New Jobs

Obama campaign announces a bunch of new senior hires for the general election:

• Constituency Director: Brian Bond – formerly LGBT Outreach Director at the DNC
• National Field Director: Jon Carson – formerly Obama for America Voter Contact Director
• Senior Advisor to the Campaign and Chief of Staff to Michelle Obama: Stephanie Cutter
• Industrial States Regional Director: Paul Diogardi – formerly Political Director for the Democratic Governor’s Association.
• Battleground States Director: Jen O’Malley Dillon – formerly Iowa State Director for John Edwards for President
• Chief of Staff to the Vice Presidential Nominee: Patti Solis Doyle
• Latino Vote Director: Temo Figueroa – formerly Obama for America National Field Director
• First Americans Vote Director: Wizipan Garriott
• Northeast Regtional Director: Eureka Gilkey – formerly Obama for America Deputy Political Director
• 50-State Voter Registration Director: Jason Green – formerly Obama for America political and field staff
• Campaign Chief of Staff: Jim Messina – formerly Chief of Staff to Senator Max Baucus
• LGBT Vote Director: Dave Noble – formerly of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force
• West Regional Director: Matt Rodriguez –.formerly Obama for America New Hampshire State Director
• Senior Advisor: Michael Strautmanis
• African American Vote Director: Rick Wade

Patti Solis Doyle, former campaign manager for Hillary Clinton, as the chief of staff-designate for the vice presidential nominee seems like a noteworthy pick. Stephanie Cutter was a key spokesperson for John Kerry's campaign and before that was Communications Director for Ted Kennedy, so that's a pretty high-powered choice to work with Michele Obama.

Comments

Patti Solis Doyle, former campaign manager for Hillary Clinton, as the chief of staff-designate for the vice presidential nominee seems like a noteworthy pick.

Does it make it more likely or less likely that Hillary will be the VP choice?

Posted by right | June 16, 2008 1:28 PM

I wonder if any of these people are utterly corrupt, like Obama's handpicked (now former) VP vetter Jim Johnson is...

Posted by Al | June 16, 2008 1:30 PM

Wasn't Patti Solis Doyle noted for being less than competent?

- g

Posted by G | June 16, 2008 1:31 PM

Solis's position also raised my eyebrows, but on further reflection I suspect it means almost nothing. Any experienced VP will likely also have their own people, so I would imagine Solis's job will be more in the mode of a liaison.

Posted by DTM | June 16, 2008 1:38 PM

Is it usual for a campaign to pick a chief of staff for the VP nominee before picking a candidate for the VP nomination? Wouldn't the designated candidate pick his or her own chief of staff?

By picking Solis Doyle for that position, someone Clinton fired, is the Obama campaign sending some kind of message that Clinton will not be selected?

Posted by Dan Kervick | June 16, 2008 1:38 PM

For the Latino Vote Director, the Obama campaign should have hired one of the people working in the Clinton campaign.

Al,

Compare to Bush's staff members and McCain for that matter, Jim Johnson is a boy scout.

Posted by Micheline | June 16, 2008 1:39 PM

Northeast Regtional Director

Hopefully this is a new portmanteau that Obama created

Posted by Andrew | June 16, 2008 1:39 PM

The Solis Doyle position is very odd. Unless, Obama's picking Sam Nunn or James Jones or someone else who hasn't run for office in the last 16 years, they will more than likely have their own staff that they'd like to bring in. Obviously though, mostly, whomever the VP nominee is, that person will have their schedule and activities determined by Obama's people.

Posted by dry_fish | June 16, 2008 1:39 PM

I wonder if any of these people are utterly corrupt, like Obama's handpicked (now former) VP vetter Jim Johnson is...

Please explain, in detail, why he is utterly corrupt. What did he do wrong? Did he do anything illegal? What are your sources? (If pulled from your ass, please state that your ass is your source.)

Posted by LFC | June 16, 2008 1:43 PM

I don't get the PSD hire as Chief of Staff to the VP either. I knew she was coming on board, but I figured in a voter outreach capacity of some sort. This hiring seems pretty notable.

