiar with. It was reported there was no hard feeling in her removal from Hillary's campign. Besides Obama is doing pretty good with women support right now ,I think bringing more women on board is smart.

[FLOWERGAL]

BYE , BYE , HILLARY , COULD YOU PLEASE GO HOME ! SO , YOU WON'T BE PREZ OR VP , BE HAPPY YOU'RE A SENATOR. THAT'S MORE THAN MOST IN AMERICA CAN HOPE FOR.

[ikology]

what are you talking about? She IS at home! She's BEEN home. The only thing we've heard from Hillary lately is an e-mail from her campaign sharing her favorite photos from the campaign trail which links to a page to sign up to help Senator Obama, so shut up about it already and leave the poor woman alone you paranoid little person.

[pupbayer]

Get over it. Move on.

[MadFae]

But does Hillary even WANT to be VP? Why is everyone so worried about her? She's going to have a stellar political career. And all of those "disgruntled Clinton supporters" don't seem to be flocking to McCain like people think they are.

[Katie1263]

Oh yes we are my dear. We are going to John McCain in droves.

[NURREDIN]

You deserve the four more years of death, destruction, unemployment, and a worthless dollar that you're going to get with McCain. Just hand over America to the Chinese, because that's where all our money will go. Four hundred million Chinese making $4.00 an hour will thank you for your stupidity. You'd rather drown than be saved by a half Black lifeguard. You're pathetic and should register as a Republican. Maybe when your home is foreclosed on and you're making tuna salad out of cat food you'll wish you had voted Democratic regardless of who the candidate is. I've got a villa in Baja, where I'm going to watch you idiots suffer! I hope you're one of the first to lose your job. I just pray you don't have relatives in the military, because you're voting for more of them coming home in body bags.

[Bettysdad]

As of yesterday, 19% of former Mrs. Bill Clinton's supporters are going for McCain. And it's the middle of JUNE.

AS time passes McCain will show his hand, Hillary will campaign as she promsed, and you will understand the absolute insanity of doing anything but vote Obama.

Katie, come election day, it will be you and 7 other Hillary supporters trying to figure out how to scream and whine at the same time.

You won't matter.

[BadCompany]

I don't really know what a campaign manager does.
I hope she doesn't manage him into having daily personality changes.

[personalpolitical]

Bye bye nightmare ticket:

http://www.thepersonalispolitical.com/2008/06/why-no-nightmare-ticket-lets-count.html

[whatevertoo]

I agree whole heartedly

[Katie1263]

There is no need for Hillary to ever even consider being Obama's VP. Why? BECAUSE OBAMA WILL NEVER BE PRESIDENT. NEVER. PLEASE MARK MY WORDS AND REMEMBER YOU READ IT HERE FIRST FOLKS.

[debwarot]

We'll see what you have to say in November. Get ready to eat some crow!

[heal57]

Oh contrare dear Katie, for Obama will be President and just for the record, Patti Solis Doyle was given the shaft for nothing that she had done. She had been loyal to Clinton and was dumped. Indeed, she is with a campaign who appreciates her service, and I think the position she was put in before Senator Obama publicly chose the VP spot bodes well for all of us. The good Senator knows exactly what he's doing and I for one agree with him, He will be a remarkable President. HRC's power has greatly diminished, but Obama has been gracious to her even though she insulted him constantly during their compaigning. I think Hillary should be VP; On the John McCcain ticket.

[scorpioleidy]

Bravo!

[Sabreen60]

Well it appears if you mention Hi.l-ary and the effect on this appointment in terms of it her possibility of becoming the veep you are scrubbed. This I do not understand. You cannot make comments as to why or why not she will be the veep. How in the world is this off topic?

[abby4ever]

It isn't off-topic, you are right---how can it be when the headline reads 'A Bad Omen For VP Hillary' and where that's about her CHANCES of becoming VP!

[Bond007]

I am conflicted about this one,,, am not sure this is a good idea. At first I thought it was, but now that I think about it, she could be 1. A mole 2. This may further alienate Clinton supporters 3. It could be a signal that the Obama people want Hillary as VP and a deal is already made.

[RudyV]

How would hiring someone whom HRC absolutely hates be a sign that they want her on board? Did you actually read the article?

[SharonToji]

It's my impression that Hillary hired Solis-Doyle, even though she probably didn't have the background for such a top spot, because she was personally fond of her and had worked with her (probably somewhat mentored her, although I'm guessing at that). I think she hung on to Solis Doyle as long as she did, even though the campaign was in disarray, because of that friendship and their congeniality. I'm sure it was wrenching to let her go, and there may very well have been hard feelings. But I doubt that Hillary ever hated Solis-Doyle.

[Gmoney1]

Yea, is Solis Doyle a MOLE - Well, if she is, Michele will handle that -

[oscarp]

I hope Hillary won't accept the VP, what for?

[GnitenGoodLk]

Genius...

That's all I'll say for now...

[StephenDedalus82]

I'm intrigued. Say more please. To my mind it's either a serious blunder or Clinton will be the VP.

[GnitenGoodLk]

Definitely not a blunder, bigger than a breadbox though. Much bigger. Without being too specific, I'll just say this is a very empowering move.

