Patti Solis Doyle

Patti Solis Doyle is expected to do some surrogate work for the Obama campaign to help woo Latino voters, according to the campaign's communications director, Robert Gibbs.

At the end of today's Obama conference call, Gibbs responded to a question from a Latino reporter who asked what surrogates the campaign might roll out in its effort to court the Latino community's voters. Gibbs said, "We will fold in surrogates that have been helpful to the Clinton campaign."

I asked him if Clinton's former campaign manager, Solis Doyle, would be one of those surrogates.  read more »

A former bundler to Hillary Clinton just called in to tell me that Barack Obama's selection of Patti Solis Doyle as chief of staff to the campaign's eventual vice presidential nominee is the "biggest fuck you I have ever seen in politics."

The donor, speaking on background, said that everyone in Clinton circles knows the two have hard feelings towards one another and haven't spoken since Clinton removed Solis Doyle as campaign manager, and that 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."

The bundler said that Clinton loyalists were livid over the pick.

"You don't hire Patti Solis Doyle for her operational expertise," said the bundler. "You don't do that. This is someone who failed dramatically at her job. You only bring her on to fuck someone else."  read more »

Hillary Clinton's former campaign manager Patti Solis Doyle has just been officially named "chief of staff to the Vice Presidential Nominee" by the Obama campaign.

Which, given the fact that she was demoted mid-campaign by Hillary Clinton, who she reportedly hasn't spoken to since, doesn't say much for Barack Obama's intentions of picking the former first lady as his running mate.

UPDATE: A Clinton bundler is not pleased.

Here's the announcement, which lists appointments to a number of other key general-election campaign posts:  read more »

Leonore Blitz, a bundler for Barack Obama and an advocate for women in politics, called to say she is picking up on what she considers a disturbing vibe among Democratic women in the New York business community: supporters of Hillary Clinton are considering voting for John McCain over Obama.

"I've been sensing an undercurrent in New York and then the Ferraro thing just set it off for me," said Blitz, referring to remarks Geraldine Ferraro made in Monday's New York Times.  read more »

In July 2007, the Clinton campaign’s then-chief-strategist Mark Penn sat in his gleaming white and aquarium-walled chief executive’s office at the global public relations firm Burson-Marsteller talking about a mistake he thought Howard Wolfson had made in responding to comments from a prominent Obama supporter.

“It’s very important in politics not to make the same mistake too many times,” Penn said at the time.  read more »

The argument that the constant carping about Hillary Clinton’s campaign has been a function of an Obama-friendly, process-obsessed media is well and good. But how, then, to explain the deeply held dissatisfaction of an old Clinton loyalist like Leon Panetta?

In an interview with The Observer, Mr. Panetta compared Mrs. Clinton’s top strategist, Mark Penn, to Karl Rove, suggested that the Clinton campaign had totally underestimated Barack Obama’s appeal, and complained about the overall lack of planning that he said had characterized the former First Lady’s bid to return to the White House.

Mr. Panetta, who served as chief of staff in the White House from July 1994 to January 1997, and who has contributed $2000 to Mrs. Clinton’s presidential campaign, complained that Mr. Penn “is a political pollster from the past.”

”I never considered him someone who would run a national campaign for the presidency,” he said.  read more »

A State Senator who criticized the dismissal of the top Latina on Hillary Clinton's campaign now says he’ll support Barack Obama as a result.

When reached by cell phone Monday night in Albany, State Senator Ruben Diaz, Sr. said, "I never supported anyone yet, so, you know, if I support Obama? Yes. I am with Obama, yes."

Diaz, who has had a history of criticizing his fellow Democrats in New York, said, "Hillary's campaign has been going down because of Bill Clinton, William Jefferson Clinton. Because people like Charlie Rangel, who called Obama stupid."