Posted by dannity | June 16, 2008 1:48 PM

For the Latino Vote Director, the Obama campaign should have hired one of the people working in the Clinton campaign.

Al,

Compare to Bush's staff members and McCain for that matter, Jim Johnson is a boy scout.

Posted by Micheline | June 16, 2008 1:48 PM

As a confirmed member of a sleeper cell, is Al punting for a Terrorist Liaison job in the RNC?

Posted by pseudonymous in nc | June 16, 2008 1:49 PM

I expected Doyle to come on board but as chief for veep is odd--the veep wouldn't get a say?

Posted by Deborah | June 16, 2008 1:50 PM

I interpret the Doyle appointment as sending the signal that a Clinton selection is unlikely, unless this had already been cleared with Hillary in private (something we have no way of knowing for sure).

Posted by Tim K | June 16, 2008 1:54 PM

Michael Strautmanis? Unbelievable!

Posted by blah | June 16, 2008 1:57 PM

Who will be in charge of making sure Michelle keeps her big mouth zipped? She does not win any votes in herself, and just damages Obama with her careless, stupid comments.

Posted by bob h | June 16, 2008 2:03 PM

Another (more conspiracy-like) take on PSD: VP nominee is already known and is ok with the new CoS.

Posted by MS | June 16, 2008 2:05 PM

Who will be in charge of making sure Michelle keeps her big mouth zipped?

I think the preferred euphemism is 'keeping on message.' That would be Stephanie Cutter.

Posted by Tim K | June 16, 2008 2:10 PM

Al - those who live in glass houses should not throw stones. No McCain supporter has the right to go after Jim Johnson for being corrupt, given the number of much more serious problems that many of McCain's closest advisors have.

Beyond that, I found the PSD pick totally bizarre - shouldn't the VP nominee get to pick his or her own chief of staff?

Posted by John | June 16, 2008 2:13 PM

Who will be in charge of making sure Michelle keeps her big mouth zipped...

As opposed to Cindy, who just needs to keep her hands off of prescription drugs that don't belong to her?

Posted by dannity | June 16, 2008 2:17 PM

I think the choice of Doyle means Hillary won't be VP. Doyle and Hillary stopped talking after Doyle was replaced. Also Doyle is from Chicago, so maybe that has something to do with it. It is a surprise.

Also there's

Battleground States Director: Jen O’Malley Dillon – formerly Iowa State Director for John Edwards for President.

"Another (more conspiracy-like) take on PSD: VP nominee is already known and is ok with the new CoS."

Yeah could be. Also

Constituency Director: Brian Bond – formerly LGBT Outreach Director at the DNC
LGBT Vote Director: Dave Noble – formerly of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force

What's Constituency Director? Do the Repulicans have LGBT stuff?

Posted by Peter K. | June 16, 2008 2:20 PM

The PSD choice likely indicates that:

a) Clinton will be VP, or
b) Clinton will not be VP

It does, however, clearly indicate that:

a) Obama has a great sense of humor

Posted by Andruw | June 16, 2008 2:25 PM

Nice, bob h. I was wondering when the Opinionated First Ladies Are Witches card would come out to play.

Look, Laura Bush seems like a nice woman who has her head on straight and cares very much about her family. That's really commendable and she has my respect for that. But I remain really disappointed that she didn't take more advantage of the public space she had, and I'll be really disappointed if I have to sit through another four or eight years of someone with the First Lady's pulpit using it to such little effect. (No idea if Cindy McCain has any such aims, but I've seen little evidence of it.)

Nancy Reagan really made a go of it. Hillary Clinton obviously made a go of it. They are to be commended rather than shushed for their efforts, even if they didn't always fit the mold we or their husbands would have preferred.

