MyDD :: Obama hires

Obama hires

by Jerome Armstrong, Mon Jun 16, 2008 at 01:31:27 PM EST

Via Adam Nagourney at the Caucus. Two new hires at camp Obama.

First:

The Obama campaign is about to make its first big hire out of the campaign of Hillary Rodham Clinton. Patti Solis Doyle, who was Hillary Rodham Clinton's campaign manager until she was ousted in a staff shake up in February, will join Mr. Obama's campaign as the chief of staff to the vice presidential candidate - whoever he (or she) will be, campaign officials said.

Ms. Doyle will take the position before Mr. Obama announces his choice for a running-mate - he has not said when that will be. Mrs. Clinton and Ms. Doyle have a long friendship, and Ms. Doyle has long been one of her closest aides, until she was forced out. Could that mean - tea-leaf reading time - that Mr. Obama is really considering Mrs. Clinton for the No. 2 position, and wants to have an ally of her in place to ease the way? Perhaps.

Or perhaps not. More likely, the Obama campaign was looking for a high-profile spot to put Ms. Doyle, given her previous position, and most of the major roles in Mr. Obama's campaign are filled.

Second:

The Obama campaign also is strengthening the team working for Michelle Obama.

Later today, the campaign is set to announce the hiring of Stephanie Cutter, a longtime Democratic strategist who worked as Senator John Kerry's communications director in 2004, as chief of staff to Mrs. Obama. Ms. Cutter is scheduled to begin soon, with the first task of re-crafting the image of Mrs. Obama, who has come under intense criticism by Republicans and even some Democratic rivals. She also will lead a war room to fight attacks against Mrs. Obama.

I don't think that Barack took to kindly to the attacks that have been going on against Mrs. Obama. Cutter is good, she'll help on this end.

The hire of Doyle raises the chances that Clinton is the VP choice of Obama. You'll recall, in 2004, that Kerry went out and hired an Edwards staffer for this position, in the weeks leading up to the announcement of Edwards as VP. This is more likely a couple of months, but still, it seems fairly overt, yea?

Tags: 2008 election (all tags)

Permalink :: 93 Comments :: Post a Comment

Not that overt (2.00 / 4)

Solis-Doyle got fired by the Clinton campaign, and blamed for the Iowa debacle.

I'd say her hire makes it less likely that Clinton will be the VP nominee.

In this avalanche, the pebbles get to vote.

by Dracomicron on Mon Jun 16, 2008 at 01:33:59 PM EST

Re: Not that overt (none / 0)

Agreed. They're picking up someone who as rejected by the Clinton campaign months ago.

Doesn't sound good for Clinton VP speculation.

should we go outside? / should we break some bread? / are you'nterested?

by Firewall on Mon Jun 16, 2008 at 01:35:13 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Not that overt (none / 0)

But oh, to be a fly on the wall at that first awkward meeting. "Sure, I know you fired me, Hillary, but your new boss just hired me back." Ouch.

Seriously, I wish he hadn't hired her, as Solis Doyle sounded like an unmitigated failure in the primary.

by username on Mon Jun 16, 2008 at 01:53:08 PM EST
[ Parent ]

unmitigated failure in the primary. (none / 0)

So would anyone be with Jabba the Penn as de facto boss.

Anybody's vote is worth having. But not everybody's vote is worth campaigning for.

by Freespeechzone on Mon Jun 16, 2008 at 02:31:45 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Yup. Hillary would pick her own COS (none / 0)

The mere fact they are naming the VP pick's chief of staff before the person has been named is a huge sign that Hillary is not going to be the VP choice.

Hillary would want to pick her own Chief of Staff. And, that would probably be Maggie Williams, not Solis Doyle.

by Hesiod Theogeny on Mon Jun 16, 2008 at 02:38:37 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Theoretically (none / 0)

Obama would pretty much insist that his people do the hiring for any position within the campaign... in fact, he wants to avoid situations where you have "his people" and the "VP's people."

The last thing he needs is for the VP to be a government-in-exile, just waiting for a chance to implement their own organization.

In this avalanche, the pebbles get to vote.

by Dracomicron on Mon Jun 16, 2008 at 02:43:23 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Theoretically (none / 0)

I agree. But he would at least give Hillary the courtesy of submitting a name or two to his people for vetting.

He wouldn't force her to take on someone ahead of time. At least not if he was intent on naming her his VP.

This could be a way of signalling that he is in control, and that anyone who will be his running mate has to defer to him (even you Hillary).

So, if you can't handle that, you probably don't want the job.

by Hesiod Theogeny on Mon Jun 16, 2008 at 02:45:31 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Good point (none / 0)

Obama's been nothing short of authoritarian with the Democratic party machinery, and nothing could please me more. Democrats get too tied up with hand-wringing and worrying about offending people; this time we're playing for all the marbles, and we need to make sure that there's a clear command structure.

In this avalanche, the pebbles get to vote.

by Dracomicron on Mon Jun 16, 2008 at 03:11:54 PM EST
[ Parent ]

Re: Not that overt (2.00 / 2)

I'm reminded of a certain Carly Simon song.

"I will veto every single beer!" -- John McCain

by fwiffo3 on Mon Jun 16, 2008 at 03:34:02 PM EST
[ Parent ]