13 February 2008

The More Things Change . . .

Via Kevin Drum, Josh Green at the Atlantic Monthly writes about the Clinton campaign muck-up going on right now, and looks into some of the reasons why. What follows is a detailed look into the management style and campaign philosophy of Clinton's recently ousted campaign manager, Patti Solis Doyle.

Green's article offers great background on the Clinton camp, reviewing Solis Doyle's role in Clinton's 2006 Senate reelection campaign, and looking beyond that even to 1991, when Solis Doyle first hired on with the Clintons. Kevin Drum's post concerns itself, briefly, with the damning seriousness of Green's article, and implications for the Clinton campaign.

Here's what caught my eye, though:


. . . Clinton chose [Solis Doyle] to manage the presidential campaign for reasons that should now be obvious: above all, Clinton prizes loyalty and discipline, and Solis Doyle demonstrated both traits, if little else.

Emphasis mine. In a campaign that has become very focused on change, or at least the perception of change, this sounds an awful lot like the current status quo in the Oval Office, no?