Clinton Campaign Shake-Up: Patti Solis Doyle Steps Down

Hillary Clinton Campaign Director Patti Solis Doyle has stepped down.

Maggie Williams will now take her place. Mark Penn stays where he is, for the time being.

Big news.

[Update: Solis Doyle will remain a "Senior Adviser" to the campaign -- and some are spinning this as Doyle's decision to step aside rather than being deposed by Clinton. My Hillaryland source reiterated that Doyle was moved out of her spot by Hillary Clinton. I am "reframing" Doyle's move from serving as Campaign Manager to Senior Advisor as "stepping down" rather than "fired" based on a conversation with another senior Clinton campaign staff member.]

-- Steve Clemons publishes the popular political blog, The Washington Note

Comments

[UppityNegress]

Consistently crying the day before a primary is a tell-tale sign about the person's caliber in handling stress. There are other factors but this is definitely a warning sign.

I am an activist and when confronted by hate mail or death-threats I could not cry. I cried later with friends about how cruel it was, but I needed my supporters to know I could handle being embarrassed because I needed them to have faith that I was not fragile and would act and react emotionally.

Hillary has been shedding tears easily these few weeks. It seems that this campaign is wearing on her and she simply is not used to losing in public. During the Clinton investigations and scandals, she had a press secretary and was hidden behind the White House walls. So she could brace herself for public viewing. This campaign does not give her space to hide. So we see exactly how fragile she is.

No one never said Hillary could not fight. I am simple saying she is exposing a very weak side that signals she is fragile when she is not up. We don't know if the US will be up when and if she is elected. I don't want some emotional president trying to play tough to over-compensate for feeling vulnerable and scared.

[ayc]

"Initially, Clinton's former White House chief of staff, Maggie Williams, was brought in to run the campaign even though Solis Doyle was still there. The result was confusion and awkwardness for the staff, who weren't sure who was really in charge.

But even more problematic was the campaign's money crunch. Over the last seven years, Clinton had raised $175 million for her reelection and her presidential campaign. But Solis Doyle didn't tell Clinton that there was next to no cash on hand until after the New Hampshire primary.

"We were lying about money," a source said. "The cash on hand was nothing."

In turn, Clinton didn't tell Solis Doyle that she was lending her own money to keep the campaign afloat. Solis Doyle found out third-hand. And when she asked Clinton about it, the senator told her she couldn't understand how the campaign had gotten to such a point."
http://weblogs.baltimoresun.com/news/politics/blog/2008/02/maine_caucuses_barack_obama_to.html#more

Senator Clinton has executive management skills??

[S1m0n]

What is it, day 27 since the start of primary season? And the candidate who keeps claiming to be ready to run the nation on 'day one' of her presidency still hasn't gotten her own campaign off the ground.

The Clinton campaign keeps getting outworked and out-organised by Obama, the man she tries to portray as lacking management experience.

If he's so callow, Hilary, how come you're losing to him?

[DietrichMoody]

You do know what Patti's role as an "advisor" is going to be??

Advising on where to buy campaign office supplies:

1)Office Depot or 2) Staples.

[DoninJoisey]

No third term for the Clintons.
She keeps seeking the right spin, when all we want is what they really think.
I listened to Hilly and she's adopting whole phrases from Obama speeches from a while ago.

Kinda like Romney, the Clintons are political gumbies morphing into whatever the think will please the audience before them.

[AlphaDoc]

If she'd known then what she knows now . . . .

[paulrevererides]

Ms Solis Doyle is the daughter of Mexican immigrants and an important part of the Clinton hold on Latino voters. Ooops, there goes the Texas firewall. If I'm right, this thing is over.
By the way, could we all start asking the msm to please stop including super delegates in their delegate counts, or at least to always give a seperate count of earned-in-elections pledged delegates along with their
super delegate estimates. Every day more and more Democratic leaders, including super delegates, are making it clear that the only fair and realistic way to end this thing is for the super delegates, or most of them, to agree in advance to support whoever wins the most elected delegates based on the rules as established by the DNA and agreed to by all candidates. Obama should unequivically agree to that result, and so should Clinton. If either fails to do so, the super delegates should do it anyway. If a victory in the primary elections and caucuses is taken away by the "leaders" you might as well move to Canada right now, because John McCain will be elected.