[JJK]

I'm not sure who the "insiders" are who are supposedly opining that this means that Sen. Obama won't choose Sen. Clinton as his running mate, but I would disagree with them.

In every campaign I can remember the Candidate typically names someone on his own staff to be the "manager" of the Veep's own campaign. In other words, the VP candidate is told who will be running things and coordinating schedule and message with the main campaign. So, by bringing Solis Doyle aboard, the Obama braintrust could be planning well in advance to make that eventuality as palatable as possible to Clinton.

[don]

There's a possibility that Doyle was placed in that position on Hillary's request.

If so, it would be a gesture of reconciliation on her part and a preparation for the resumption of their professional relationship. One role of the Vice President is to deflect negative attention away from the President while the President appears above the fray, as Agnew did when he took on the nattering nabobs. Hillary could certainly play the role of administration attack dog. Folding Hillary into his administration would demonstrate Obama's ability to make a magnanimous decision, just the sort of thing you would expect of him.

[TNFarmer]

"...attack dog." Problem is, this attack dog has a tendency to bite anyone within reach, including the "handler." Senator Obama is magnanimous, and he's also very intelligent, which means he probably won't pick HRC as his VP (I hope).

Look, Senator Obama is not going spend a lot of his time and effort trying to reconcile with HRC. He'll certainly be gracious and willing to reconcile, but he isn't going to kiss her a$$. He's going to continue building a very effective team and focusing on his November opponent. Senator Clinton's supporters will either support the Democrat's Presidential Nominee and the Party, or they won't. Most will. Those that won't have to be written off and, hopefully, replaced with Republicans that either don't like their candidate or who won't vote.

[debwarot]

I agree, that sounds both possible and plausible. I surely hope it will not come to pass, but I have implicit faith in Obama's ability to pick a strong and cerdible running mate - even if it should be Hillary.

[Tommygun264]

I head a good one on "Countdown with Kieth Olberman" last night. Kieth asked someone if Obama hiring Ms. Solis-Doyle isn't proof that Hillary doesn't have a chance at getting the VP position and the guy (forgive me, but I forget his name) said, "No. Obama hired her so that Hillary Clinton would have the pleasure of telling her off and firing her a second time in the same year". LOL!!!

[Moka11]

Dana Millbank made the comment.

[vlebje]

And Dana's remark was excellent sarcasm.

[DeadDogDemocrat]

Obama shouldn't pick Clinton unless he wants to spend four years reading articles about whether the president was showing his VP the proper respect.

[abby4ever]

LOL

[researcher]

she has such pretty eyes glad to see she is on with obama now.

good for obama going after the latino vote

pure political move let the past go

[beaupritchard]

I think we are missing the obvious here ... the VP does chose his or her staff. Doesn't this announcement mean the search is over.

We should be looking for who would chose Patti Solis Doyle as chief of staff.

[LionEater]

good point....

[abby4ever]

That's what I thought---but you never know with Obama. Even though it's highly unusual to select a chief of staff for the V, especially where, supposedly, there is no presumptive VP as yet, Obama is a highly unusual person.

And for those who think it's a real slap in the face to both Hillary and her supporters, I am wondering if---and here I just speculate-­--somethin­g has happened that has made Obama decide once and for all to shut the door on Hillary. For example, if he found out that she was undermining him in some way, through surrogates or something. I haven't a clue if she is, I just mention the possibility. (It isn't that implausible given some things that happened when she was still in the race.) For he has to know that this move HAS angered some of her supporters, and would have known that before he did it.

[DRPike]

The VP does chose his or her staff, after the election. Candidates for President often choose the entire campaign staff at the level we are discussing.

[Stonepig]

HMMM maybe Bill Richardson? Who has been around Ms Doyle?
Frankly, I think Obama picked her because she has an incredible talent and PR capability. Why do you all continue the sneaky game playing political conspiring card? Can people get hired cause they're good...not the enemy, or the potential for soap opera. Come on people, use a little more intelligence and talk about the real issues instead of the games, talk about the talents of the person instead of the hypothesizing that makes everyone look so dumb. We have a very serious job to do and Sen Obama needs us on target with our brains in our heads not in the dark place, and our mouths saying things that don't smack of McBushies camp. Let's be the intelligent, smart speaking, issue discussing, future planning machine, Sen Obama will need as President.

[Artos]

I agree with you. I think that these folks who spend so much time and wasted effort at theorizing schemes are making more of a statement about themselves than they are about the Politicians. That more than anything else is probably why America is in the condition it's in.

[RFBorjal]

One thing I can be sure of. This time, soap operas will be off Patti's menu.

[greginwva]

Andrea Mitchel laughed and said they blame her for losing Iowa.Barack Obama won Iowa because hes Barack Obama and Iowa liked what they saw and heard from the man.Im tired of the press acting like Barack won because Hillary didnt get in stride until the end or because she voted for the war or because she couldnt admit she was wrong.With the exception of Indiana,both of those two won every state they were expected to win as far back as Feb.One Obama error was the paper that was accidently released which layed it out exactly as it played out .I like Doyles addition and agree that Obama knew how the press would play it.The man's brilliant.