Elected or not, the First Lady has a powerful voice and goddammit she ought to use it. We need more women in high places saying important things. The more we're accustomed to that, the less likely we are to vote against their husbands for their errors because the more likely we are to regard their opinions as their own opinions. That a wife's opinions could drag down her husband's campaign is closely tied to the idea that her opinions are merely a reflection of his, which is utter horseshit. It's exactly that way of thinking that helps to stand in the way of women who enter politics. How can they ever be taken seriously when they're never seen as thinkers independent of their spouses?

Posted by jhupp | June 16, 2008 2:26 PM

No McCain supporter has the right to go after Jim Johnson for being corrupt, given the number of much more serious problems that many of McCain's closest advisors have.

Hell, McCain himself has had more serious problems.

Posted by Gabriel | June 16, 2008 2:40 PM

So sad. For the past year and half the Obama campaign was run by people from outside the usual DC consultant circuit, and that's part of why they did so well. Now that people in DC want to work for them again, they hire a lot of the failures who they've beat or spent a lot of time losing.

"Stephanie Cutter" is a very worrisome name to read for anyone who followed the Kerry Post-Mortems or just the Reid communications shop since 2006.

Posted by Shock Mouse | June 16, 2008 3:04 PM

""Stephanie Cutter" is a very worrisome name to read for anyone who followed the Kerry Post-Mortems"

Indeed. Or for anyone who spent five minutes in the presence of the Kerry campaign's communication staff.

Posted by LaFollette Progressive | June 16, 2008 3:54 PM

I'm surprised nobody has pointed out the most obvious interpretation of Obama's hiring of Patti Solis Doyle:

She was working for him all along. She was his sleeper agent inside the Clinton campaign.

Posted by Somebody | June 16, 2008 3:55 PM

Campaign Chief of Staff: Jim Messina

Haven't heard a thing from him since he and Kenny Loggins were a musical duo.

Posted by low-tech cyclist | June 16, 2008 4:12 PM

Wizipan Garriott's an interesting appointment: first Native American Yale grad to be raised on the rez, one-time Daschle staffer, just graduated law school. Again, this fits with the campaign's intention to expand the voting base, which has interesting implications in the SW, Dakotas and even NC (Eastern Band Cherokee).

Posted by pseudonymous in nc | June 16, 2008 4:13 PM

@jhupp

And the first lady doesn't even have to engage in controversial political issues. Laura's mother-in-law did a lot on Children's literacy. Among librarians, there is a sense, rightly or wrongly, a sense a disappointment that she didn't do as much for the public/school library as her mother -in-law.

Personally, as a male librarian, it's better that way. It should be about what we do, not who we are married to, that matters.

Posted by Kanchou | June 16, 2008 4:26 PM

Al - those who live in glass houses should not throw stones. No McCain supporter has the right to go after Jim Johnson for being corrupt, given the number of much more serious problems that many of McCain's closest advisors have.

You would be better off directing that at an actual McCain supporter (of which I am not one).

Posted by Al | June 16, 2008 4:34 PM

@pseudo in NC

I'm pretty sure Garriott isn't the first Indian from-the-rez to graduate from Yale; I think it was Henry Roe Cloud in 1910.

At any rate, here's hoping Garriott does a good job with his outreach; I think Obama has a good reputation in Indian Country that Wizipan can build upon.

Posted by Adam | June 16, 2008 4:37 PM

The choice of Patti Solis Doyle as chief of staff for the (as yet) nonexistent VP candidate is hilariously cynical -- the idea is to get identity politics credit for taking a notoriously incompetent Hispanic (check!) female (check!!) Clinton supporter (check!!!), but not actually give her any power where she could screw things up like she did for Hillary.

Posted by Steve Sailer | June 16, 2008 7:18 PM

So Sailer seems to think Obama a canny fellow; surely a compliment, as my impression has been that Sailor does not typically speak of the competence, however unprincipled, of minorities. But is this really an affirmative action hire? Does anyone except the racially obsessed hear that Obama hired Doyle and immediately think, 'ah, he's pandering to Hispanics.' It just seems far fetched. If you want to pander to Hispanics, you wouldn't do it by hiring an Hispanic as the chief of staff to the vice presidential nominee--not exactly a high-profile position during a presidential campaign. Rather, one hears about Doyle and immediately thinks of Clinton as veep and how this surprising choice might relate to that possibility.