[LiarLiarIraqsOnFire]

So you're saying she wasn't TOSSED UNDER THE BUS, so much as she stepped in front it; resulting in a glancing blow (lesser title in a pay-check to paycheck campaign)?

[ljsfolly]

Hillary saying she's a mother first is funny when you remember during her kids early yeears she chose not to stay home and bake cookies, remember that? Who raised the kid? She was busy doing charity like her bio says? Nope she was busy, very busy working at the law firm where she made buckets of money on the boards, like Wal Mart and elsewhere. Since Bill left the house he's been raking in the dough from Burkles friendship and speaking...again ha ha. Bill's association with Burkle will net him a huge multi million dollar paycheck on the top of the already amde paycheck from the different deals he's party to. Again the clintons will not release their tax records as they have way too many shady deals to explain. The idea she will release them after she's the nominee says she will have a gloss over by then and hopefully bill will be broken ties with Burkle. He had the luck for the .coms to hit while he was president and she has nothing coming her way to repeat it.

[Thabiti]

To Jacktheblogger:

Trust me Jack, as black man I can assure you that putting Maggie W. in the position as manager will not make a difference in Hillary gaining "the black vote." The dye has already been cast for this election. Bill and Robert Johnson set her fate in N.C. and will not change this election cycle. If it was that simple then we should assume that Hillary was abandoning the hispanic vote with the reassignment of Ms. Solis. Right?

[PKSSK]

Steve, because you have been a devout Clinton supporter from the beginning, can we expect this type of organizational behavior to continue if by some miracle they get re-elected????

[mrqcguy]

This comes as no surprise considering just how poorly she has done since Super Tuesday. Her campaign is falling apart and someone has to take the blame, that is the way both of the Clintons work, it is never their fault. I am surprised she is not claiming a vast left wing conspiracy to derail her campaign. Her campaign is being derailed because Americans want change, not just more of the status quo. She should just go ahead and step aside for the good of the party. LOL, like that will ever happen. This woman will hire every lawyer she can to force the DNC to seat Florida, she will bend arms, take names, and intimidate the super delegates in any way she can. She nor Bill is human enough to ever do the right thing, they are narcissists who are so self absorbed that all they can do is point fingers to others and say that it is everyone elses fault.

[larry278]

Stay tuned as the campaigns go on. Wear haz-mat gear at all times, full, well sealed & leak resistant haz-mat gear. A lot more serious shit's going to hit the fan between now & the 1st Tue in Nov '08. The shit storm will go to gale force from election day in '08 to 1/20/09; after 1/20/09-it will be hurricane season for all. Haz-mat gear isn't going to save W & Co's crew, even if they're confined 100 ft below a most secure super-max; the'll still have to appear at their trials & the other hearings investigating the era between 1/20/01 & 1/20/09. High winds, flying material pried loose by the storm & the blinding curtain of shit will make transporting W & Co's crew to their trials & other proceedings most dangerous & the mother of all hazards.
It will be ironic & almost like poetic justice if any of W & Co's dies by being smothered in shit before they can be tried, found guilty, sentenced to death & executed. The thought that those escorting &/or transporting W & Co's crew will be injured or die in the line of duty is disturbing.

[Pquilson]

So, it appears that the more things change, the more they stay the same....

[Sloane7]

Are skeletons going to start falling out of the campaign closet? Has Hillary released the Clinton's tax returns?

[nunzia]

She was doing a lousy job.
I went to a Hillary house party several weeks ago and the woman who organized it spent her time talking about how great Bill was.
I wondered then, is she paid or is she a volunteer.
Either way, a waste.
We had our primary in our state and I did vote for Hillary.
As did all my friends.
And, she won our state.

[ncvoter]

Isn't Mark Penn (Clinton's communication director) also with the firm that lobbies for Blackwater?

That has troubled me tremendously considering Hillary's hawkishness with Iraq and now Iran.

I am very much opposed to having mercenary soldiers.

[deminmo]

As any really good manager knows, you put
the very best in charge and then get out of
their way. But, should the person not live
up to their reputation, you cut them.

[TIMEATELL]

Looks like Patti Solis is the scapegoat for a faltering political campaign. The carefully crafted "Letter of Resignation" is spin --- the "Senior Adviser" position is severance. Someone has already made this point, but I'll reiterate, Patti Solis is not the problem.

