BREAKING: Patti Solis Doyle tapped to be Obama VP chief of staff

[Politics_Guy25]

Just announced by Andrea on MSNBC.

As many of you may or may not know, Doyle was Senator Clinton's campaign manager.

Edited for accuracy.

[GarbagemanLB]

1. pretty sure that's vice presidential chief of staff

[GarbagemanLB]

6. BIG DIFFERENCE.

[roguevalley]

68. most feel that this nailed the coffin lid shut on Clinton being the

VP because there is bad blood between this woman and Clinton.

[anonymous171]

2. WHY!?

[polichick]

5. Lol - exactly!

[havocmom]

19. Friends close

enemies closer?

[polichick]

3. Why??

[nsd]

4. Chief of Staff to the VP nominee, not to Obama.

[Nederland]

7. That makes no sense

You don't pick the VP's chief of staff before you pick the VP, and I'm pretty sure the VP gets to pick his/her own chief of staff.

[nsd]

9. Yeah, I'm not sure it makes sense either, but that's what MSNBC is reporting.

Link is here.

[Shakespeare]

24. Unless, of course, the VP has already been chosen. n/t

[maddezmom]

8. here's a link : Former Clinton Campaign Manager Joins Obama Team

Former Clinton Campaign Manager Joins Obama Team
By Adam Nagourney

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.
Ms. Doyle’s hire is the latest sign of the two fields in the Democratic Party attempting to come together. She is also – not incidentally – a Hispanic woman, making her a member of two demographics that Mr. Obama has been making a particular effort to appeal to.

more:http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/06/16/former-clinton-campaign-manager-joins-obama-team/

[goodhue]

28. weird

IIRC she has not spoken to Clinton since she was fired.

[Number23]

73. No doubt about it...

Patti Solis Doyle...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.

Hillary is out of the running as VP and Obama wants the whole damn world to know it. She'd probably be happier in a cabinet position anyway.

eta:

Folks are claiming it's the biggest FUCK YOU in politics ever - http://www.observer.com/2008/clinton-bundler-obamas-doyle-pick-biggest-fuck-you-ever

[TheDebbieDee]

10. Wait! Is Patti Solis-Doyle the Clinton campaign manager............

that got fired because she wouldn't return phonecalls?

Maybe she has always worked for the Obama campaign, then.

[crankychatter]

33. delete wrong location nt

[underpants]

11. WHY?

Why on earth would you want any of those contaminants on your campaign? They collectively ran the worst campaign ever-making the inevitable impossible

:eyes:

I would have to assume that this is some sort of measure to the Hillary camp that they are welcome, that her supporters will in some way be represented in his campaign.

Still I personally wouldn't have them anywhere near me. :shrug:

[Politics_Guy25]

13. LOL I agree

But like you I assume that this is meant to be a magnamious gesture to Senator Clinton and her supporters.

[TheWraith]

44. Maybe, but after she got fired the campaign got even worse.

So maybe she was one of the few competant people holding on against Penn, Wolfson, and Ickes.

Besides, chief of staff to the VP candidate is a fairly harmless position, I would think.

[chimpymustgo]

70. The campaign got BETTER after SD left. Now Obama looks dumb and petty.

[MonkeyFunk]

65. The worst campaign ever?

The campaign that got 18 million votes?

[VolcanoJen]

12. Smart move by Obama's team.

Although it does seem odd to me that the eventual VP nominee wouldn't pick a Chief of Staff of their own choosing.

[KittyWampus]

36. Might be a sign that Obama's VP will NOT be a Cheney (too much power). What do you think?

in other words, VP will serve as an adjunct of Presidency and not a co-POTUS.

[VolcanoJen]

52. Oh. Why, I think you're right!

And that's an even more awesome idea!!

[windbreeze]

69. maybe they did....??

Perhaps the VP has already been selected, but the campaign is waiting until after the Gore news to say who it is...and perhaps the VP elect has chosen this woman??? One thing is for sure...nothing seems to be sop with this campaign...always something new...reasons for it all soon become apparent...and always end up being brilliant moves...right?? right!!wb

[nsd]

14. Are Doyle and Hillary Clinton on good terms?

I remember reading somewhere that the two hadn't spoken since Doyle was ousted as Clinton's campaign manager back in February.

