It’s not at all unusual for a presidential campaign, once it secures the party’s nomination, to pick some of the rival campaigns’ aides. It’s about promoting the best talent, and in some instances, about bringing the party together.
Certainly, under the circumstances, Hillary Clinton’s aides are working under the notion that their campaign is still viable, and aren’t about to start sending over their resumes to Team Obama, but my sense is that some Clinton staffers probably are thinking about how they can help Dems win back the White House, no matter who the nominee is.
We’ll probably have to wait a few more weeks before we see who makes the transition from Clinton aide to Obama aide, but in the meantime, Clinton’s former campaign manager is reportedly already prepared to make the switch.
Hillary Rodham Clinton’s former campaign manager and confidante, Patti Solis Doyle, and Sen. Barack Obama’s top adviser have informally discussed the former Clintonite’s going to work for the Obama campaign in the general election.
Solis Doyle’s possible hiring is a major breach not just in Clinton’s campaign but in the political universe known as “Hillaryland,” a term Solis Doyle reportedly coined after joining the Clintons in 1991 as the first lady’s personal scheduler. She was forced out of Hillary Clinton’s campaign in February amid internal criticism about her spending practices and preparation for upcoming contests.
“I’ve talked to Patti throughout. I know that she wants to be helpful in a general election campaign, and we appreciate that,” Obama’s chief strategist, David Axelrod told Politico, declining directly to answer the question of whether he and Solis Doyle had discussed her working for the campaign.
Just today, Hillary Clinton insisted to a Kentucky audience that the race for the Democratic nomination is “nowhere near over.” When one of her top former confidantes has already begun talking to the Obama campaign about a job, it sounds like we’re at least somewhat close to over.
Also this afternoon, Clinton Communications Director Howard Wolfson was outraged at the suggestion that Obama is poised to declare victory. He released a memo titled, “Mission Accomplished? Not So Fast.”
Senator Obama’s plan to declare himself the Democratic nominee tomorrow night in Iowa (http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0508/10184.html) is a slap in the face to the millions of voters in the remaining primary states and to Senator Clinton’s 17 million supporters.
There is no scenario under the rules of the Democratic National Committee by which Senator Obama will be able to claim the nomination tomorrow night. He will not have 2210 delegates, the number needed with Florida and Michigan included in the process, nor will he have 2025 delegates, the number needed to secure the nomination without Florida and Michigan.
Premature victory laps and false declarations of victory are unwarranted. Declaring mission accomplished does not make it so.
While Senator Obama inaccurately declares himself the nominee, Senator Clinton will continue to work hard, campaigning for every vote in the upcoming states and making the case that she will be the best nominee to take on John McCain and be our next President.
That sounds pretty compelling, except for the fact that Obama doesn’t actually have a plan to declare himself the nominee, and hasn’t slapped anyone in the face. Wolfson’s memo is based on an anonymous, two-sentence quote that ran in the Politico two weeks ago.
Today, the Obama campaign made clear it’s preparing for the general election, but it’s not formally declaring victory this week.
Concerned about appearing presumptuous or antagonistic towards Hillary Rodham Clinton, Barack Obama will not declare victory in the Democratic nomination fight Tuesday in the event he wins enough pledged delegates to claim a majority.
Rather, he’ll tiptoe right up to the line, without explicitly asserting the race is over.
While it may sound like an exercise in hair-splitting, the conscious decision not to declare victory is a revealing measure of the sensitivity surrounding overtures that appear to disrespect Clinton and her supporters.
It’s also a reflection of the Obama campaign’s supreme confidence in the delegate math at this juncture — the campaign now appears secure enough in its commanding position that it no longer feels compelled to declare victory in an attempt to marginalize Clinton.
And in the meantime, the general election phase of the campaign has clearly begun in earnest.