Posted on 02/10/2008 3:47:26 PM PST by TornadoAlley3
Top aide Patti Solis Doyle quits and strategy of banking on big wins in March is high-risk, reports Toby Harnden
Hillary Clinton's campaign, in deep trouble following a weekend of heavy losses, lurched into a full crisis Sunday night after her campaign manager and long-time friend stepped down.
Patti Solis Doyle, the first aide Mrs Clinton hired back in 1991, was replaced by another long-time aide, Maggie Williams.
"I have been proud to manage this campaign and prouder still to call Hillary my friend for more than 16 years," Ms Solis Doyle wrote in an email to staff.
In a statement, Mrs Clinton praised Ms Solis Doyle's "extraordinary job" and "outstanding work". Mrs Williams was chief of staff to Mrs Clinton when she was First Lady.
Mrs Clinton's camp was already braced for a string of defeats in the six states still to vote in the Democratic race this month after suffering three landslide losses to Barack Obama at the weekend.
Although she was still in with a good chance in Maine caucuses that were held last night, Mrs Clinton appeared to be turning to the risky strategy of sitting out contests in smaller states and hoping for salvation next month when Democrats vote in the major Texas and Ohio primaries on March 4.
Rudy Giuliani, the former New York mayor, gambled everything on the "big prize" of Florida, conceding that he would lose the six states before that.
But he crashed out in Florida and dropped out of the Republican race. Few expect Mr Obama to score a knockout blow before March but waiting until later for big wins could be very risky for Mrs Clinton.
The young Illinois senator swept the board in Saturday's votes, winning by 37 percentage points in Washington, 36 points in Nebraska and 21 points in Louisiana. He also scored a lopsided victory in the US Virgin Islands in a performance that stunned the Clinton campaign.
Mr Obama had been expected to do well but the margins of his victories gave him an important boost before "Chesapeake Tuesday" tomorrow, when Virginia, Maryland and Washington DC vote.
Extending his string of wins could help him build powerful momentum for the nomination. "Hillary Clinton is playing the Rudy Giuliani strategy and we've learned that it doesn't work," said Frank Luntz, a leading pollster.
"Voters expect you to woo them. Skipping over states will provoke their ire. There's a real issue of respect in this race, you have a responsibility to try everywhere.
"Obama's busting his ass to compete in every state. That's what you expect from the front-runner, not the challenger. Hers is now a strategy of desperation."
Mrs Clinton looked chastened but defiant as she spoke at the Jefferson-Jackson Democratic dinner in Richmond, Virginia, as the results came in and omitted to congratulate the night's victor.
There were chants of "Obama, Obama" as she briefly mingled with the crowd before leaving as her victorious rival entered the room to an exultant welcome.
Her supporters were shocked by her defeats. Alma Ivey-Mathis, 65, a retired technology specialist from Moneta, Virginia, said: "I'm just crushed but I haven't given up. Hillary's still got a chance."
Underlining Mr Obama's effective status as front-runner, President George W Bush made his first detailed public comments about his would-be successor Sunday.
"I certainly don't know what he believes in," Mr Bush said in a Fox News interview. "The only thing I remember he said was he's going to attack Pakistan and embrace Ahmadinejad [Iran's president]."
Bill Burton, a spokesman for Mr Obama, said the Democratic candidate "doesn't need any foreign policy advice from the architect of the worst foreign policy decision in a generation".
In a memo released just before Saturday's results, the Clinton campaign said: "Although the next several states that hold nominating contests this month are more favourable to the Obama campaign, we will continue to compete in them and hope to secure as many delegates as we can before the race turns to Ohio, Texas and Pennsylvania."
Those three states, culminating with Pennsylvania on April 22, carry 492 delegates, while there are 367 at stake in the 10 contests before them, including the 21 in last night's Maine caucuses.
Mr Obama's aides estimated that his wins would give him an additional 45 "pledged" delegates to the 27 he led by after Super Tuesday last week, when 22 states voted and Mr Obama eked out a wafer-thin victory.
Mrs Clinton has a theoretical overall lead if committed "super delegates" are taken into account but most Democratic officials believe these will swing behind whichever candidate emerges with a clear lead among pledged delegates.
Part of Mrs Clinton's problem is that her finances are now more limited than Mr Obama's. Television advertising in the major media markets of Texas and Ohio is expensive and Mr Obama's grassroots organising has thus far proved much more effective.
The loss in Washington state was a particular slap in the face for Mrs Clinton.
