Reports came out this afternoon that Clinton just fired her campaign manager, Patti Soli Doyle (who has been with the Clintons since they were in Arkansas), and replaced her with another long time aid, Maggie Williams.
Of course the reports say that Doyle decided to leave "on her own" and was "not forced out." But we all know what that means when it comes the day after Obama won a primary and two caucuses in his immediate follow-up to the acknowledged draw on Super Tuesday. She was fired.
This is the third announcement of bad news in a week for the Clinton campaign. First, Obama was announced to have raised three times as much money and from more donors as Clinton and it was announced that Clinton had to loan her own campaign $5 million of her own money Second, Obama had his little miny sweep on Saturday. And now a management staff shake up.
This is in addition to the fuss about Chelsea and the fact that the Super Tuesday results were inconclusive with talk that momentum may have shifted in Obama's favor.
This is beginning to look like a campaign in trouble and "off message." Of course this wouldn't be the first time the Clinton campaign looked to be on the verge of disaster only to bounce back (look at the week before New Hampshire, the week after South Carolina for prior examples). However, how many times can the "The Comeback Kid II" come back in one primary campaign?
The future is set up for her to do just that. Texas is almost custom made for Clinton. Lots of hispanics in the Democratic party and a population so large that it will be hard for Obama to use his personal magnatism to greatest effect.
Sunday, February 10, 2008
Clinton Fires Her Campaign Manager
Posted by Raised By Republicans at 2:54 PM
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3 comments:
One reason might be that the "National Town Hall" on which they spent a lot of money getting an hour of TV time on cable in 21 states did essentially nothing and went largely unnoticed. A major misallocation of funds.
The Potomac primaries should go in Obama's favor, and that should really build his momentum. The Clinton campaign has indicated they are banking their hopes on Ohio and Texas, the next two large primaries. She must win both in order to stop Obama's momentum and claim another Comeback. Fortunately for her, there are very few caucuses left, and all are small. (Hawaii, Wyoming, Guam, and Puerto Rico.)
I don't think she has to win Wisconsin, but she needs to be competitive there.
Yes, spending money on an hour of TV that does nothing for the campaign could get you fired. Assuming that was the reason for the dismissal, that seems reasonable.
But frankly, I can't believe that someone with Hillary Clinton's political instincts would think that people would actually watch an hour long paid political advertisement/talk show. She can fire her manager but it is surprising she let the manager do it in the first place.
Clinton is, as the NYTimes said, the Queen of Inevitability. She can "come back" many many times. That is what makes this so hard. She will not fade away like Romney. It's not possible.
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