[GarbagemanLB]

16. If that is true, I think we can rule out Hillary being a VP for sure.

[high density]

55. lol, no kidding

I think this is a great development.

[goodhue]

29. I recently read they have not spoken since she was fired and replaced post super duper Tuesday

[BeyondGeography]

48. She kept her Hillary sign in her yard until the bitter end

Solis Loyal is probably more like it. An endearing trait, if you're a fan of Sen. Clinton, it would seem.

[bluestateguy]

15. I think this is a good move

We need to put aside our personal hard feelings from the--now over--primaries. We are trying to elect a president and that is most important.

[woolldog]

17. Why would you choose your VP's chief of staff for them?

Should the VP get to choose his/her own chief of staff?

And why would you want a flameout like PSD to be a part of the campaign??

[dailykoff]

18. Maybe the veep chose her ..

I'm thinking Richardson

[grantcart]

41. I would guess that is the implication of the leak but it still seems strange

[dailykoff]

58. Maybe they're teasing us on purpose?

Just to help keep interest from flagging? It IS a very tantalizing announcement..

[polichick]

20. That doesn't seem right - I'd want some input as veep.

[nsd]

30. If they don't announce a VP until August, then there would be only 2 or 3 months ...

... left before the election. Maybe they picked a chief of staff now so that the VP nominee would have a running start. Instead of deadtime after the convention.

Did they have a staff in place for John Edwards in 2004?

[K Gardner]

42. Those were my questions exactly.. very strange indeed.

[Marie26]

67. Doesn't it seem like a dig?

At Clinton, I mean. She fired Patty Solis Doyle because the woman was totally incompetent (by all reports). Now Obama hires her to be the VP Chief of Staff - it's almost like a message to Hillary that SHE definitely won't be selected as VP. Or that if she wants the job, she'll be stuck w/PSD again. Otherwise I don't understand why he'd hire the VP chief of staff now, before a VP has even been chosen.

[Olney Blue]

21. Obama likes the book "A Team of Rivals"

[flor de jasmim]

22. ah, could it be for the VP selection committee??

That would make more sense --

[goodhue]

31. much more sense

I think they must have garbled the story.

[democrattotheend]

23. That doesn't make sense

Why would they hire someone to staff the VP nominee before they have a VP nominee?

[Shakespeare]

26. Perhaps the VP has already been chosen. n/t

[napi21]

25. That tells ME he's already chosen a VP and just isn't ready to

announce it yet. Think about it. You chose your VP, you ask he/she who they would want as their COS, but explain why you want to hold off on announcing yet, but agree to keeping the media attention on your campaign by announcing the COS spot.

[Shakespeare]

27. Yep, my thought exactly.

Very interesting.

[janx]

32. YEP. It's very possible that

the VP candidate has been selected but has not been announced. ;-)

[ram2008]

34. I hope so. but for who?

That sounds pretty exciting. I wonder who it could be though? The only VP hopeful that she has good connections to is the Clintons. Or maybe I'm wrong?

[janx]

57. We won't know until Obama is ready to let us know.

:shrug:

[KittyWampus]

38. I somewhat disagree. 1st this could be CofS for VP Selection (they botched story)

2nd it could be a sign Obama will control VP and not the other way around (ala Cheney).

[crankychatter]

35. Why hasn't anyone suggested that Clinton may well be the VP selection here?

This looks like a strong indicator

just sayin'

[Shakespeare]

37. Hillary and PSD aren't on the best of terms right now.

So I don't think that's a good indicator.

[crankychatter]

39. ah, thanks... well it wasn't a "rhetorical" question... I did want an answer - nt

:-)

[Windy]

40. God I hope not... n/t

[crankychatter]

43. oh I'm not a proponent of the idea... it seemed logical, but they're tellin me "no way." nt

[Adelante]

45. Rather surprising to me

I thought they would hire her for Hispanic outreach, but CoS for VP is out of left field.

