Doyle Hire: Was It A Big F*** You to Clinton & Her Supporters?

by Damozel | Hillary's being gracious about it, but her supporters are construing the Doyle hire as a slap in the face.  According to The New York Observer, a Clinton loyalist said that Clinton loyalists are 'livid.'   

Clinton loyalists view her with deep suspicion and believe that she is shopping around a book deal and acted as a background source for an extremely harsh Vanity Fair piece about Bill Clinton...."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."

Kevin Drum writes:  '[T]he developing conventional wisdom is that Team Obama is sending the same kind of message to Team Clinton that the Tattaglia family sent to the Corleones in The Godfather:...If this is true, it's beyond bizarre. Obama has every incentive in the world to make nice with Hillary...'   

Could it be.... that David Axelrod doesn't understand the concept of winning gracefully?  Or is unfamiliar with the word 'hubris'?  Or is it just that he and Solis have been jolly old pals for 20 years? Even if so, why make her chief of staff to the VP?   Seems a bit gratuitously divisive to me.  Were they just asleep at the wheel?   

No, no, no.  Nothing like that.  It's exactly the sort of graceful, well-thought-of gesture that I and all those who supported Hillary during the primaries consider most characteristic of the Obama campaign's style of 'new politics.'  I'm sure Axelrod just couldn't resist.

"It's a slap in the face," Susie Tompkins Buell, a prominent Clinton backer, said in an interview. "Why would they put somebody that was so clearly ineffective in such a position? It's a message. We get it." She said it was a "calculated decision" by the Obama team to "send a message that she [Clinton] is not being considered for the ticket." 

Other Clinton insiders also seethed. "Who can blame Obama for rewarding Patti? He would never be the nominee without her," one person who has worked for both Clintons and remains close to them said. The sentiment reflected what another person in the immediate Clinton orbit described as "shock" that Obama would send such a strong signal that he is not considering Clinton as his runningmate so soon.

Although she devoted her adult life to working for Clinton, Solis Doyle left the Clinton world surrounded by a cloud of acrimony, blamed by some close Clinton loyalists -- and reportedly Clinton herself -- for failing to keep the campaign in order heading into Iowa. After being yanked from her role, Solis Doyle had said she would travel with the campaign and remain on as an adviser, but Clinton effectively cut her off and she was not seen on the road again.  (The Trail)

But would they really compromise Obama's ability to unify the party behind him by administering a completely gratuitous knock to Hillary?  That I find hard to credit. 

As I said, Hillary is behaving exactly as I'd expect --- graciously or, as Ben Martin puts it, 'gamely.'

“Patti will be an asset and good addition to the Obama campaign. After nearly two decades in political life, she brings with her the ability to tap an extensive network that will be a huge asset to Senator Obama. As Senator Clinton has said, we’re all going to do our part to help elect Senator Obama as the next President of the United States," said spokesman Mo Elleithee.  (The Politico)

As Taylor Marsh said, 'Let the tea leaf reading and the recriminations begin.'  She also says:

If you ever wondered what kind of veep Obama will have the hiring of Solis Doyle seems to send a strong message. Her loyalty and friendship is to Axelrod. So whomever Obama picks he will have an ear into the veep's office, because Solis Doyle will really be reporting to Axelrod. Translation: no Dick Cheney on Obama's watch. Food for thought.

At my DD, Jerome agrees with Kevin Drum that this is a bizarre turn of events.  'I'm with Kevin on this one, the story takes a bizarre turn. And if this isn't the case, I'd expect to hear something otherwise quickly from Obama's team....'

Here's what an Obama spokesman had to say:

An Obama aide tells Salon that the hiring is not meant to sent a message one way or the other about a joint ticket, and that there's a precedent in recent history of hiring staff for the eventual vice-presidential nominee before the actual nominee is chosen. The Obama camp wants to have the running mate's staff prepared so that he or she can be ready to run as soon as the choice is announced, the aide said.

Pamela Leavey doesn't think the hire has any significance.

People who work in the campaign business and sign on to work campaigns are a bit like mercenaries. They may have connections to the candidates, but it’s also a job and as I mentioned in my last post on this, it’s common for staffers from folding campaigns to sign on with the nominee in a presidential election. It takes a lot of staffers to run a campaign. We’ll probably see a few more from Clinton’s camp end up with Obama. 

That's a good way to look at it.  I'd like to believe it's true, I'd find it easier to swallow if Solis hadn't been specifically hired to be chief of staff to the Vice President.  That seems a bit...pointed.   

At Comments from Left Field, Kyle E. Moore doesn't think there's any way that Obama can keep from offending diehard Hillary supporters no matter what he does.  Hmmm.  I doubt that if he'd chosen someone on good terms with Hillary as chief of staff to the prospective VP that we'd be seeing this kind of reaction.

I'm not that bothered about what it means for Hillary's chances to become VP, since it seems to me that it's clearly not in her interests.  For reasons set forth by Ed Kilgore, I think it would be very much in Obama's, but --- though I want him to win --- I don't think his campaign really deserves an easy path to unity. 

Besides, I'm agog to see what happens if Obama really does --- as some are predicting --- choose Sam Nunn.  Sam Nunn?  The Sam Nunn?  Such is the current speculation.   Well, we've said a million times that Obama might well turn out to be less progressive than advertised.

I don't want to be mean and I will do my little all to persuade the Hillary supporters in my community --- including those who email me --- to get behind Obama, but I must admit that seeing Nunn tapped for VP will make me gurgle with delightful schadenfreude at the dismay and horror of Obama's progressive base.  After all, as Donklephant's Justin Gardner remarks,  Nunn is 'a decidedly post-partisan guy..., and that would fit nicely with Obama’s message for change.'

Heeeee hee.   Okay.  Sorry.  Unlike Justin Gardner, I really hope it's not true. 

Heh heh heh heh. 'Sam Nunn.' 

Much more here.

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Comments

[Adam]

I think they gave Solis Doyle the VP chief of staff spot because it was open. I'll take the words of the actual Obama and Clinton people on this, as oppose to the angry comments of some supporters.

Like you, I don't think Hillary wants the VP slot, nor do I think it's the place she can make the most difference. I also feel that if the Obama people tap someone else, it should be made clear that Hillary didn't want the spot (assuming that's true, of course).

I really can't imagine them tapping Nunn for VP. It would be something of a strategic blunder in my opinion. Setting aside his questionable politics, He weakens both the "change" message and age-based attacks on McCain. And he's not exactly the sort who people will flock to rallies for, either.

If they want someone with a record of working across the aisle, then Sebelius and Schweitzer both fit the bill without actually having a record of supporting social conservative agendas.

[Sharmajee]

What is most astonishing is that in this era of 'message control' politics and 'digitized war room' campaigns, how thoroughly the public arena is sought to be controlled. Wikipedia seems to be no exception, (Eve Fairbanks's excellent review of this battle can be read here: http://tinyurl.com/3bwgp8)

Already this morning, the first line of Patti's entry in Wikipedia reads:

Patti Solis Doyle (born 1965) is an American political operative and senior adviser to the presidential campaign of Barack Obama, where she is readying to be chief of staff to Obama's vice presidential choice. [1]

Now, that is 'message control' indeed!

[Danny]

Sick! That is how it comes accross to Hillary Clinton supporters. It doesn't matter if Hillary wants the VP or not and I hope she doesn't. With Obama as underhanded as we all think he is out here in the REAL world of politics not trying to form a message or put out talking points. We just see this appointment as more of the same thuggery by Obama. He is one sick bastard in my opinion. Obama the Chauvinist PIG attracts women who hate other women (Doyle)!