Clinton replaces campaign manager

[AlonzoMourning23]

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Hillary Clinton has replaced her campaign manager with a longtime adviser, Maggie Williams, the campaign announced Sunday.

Patti Solis Doyle has been reassigned to a senior adviser's job, the Clinton campaign announced in a memo to its staff.

The move came a day after Sen. Barack Obama swept three Democratic contests, giving him considerable momentum heading into Sunday's Maine caucuses and three primaries Tuesday.

And CNN was projecting Sunday evening that Obama would win Sunday's Democratic caucuses in Maine. Video See why the shake up occurred »

With Obama's wins Saturday in Louisiana, Nebraska, Washington and the Virgin Islands, the Illinois senator took the pledged-delegate lead over Clinton -- 971-915, according to CNN calculations.

But Clinton has a 224-135 edge among superdelegates, which leaves her leading the Democratic race 1,139-1,106, according to CNN's calculations.

Tuesday, Clinton and Obama will compete for 15 pledged delegates in the District of Columbia, 70 in Maryland and 83 in Virginia.

Clinton's new campaign manager, Maggie Williams, served as her chief of staff when the New York senator was first lady.

Williams joined Clinton's campaign after her third-place showing in the Iowa caucuses Jan. 3. At the time, Solis Doyle was urged to remain on board as campaign manager.

Clinton loaned her presidential campaign $5 million in January, she said Wednesday.

"I loaned it because I believe in this campaign and I think the results last night proved the wisdom of my investment," she said on February 6.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/02/10/clinton.campaign/index.html

[preservanation]

Maine to Obama; Clinton Replaces Campaign Leader
By KATHARINE Q. SEELYE
VIRGINIA BEACH — Senator Barack Obama racked up his fourth decisive victory this weekend, winning the Maine caucuses on Sunday, as Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton replaced her campaign manager and longtime aide in the biggest shakeup of her campaign to date.
In a fast-paced day of striking contrasts, Mr. Obama showed new confidence as he soaked up the roar of his crowds, drawing an audience the campaign estimated at 18,000 people to a convention center here. He referred only in passing to his victory in Maine, where he won 59 percent of the vote in a state that Mrs. Clinton had thought could be hers.
Mrs. Clinton, meanwhile, replaced Patti Solis Doyle, who led her campaign since it began last year and whom she regarded almost as an adopted daughter. In her place, she named another longtime aide, Maggie Williams…..
….Some Clinton advisers rued the timing, noting that Matt Drudge referred to the switch on his Web site as the departure of the campaign’s “top Latina” — an emphasis on Ms. Doyle’s ethnicity that Mrs. Clinton does not need as she heads toward a Texas primary on March 4 and tries to court the state’s large Hispanic vote.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/11/us/politics/11dems.html?ei=5065&en=ebcfa77550e87414&ex=1203397200&partner=MYWAY&pagewanted=print

Three things...

Hispanics…one of her bulwarks

Impending chaos...with restructuring key campaign officials at this crucial juncture.

Maggie Williams. Ring a bell?
It should, she was key in Monika-gate. It was her testimony which was shaky at best, but instrumental in the attempted cover up.
Maggie was also the staff member who destroyed evidence in the Vince Foster case.
She can definitely be trusted to keep all of Hillary's impending shady campaign dealings hush-hush.
Can we all say…together now, “Quid pro quo, Clarisssse”

[Labrocca]

Are you an elephant Pres? What a memory you have. I think everyone can feel the impending doom of Hillary's campaign. She is a politician and American is fed up with them. But we shall see if the Super Delegates (all political cronnies) have their way with the Dems.

[preservanation]

I remember some things...my wife's b-day is another subject. (A sore one) lol
The shake-up is not sitting well with some key Hispanics in the Dem party.
'SUPER' LATINO SLAMS CLINTON
By MAGGIE HABERMAN

February 12, 2008 -- A prominent member of the national Democratic Party has circulated a sharp e-mail saying the removal of Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton campaign manager Patti Solis Doyle was disloyal to Hispanics and should give "pause" to superdelegates and voters.

The e-mail from, Steven Ybarra, a California superdelegate who heads the voting-rights committee of the DNC Hispanic Caucus, was sent to fellow caucus members in the hours after word broke that Solis Doyle - the most prominent Latina in Clinton's campaign - would be replaced by another close Clinton loyalist, Maggie Williams, who is black.

The e-mail noted that Clinton, who is looking to Latino voters for a boost in the Texas and Ohio primaries on March 4, scored heavily with Hispanics in her California win.

"Apparently, loyalty is not a two-way street," he wrote. "Latino superdelegates like myself . . . will have cause to pause."

Ybarra told The Post yesterday that the loss of Solis Doyle, a child of Mexican immigrants, just weeks before the Texas primary, where 36 percent of the population is Hispanic, was "dumb as a stump."

Contacted for comment, the typically press-shy Solis Doyle told The Post that Ybarra was writing on "false information," and confirmed she's staying on as an adviser.


Team Clinton insisted that the decision to switch from Solis Doyle to Williams, revealed on Sunday afternoon, was amiable.http://www.nypost.com/seven/02122008/news/nationalnews/super_latino_slams_clinton_97237.htm

In Hillary's defense, I don't agree with his take on it.
But this is indicative of identity politics and fractured special interest groups who make up the Dem party.
ie, A Latino leaves the campaign for whatever reason, and out come insinuations of racism and threats of pulling support.
Very Sharptonesque.

[Tsky]

Well we know Solis-Doyle wasn't dismissed because she is Hispanic. Hillary might as well put on sombrero and do the cha-cha-cha, she turned into an Hispanic while she was here in Texas. If I were Hispanic I think I'd be a little pissed that she sought predominantly Spanish speaking areas in Texas to woo the Spanish voters while previously accusing Obama of using the race card or only winning b/c of blacks. If she only wins because of Hispanics what will that say about her ability to unite the country? Meanwhile Obama has said all along that he is not looking for votes from particular racial groups, but rather particular groups of people whose common goal a better life a change from the status quo. Not so surprisingly then, we've seen blacks, whites, Hispanics, Asians, and others unite in their cause to put Obama in the White House. Clinton's shameless pimping to Hispanics while Obama preaches unity is just another one of the huge mistakes that will cost her this election. Is it obvious to anyone besides me that he is way smarter than she is?