[Barack_America]

46. PSD was likely hired for her extensive Rolodex and inroads into the Latino community.

What that tells me is that Obama is looking for a VP to shore-up support among Latinos, and that person is:

1. Hillary Clinton (and that she and Solis Doyle have mended their supposedly burnt bridge)

2. Bill Richardson or Tim Kaine (both Spanish-speakers)


I just don't see how a hiring like this could look could for the VP prospects of someone like Webb, Nunn, Hagel, etc. (basically your "appeals to Joe six-pack and has FP experience" choices).

[ram2008]

50. Obama is already running well with latinos though

I would personally love to see an Obama/Richardson ticket, but Obama's support among Latinos is already better than Gore or Kerry's I think its about 70-30. I don't see the need in him having Richardson since New Mexico and Colorado are almost a safe bet to go to Obama.

As far as Hillary Clinton goes, I read that they have not talked to eachother since Super Tuesday, and aren't on the best terms. Hmm...

That leaves us with Tim Kaine :O

[Barack_America]

56. Who just happens to be my top pick!

Kaine, that is.

:D


Her Rolodex is the main reason I see to hire her for such a prominent position. Which leaves me wondering, why the VP? He must be looking for a VP who can campaign with Hispanics in the West/Southwest, no?

[ieoeja]

47. Welcome home, Patti.

You are, after all, a Chicago area pol who happened to be in Hillary's camp before there ever was an Obama.

And it's good to see you united with your brother, a long-time Democratic congressman from Chicago and one of Obama's earliest supporters and super-delegates who is one of the most respected leaders of the Hispanic community nationwide.

[TahitiNut]

49. Meet Stephanie Cutter, Michelle Obama's new chief of staff ...

Cutter formerly served as deputy communications director in the Clinton White House, communications director for the Democratic National Convention, and press secretary for John Kerry.

[janx]

53. All of this is so exciting!

:hi:

[Az_lefty]

51. Not opposed to Patti but doesn't the VP get to pick their own Chief of Staff?

this breaking story doesn't seem complete.

[nsd]

54. Well, this is only during the campaign.

There might only be 10-12 weeks between the VP announcement and Election Day. Maybe they set up a staff for the VP nominee ahead of time so that he or she can have a running start for the campaign?

And, if the ticket wins, then everybody gets replaced anyway.

[hedgehog]

72. That sounds right to me. Maybe the campaign is looking to save money

by booking all the flights for the VP candidate now!

[Imagevision]

59. Doyle will be VP. campaign manager only...

[npincus]

60. wasn't she a bit incompetent?

[redqueen]

61. She was fired from Clinton's campaign, wasn't she?

:shrug:

[ErinBerin84]

62. here's some supposed "reaction" from Clinton backers

(I'm not trying to be divisive, I swear. For all I know, it could just be the Washington Post trying to whip up controversey, I just am posting it because I really have no idea what the relationship between the Hillary campaign and Solis Doyle is now that some of the dust is settled)

http://blog.washingtonpost.com/the-trail/2008/06/16/clinton_insiders_take_umbrage.html

[Beacool]

63. Hillary's two biggest staff mistakes:

Mark Penn and Patti Solis Doyle.

Hillary gave her the post out of loyalty, but Patti was not up to the task. She should have replaced her way before the IA caucus.

[bunnies]

64. Why does a non-existent VP need a chief of staff?

This is bizarre.

[jgraz]

75. Because people would probably be offended if Obama said "fuck you" right to Hillary's face

But this gets the message across just as effectively.

[davidpdx]

66. I'm feeling kind of weary about the choice

and hope they are not going to pick up too many of the high level staffers that burnt Obama in the primary.

[madrchsod]

71. here`s why he chose her

she`s smart,she`s experienced,and he needs her and her brother with their ties to the latin american communities.

her brother is a major player in the democratic party in chicago

[Median Democrat]

74. Are the Hillary Insiders Talking On Their Own Behalf Or Hillary's?

We, of course, read about the amazing turf battles between Penn and Ickles. So, when a Hillary insider knocks the hiring of Doyle is a sign of loyalty to Hillary or jealousy at the influence of another political operative?

I can't imagine that Hillary would hold such a long time aide in such contempt. Has Doyle went Dick Morris on Hillary? Or, are some other Hillary surrogates just infighting due to Doyle's increased influence?

[hokies4ever]

76. The Clintons are still pissed about Richardson

and all he did was exercise his right to vote/endorse for the Dem Primary race.