[awb]

a guess?

James Carville will soon replace/assist Mark Penn--

But the issue for all of these people is their point of view and strategy are rooted in the past. Sadly, having been victims of the "politics of personal destruction" the Clintons now can't see the difference.

If they want to make changes to the campaign - it may be too late. Had Hillary run on her own merits without all the positioning and strategy she likely would have had this thing wrapped up by now.

Part of the problem is she likely doesn't know who she is anymore -- she found her voice after NH? Hillary Clinton is a brilliant capable woman who had a voice but her desire to be President and anger at Obama coming from nowhere allowed her to make some really bad decisions about the people she surrounded herself with and the advice she took from them.

The people who "pimped" Hillary Clinton out are Bill Clinton, Mark Penn, Terry McAuliffe and company --

It is kinda sad -- but to me this is why the militant women supporting Hillary simply because she is a woman miss the point -- woman leaders throughout the world were their own creation and their own person - from Bhutto to Meir to Thactcher -- their spouses were in their shadow

Hillary Clinton - in the valley of Bill - was doomed

[laurenc]

Another unflattering photo of Hillary.

Don't let anyone tell you this isn't a beauty contest, as far as the MSM and many parts of the progressive blogosphere are concerned.

And that's an ugly thing to witness against a 60 year old woman. Our faces give testimony to what we've lived through, (unless we turn to plastic, like Cindy McCain).

And for that we get photographs that look like the one in this post.

[askalice]

Yes, ageism and sexism are still alive and well and out in the open. Fortunately, racism is still hidden. But we'll see how many closet racists won't vote for Obama if he wins the nomination.

[Seattlelite]

I saw this same type of comments when an unflattering picture appeared on Huffpost of Michele Obama.

Here's what I take from this article:

Hillary says she's ready on day one, but doesn't seem to have the ability to run her own campaign very successfully. Money problems, and now it appears she not very good at hiring the right people to get the job done.

She claims she's "tough" battle tested, experienced, when the fact is Senator Obama came out of no where and is running neck and neck with her. Even with her super star husband. Question is, how could this have happened when just in October she was pretty much declared the nominee.

Just confirms for me Obama is a whole lot more than just talk as so many people like to describe him. Obviously he managed to hire the right people as I'm sure he'll do in his administration. And he certainly appears to be the "tough" one in this race.

[Pietro]

Well said, Seattelite.

[peorgietirebiter]

Wow! Lauren you might want to reevaluate your objectivity here... I a 56 year old man and I don't support Hillary but the only thing unflattering about the photo is in your head. It's dignified, intriguing (you wonder what she's thinking about) and for a candid- the lighting is unusually complimentary. If you want to see purposely used bad shots of Hillary, check out the local news here in Dallas...
Seriously, what are you thinking?

[Hellooo]

That is an excellent photo of Hillary. She looks dignified, serious and positive.

[myownwings]

And we are in this to take care of Hillary? or not let Hillary down? Uh huh. Ladies with minds and souls intact, vote for the American people this time. At least vote your OWN mind, your OWN heart and your OWN country's priorities instead of those of others who would keep you in the servitude of roles that we need no longer hold in the 21st Century. Free to be, we can be wives, mothers, partners, grandmothers to a new generation of
Americans with hope. Your choice.

[Nommo]

The Shadow Knows!

[nancytheragingliberal]

They can play musical chairs or move the deck chairs around. The fact is that Hillary has a huge likeability factor. Many people just plain don't like her. Therefore, if she gets the Superdelegates on her side, even though Obama is winning all over the place, people will stay home. They will NOT vote, which translates into 4 years of McCain and his loopy wars and more wars. If he gets in, we are doomed and the Supreme Court will continue its right wing slant. Bad news.

[askalice]

Are you one of the smart Democrats that will cut off your nose to spite your face, and either not vote or vote for a Republican, allowing the "Supreme Court to continue its right wing slant"? If so, remember when it happens that YOU are responsible.

[bdul26]

Wow. That's not the sign from a campaign that "expected" to lose all that states this weekend (so far-- Maine is yet to be decided). Trouble in Hillaryland?

[feelfree]

CNN says she's still with the campaign as a senior advisor.

[ClaeDulls]

yeah....riiight