But the final straw, Diaz, said, was the removal of Patti Solis Doyle as Clinton's campaign manager, which was announced over the weekend. The next day, Diaz, along with Assemblyman Jose Peralta, sent a letter to Clinton's campaign saying they felt the Hispanic community was being ignored, and Doyle treated as a scapegoat.

"It is hard to understand how the Hispanic community that has been there to keep your campaign alive could remain in your corner when the first Hispanic woman to serve as your presidential campaign manager has 'resigned' from her post," Diaz and Peralta wrote.

More after the jump.   read more »

Hillary Clinton's longtime friend and aide Patti Solis Doyle is leaving her post as campaign manager and being replaced by Maggie Williams. According to a release from the Clinton campaign, this statement went to staff earlier this afternoon:

Over a year ago Hillary launched her campaign for President.

Her announcement began a historic effort that has inspired millions and brought hundreds of thousands to their feet all across this nation.  read more »

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Two things became clear on a conference call held earlier by Clinton campaign manager Patti Solis Doyle, communications director Howard Wolfson and chief strategist Mark Penn this morning. One: they do not want anyone to forget that Barack Obama’s national media buy means that he has ads running in Florida. Two: they are determined to get Florida and Michigan delegates seated at the national convention, despite the pledge all three top Democratic candidates took not to campaign in those states (and despite the fact that neither Barack Obama nor John Edwards were on the ballot in Michigan).

In her opening remarks, Solis Doyle told reporters that when the D.N.C. penalized the Florida Democratic Party by stripping them of delegates to the national convention—because they defied the national party by moving up the date of the primary—“they thought Floridians wouldn’t vote, but we can see they’re voting in record numbers.” The campaign speculates that a major turnout is an expression of not only enthusiasm and a media-saturated primary campaign, but also, “the signal that they’re sending is that they fully expect to be heard,” as Penn said.  read more »

From Clinton campaign manager Patti Solis Doyle:

Congratulations to Senator Obama and his campaign on their victory tonight. It’s been a hard fought race here in Iowa for the last year and all eyes now turn to New Hampshire.

Hillary is going to continue making the case that in these serious times when America faces big challenges, it will take a leader with the strength and experience to deliver real change.

This race begins tonight and ends when Democrats throughout America have their say. Our campaign was built for a marathon and we have the resources to run a national race in the weeks ahead.

Clinton campaign officials just held a conference call to explain a letter campaign manager Patti Solis Doyle has sent to Obama campaign manager David Plouffe, in which she demands that Barack Obama take down an ad running in New Hampshire because it falsely claims his health care plan would "cover everyone."

"Your advertisement not only contradicts the judgment of health care experts, but public statements by your campaign and your candidate," Doyle writes in the letter. "Senator Obama has pledged to put 'honesty first' in this campaign. In that spirit I respectfully request that you stop running this ad which is misleading voters in New Hampshire." On the call, Doyle added that the ad should be taken down until "Senator Obama comes up with a plan that covers everyone."

The campaign's communications director, Howard Wolfson, added that voters were "tired of politicians who say they have a universal plan but really don't."

More after the jump.  read more »

Once again scratching a positive out of a negative, Clinton campaign manager Patti Solis Doyle just sent out the following solicitation to supporters:  read more »

Hillary Clinton's campaign is arguing that last night's Dick Cheney quip offered voters a glimpse at her lighter side, proof that she is not the cold and calculating political android her critics paint her as.

From a letter just sent out to supporters by Clinton's campaign manager Patti Solis Doyle:

"She also had the best line of the night -- a jab at Dick Cheney's "diplomacy." I'm so glad everyone got to see the Hillary I know: not just the best candidate for president, but also a genuinely funny woman!"

The full letter is after the jump.  read more »

UPDATE: "We are thrilled with our historic fundraising success and congratulate Senator Obama and the entire Democratic field on their fundraising, which demonstrates the overwhelming desire for change in our country," Clinton campaign manager Patti Solis Doyle said today.  read more »