What I wanted to write before coming across Sailor's comment was Stephanie Cutter. Newsweek's detailed retrospective of the 2004 campaign basically fingered her as the least competent, most disastrous of all Kerry staffers. Surely, the sourcing had agendas, as all these recriminations are. But it makes me feel ill at ease nonetheless.

Posted by Robert | June 16, 2008 9:46 PM

Now I know for sure who I will be voting for. John McCain. I was voting for the Dems only because of Hillary Clinton. No thanks, I'll pass on the black racist guy. Yeah, I said it. We've walked on eggshells for too long with this guy. If John McCain had been attending a church like Obama's, Rev. Al Sharpton, Jesse Jackson and Louis Farahkahn would be planning a march from Mississippi to Washington DC.

Before you attack me, and call me racist, I should point out that I am African American. It's just that I am not emotionally moved by Mr. Obama's rhetoric. I'll pass on both the "change" and the "hope" Kool-Aid.

Posted by Nobama | June 17, 2008 2:41 AM

Now I know for sure who I will be voting for. John McCain.

Finally! The critical Nobama endorsement has come! I've been on the edge of my seat all week wondering which way he would go.

But before you attack me, and call me snarky, I should point out that I am an internet troll. It's just that I am not emotionally riled by poseurs trying to bait me into panic, against all common sense and current opinion polling. I'll pass on the Kool-Aid, and stick with the vodka.

Posted by scythia | June 17, 2008 3:46 AM

Somebody

You hit the jackpot! Pattie Solis Doyle is suspected of being a mole in Hillary's camp. Why?

She worked for David Axelrod at one time and has ties to Chicago politics. This reminds me of President Nixon's dirty tricks during the 1972 campaign which resulted in the Watergate scandal.

Posted by EWard | June 17, 2008 4:11 AM

Pattie Solis Doyle is suspected of being a mole in Hillary's camp. Why?

She worked for David Axelrod at one time and has ties to Chicago politics. This reminds me of President Nixon's dirty tricks during the 1972 campaign which resulted in the Watergate scandal.

Posted by EWard

They don't pay you much for this, do they?

Posted by El Cid | June 17, 2008 5:01 AM

EWard,

Lovely comment. Top-notch trolling. You've earned this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=88nfiZ-yy5Q

Posted by scythia | June 17, 2008 5:40 AM

Do the Repulicans have LGBT stuff?

You mean, openly LGBT stuff?

Posted by scythia | June 17, 2008 5:46 AM

We are not electing Michelle - we are elecxting Barrack - excuse me I am not voting for him under any circumstances. She is a dangerous woman and instead of being grateful for what has b een made available to her she is a product of their Rev. Wright. I am tired of these women thinking just because their husband is running for office their have certains rights - I thought we were over succeeding on our husband's coattails. Mary Henry

Posted by mary henry | June 17, 2008 8:23 AM

We are not electing Michelle - we are elecxting Barrack - excuse me I am not voting for him under any circumstances. She is a dangerous woman and instead of being grateful for what has b een made available to her she is a product of their Rev. Wright. I am tired of these women thinking just because their husband is running for office their have certains rights - I thought we were over succeeding on our husband's coattails. Mary Henry

Posted by mary henry | June 17, 2008 8:23 AM

We are not electing Michelle - we are elecxting Barrack - excuse me I am not voting for him under any circumstances. She is a dangerous woman and instead of being grateful for what has b een made available to her she is a product of their Rev. Wright. I am tired of these women thinking just because their husband is running for office their have certains rights - I thought we were over succeeding on our husband's coattails. Mary Henry

Posted by mary henry | June 17, 2008 8:23 AM

If I were pandering to Hispanics (and God knows I usually am), I would find someone with a more obviously Latino name and give her a more prominent position. I agree with the guy who said it's a practical joke.

Posted by aleks | June 17, 2008 9:21 AM