She held three rallies there in the 24 hours before voting compared with Mr Obama's single event, though it dwarfed hers by attracting a record crowd of some 21,000.
Opinion polls have given Mr Obama a 20-point advantage in Virginia and Maryland and he is also favoured in the District of Columbia.
“This is the same Maggie Williams who was up to her neck in Monica-gate and obstruction of justice. She lied like a dog in front of the grand jury, saying she couldn’t remember anything.
Hillary wrote Williams a check for $37,500 from her campaign funds after that testimony. Someone ratted her out, and she said it was “a mistake”...that Williams should have just received $5,000 for “travel expenses.”
Wow...I can’t believe Hillary is so stupid as to bring all these unpleasant memories back to life by appointing Maggie Williams to this post. She is really not smart enough to be President.”
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Fortunately, I’m certain we can trust our free and independent press to bring these issues back to the forefront. Then voter’s will fully realize that we will be ushering in all the same old scandals and national humiliations again, and worse, if she is elected.
NOT!!!
This is what is known as “lowering expectations”.
What?!! Hillary eat off of used china?
Oh, you little people can be so humorous at times. < /s>
I bet the news of Huma is going to break at the instructions of Obama.
This is interesting. Maggie Williams’ qualifications for the job seem to be that she will do anything.
I expect Obama to roll over the Clintons like they weren’t there. Everyone is underestimating him.
black face hispanic face...hillary doesn’t care. She wants to win and the other girl stunk
dems think so which is why they are going for obama.
But...I don’t think so.
Being from a protected caste, the new woman is untouchable, which means there are some wet jobs to be done. Patti Doyle was a little too white for that!
I believe everything you stated is correct. This is a calculated move.
Hillary Clinton’s campaign, in deep trouble following a weekend of heavy losses,
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Expect another Anita Hill to come out of the woodwork soon, one who worked with Obama years ago but left to avoid his gross advances and sexual comments. Hillary’s agents are probably out scouting now.
There. Fixed.
No, she has to be stopped at the first opportunity, stake in the heart and all. EVERYTHING imaginable is preferable to those two regaining power.
Wrong. Maggie will be the next "bagman". She knows ALL the dirt on the Clintons, and who is buried under it.
So when March 4th rolls around, we'll likely see Obama with a solid lead (50 delegates or more). Now the primaries on the Democrat side are not winner take all so even if the Clintons manage to pull out victories in Ohio and Texas by say 5-10%, it will not be enough to overtake Obama's lead (because he'll take a substantial amount of delegates himself) and then we head into Mississippi a week later which is almost certainly going to be another Obama blowout (40% black population) and he'll easily recapture any lead he would have lost in Texas and Ohio. That leaves only Pennsylvania (April 22) where the Clintons have any reasonable chance to win big.
And that's the best case scenario for the Clintons. Obama's momentum is going to give him an excellent chance to take Ohio although Texas will be a tough nut to crack due to the 40% Hispanic population down there.
Either way, advantage Obama.
Now for the super-delegates, everybody here at the Free Republic keeps yip-yip-yapping about how the Clintons have all these super-delegates in their back pockets. But this is simply not the case. The majority of the super-delegates have yet to declare themselves and they are waiting to see which way the wind blows. So if Obama goes into the convention with the lead in delegates, it is a safe bet that the majority of them will go with Obama.
Thus the only way that the Clintons can pull this nomination out is to win BIG in Ohio, Texas and Pennsylvania. There is no margin for error here. Obama wins one of the three - game over. And even if the Clintons do win all three, they are likely going to have to petition for Michigan and Florida to have their delegates counted and will have to strong-arm some super-delegates in those infamous smoky back rooms. And we all know what that would mean...A Democratic convention that will seem like a flashback to 1968.
GEEZ! The Axis of Ugly!
I haven’t seen that many dykes in one place since the last time I stumbled onto “Diversity Weekend” at Eureka Springs!
The perky Katie Couric announced on “60 Minutes” tonight that Hillary had a new campaign manager - but did not mention the household name (to Clinton trackers anyway) of Maggie Williams. How much of a braintrust is she since she’s been cooling her heels (or avoiding the Clintons) in France for a few years - yeah - really connected with US politics!
You know, for someone who rails on about sexism, why does it seem that everyone who works for Hillary is a female?
Oh, wait... like racism, I guess sexism only works one way...
Or, on the other hand, perhaps there’s not a male on Earth STUPID enough to work for her... :-O
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