Voices in Her Head: Inside Hillaryland's fatal psychodrama

[Adelante]

-snip

Rife with big egos and competing centers of influence--veterans of Hillary's First Lady days, relative newbies from her Senate office, Bill's '92 people, Bill's '96 people--Team Hillary has never been a comfortably cohesive group. In happier times, discipline was easier to maintain. But, as this race has grown longer and rougher, the staff's nerves and relations have been badly strained by persistent financial troubles and constant turf wars, not to mention one increasingly unmanageable ex-president. Some days, it's hard to remember that, just six months ago, the campaign was regarded as a highly disciplined machine. More and more, it resembles an unruly rock band plagued by dysfunction and public infighting. From Williams's arrival to Solis Doyle's demise to Penn's ascent, fall, and return, the ebb and flow of power in Hillaryland over the past few months has left multiple people acting like they are in charge--and no one really in control.

http://tnr.com/politics/story.html?id=54d3af5a-abde-4874-9d98-2bc4b8e23185

[redqueen]

1. Six months ago they were regarded as a highly-disciplined machine?

Get outta here.

[Adelante]

3. Who'd a thunk it, eh? nt

[Lerkfish]

4. I think they exuded a false air of "inevitability" that the press mistook for discipline.

essentially, they had no plan B beyond supertuesday.

[redqueen]

5. If "the press" did that...

then that just backs up my assertion that NOBODY should be paying much attention at all to those idiots.

[Lerkfish]

7. I think your assertion is 99% correct

I still pay attention to Keith Olberman and John Stewart

[Zodiak]

9. They basically treated this primary like Bush treated the Iraq war

All plan A, no plan B.....now it is a quagmire for them, and it is draining all their money, all of their power, and all of their influence in the party, not to mention their reputations.

[ecstatic]

15. good analogy :) nt

[Lerkfish]

17. absolutely. the analogy has not been lost on me.

similar hubris going in, similar refusal to readjust strategy based on what was happening on the ground, etc.

[RaleighNCDUer]

6. They weren't, but that was their public image, and until the real

campaigning kicked off last fall they kept that image. I was worried that the machine would steamroller her in despite her negatives, costing us the GE.

Didn't quite work out that way.

[Adelante]

10. I believed it

I wasn't supporting her, but I remember last summer when I was seriously considering Obama, I was pondering the question of whether the mighty Clinton machine was beatable by anybody. I concluded that Obama was doing something entirely different and could shake up the ground. I never looked back after that.

[ecstatic]

14. I can't disagree. Before the first primary was held,

I was under the impression that Team Clinton was this huge powerhouse with millions and millions of dollars to work with.

Remember how surprised we all were when we found out they were nearly broke?

[AtomicKitten]

2. K&R for the impending implosion.

[ErinBerin84]

8. In all fairness,

it really is so much easier to attempt to deconstruct Hillary Clinton ,just because she's been in the public eye for much longer. One thing that I will say for her is that she is a fascinating person, and her complexities are what draws people to her, and what draws people away from her. I remember my psychology teacher once saying "People love you for the same qualities that other people will hate you for."

[Adelante]

11. There is truth to that

But this is more about whether she can run a large organization, to my mind, than it is about her other qualities.

[ErinBerin84]

12. Don't get me wrong

I think her managerial skills fucking suck, and that people are in major denial about it. I guess I was just trying to be diplomatic in terms of the headline. Most of the qualities that she tries to use as a booster are in such conflict with how she has run the campaign (as I've stated before, many of the pundits prior to Iowa assumed a Clinton win, since she has been through the process before), and I am so sick of people using the "Well, George Bush ran a great campaign too." as an excuse. But in other ways, of course it works to her advantage as the "I'm an underdog!" theme, even though most of her campaign's failures are her own fault of course, and I really wonder if she even accepts this. And I am sick of people trying to make up for her campaign's lack of organizational skills with the media conspiracy theme. I guess it is my diplomatic way of saying "She is an um, fascinating person", lol.

[Adelante]

16. It's lucky you didn't arrive here sooner

The more time passes in this primary season, the less diplomacy at DU seems to matter :D

Welcome to DU, btw :hi:

[rainbow4321]

13. I'm thinking the ending for her campaign is nearer than we think

Judging by all these people who have jumped ship. Don't articles like these usually show up at the end or shortly there after?




From OP article:


At the same time, lower down the food chain, the campaign continues to suffer regular defections, as exhausted, dispirited staffers take their leave. In addition to high-profile resignations by deputy campaign manager Mike Henry and director of operations Jessica O'Connell, lesser-known hands have been trickling out as well. Recent departures included Carolyn Hahn, director of correspondence; Sasha Bruce, Jason Houser, and Alea Brown from Guy Cecil's political shop; Crystal Patterson and Kevin Thurman from the Web team; and Hailey Arends, Matt McQueeney, and Lauren Fitterman from Compliance and Accounting. As they head out the door, refugees say they're fielding numerous calls from other folks thinking of following them.