Clinton Campaign Looks For Answers

Washington Post: Clinton Supporters Hope Maggie Williams Will Set Former First Lady's Campaign On Track

(WASHINGTONPOST.COM)  This story was written by Anne E. Kornblut and Matthew Mosk.

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After five consecutive defeats, a $5 million personal loan and a campaign staff shake-up, Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton will be a distinct underdog in today's three primaries, the latest challenge in the pursuit of a nomination that even many of her supporters worry could soon begin slipping out of her reach.

Several Clinton supporters said yesterday that they have received clear signals from the campaign in recent days that she is aware of the problems but added that they believe she must win upcoming contests in Ohio, Texas and Pennsylvania to keep pace with the surging candidacy of Sen. Barack Obama.

Clinton has tried to move quickly to regain her footing after suffering convincing defeats in five primaries and caucuses over the weekend. She replaced her campaign manager and cast herself as a likely loser in today's races in Maryland, Virginia and the District of Columbia, even as her advisers held a conference call to acknowledge that they may not win another nominating contest until March.

But recent events have unnerved some ardent Clinton supporters and, perhaps more important, donors. Several fundraisers said changes in campaign leadership, coupled with reports of financial hardship, have vexed contributors. Richard Schiffrin, a Philadelphia lawyer and major fundraiser for Clinton, said that "there's always the risk this could be seen as a sign of trouble."

"But I think the campaign is actually moving forward in a somewhat predictable way. If [Obama] wins Texas and Ohio, that will be news. But we plan on winning those states," he said.

"I think people would prefer to have a comfortable lead. I think this is a very close race between two special candidates," Schiffrin said. "We're going to let the process play out. I think donors are always unsettled if they're not sure who the winning candidate is going to be."

Nadadur Vardhan, a Los Angeles-based financial consultant and Clinton fundraiser, said yesterday that the decision to make changes in her campaign came just in time. "They needed some kind of jolt at this point of time," Vardhan said.

"At least in terms of perception, this makes people like me feel that they're conscious of the fact that something drastic has to be done," he said. He said he believed changes would be necessary for Clinton to gain traction going into Texas and Ohio.

"We have to be totally focused. If something goes wrong in those states, it will not be good," he said. "For another two or three weeks, it's going to be difficult times, but I still think she will get through it. As long as they can hold for these 20 days, things will turn around."

Other longtime members of the Clintons' inner circle expressed similar anxiety, saying they had been put on notice that victory is required in Ohio, Pennsylvania and Texas, with no exceptions. Still, one campaign insider said the mood has improved considerably since the weekend. That's when Clinton, with her candidacy on the line, swapped one loyalist for another in the job of campaign manager -- installing the woman one ally described as the "queen of Hillaryland," the coterie of women who have long allied themselves with Clinton, to right the ship.

Margaret A. Williams, 54, known as "Maggie," comes to the job on a more equal footing with the candidate than did the woman she replaces, Patti Solis Doyle. Williams is a manager who prizes discretion and hard work, colleagues said.

"She knows Hillary better than anybody in the campaign," said Lisa Caputo, a former Clinton press secretary. While Doyle has had more than 15 years in the Clinton orbit, Williams has been a confidante for more than two decades and survived some of the worst crises of the Clinton administration alongside her once and future boss. She was interrogated after the suicide of lawyer Vince Foster, accused of removing files from his office after his death, and she was one of the women who helped guide Clinton through the Monica Lewinsky scandal.

The question for some Clinton allies is whether Williams can make the shifts needed to reverse Clinton's political fortunes after a string of losses. Although she has already lifted spirits in the campaign, Williams has not unveiled a new strategic vision. Her specialties are communications and management, not political field work, the area that has proved most challenging for Clinton so far.

Williams and Clinton met at the Children's Defense Fund in the 1980s, when Williams worked there and Clinton served on the board. The two found a "common worldview," Williams said in an interview published in The Washington Post earlier this year. In her autobiography, Clinton describes turning to Williams during her husband's 1992 presidential campaign when she was assembling her own staff. "I admired her skills as a leader and communicator and thought she would be able to handle with aplomb whatever happened," Clinton wrote.

Williams is a battle-tested operative -- she weathered the storms of the Clinton administration while serving as the first lady's chief of staff -- whom allies believe can "pick up the pieces" that have begun to drift, in the words of one. Described as warm, effusive and able to give orders with confidence, Williams began transitioning into the job weeks before it was made official. She has been seen around the Virginia headquarters recently, calling old Clinton friends to make sure they are still on board, quietly interviewing staff members to determine how to work most efficiently, and even wandering the halls thanking volunteers.

"You're going to see a crisper and more energetic campaign," a close friend of Clinton's predicted.

Saturday night, Clinton settled on her decision to replace Doyle, advisers said, and informed the senior staff by conference call on Sunday morning.

"She will be able to step in and seamlessly perform the responsibilities of campaign manager going forward," senior adviser Howard Wolfson said. "Both Patti and Maggie have been very strong in their longtime service to Senator Clinton. Patti did a magnificent job as campaign manager, and now Maggie is stepping in to assume those responsibilities, and she will also do a fabulous job."

After the Clintons left the White House, Williams worked in a number of high-profile positions, including serving as chief of staff to Bill Clinton, managing his policy agenda and overseeing the staff at the Clinton Foundation in New York, according to a biography posted on the Web site of the Harvard University Institute of Politics, where Williams served as an adviser.

Williams then helped launch Griffin Williams, a management consulting firm that aims to help clients "navigate organizational challenges, transition and change," according to its Web site.

[badbrown126]

I''ll say it again ....

Where are the Clinton tax returns .... don''''t ask me to trust you I want to know where your money came from. That is the cost of my vote.

Where are the documents in Bills presidential library documenting your experience. I want to see them. That is the cost of my vote.

She has not been vetted ... not even close. Before I choose one Democrat over another I want to know what I am getting!

[rebekah457]

Kudos to pilgrimsway for quoting one of the most charismatic orators in the modern era. I never thought I''d be comparing Hitler to anyone wanting to be president of the United States, but here we are with a man who entrances the masses using eloquence, charisma, and passion. Barack Obama casts a spell over everyone to whom he speaks. The leave his presence and are absolutely drunk with delight. If you ask them what he talked about, they have no idea. They just know that they have to vote for him or the whole world is going to fall apart.

Think of the damage that Hitler would''ve done if he''d had the internet and the media of today back in WWII. Now think about how much damage Barack Obama can do if he can hypnotize an entire nation to do his bidding. He wants adoring fans who are blind to his true message and desire for power, and his Hitler-like oratory skills are getting him plenty of fans.

[pepperwood2]

It''s JUST Not Fair!

Hiliary is entitled to pull every negative scheming trick out of the Clinton Playbook. Whether it be racist, sexism, inuendos, feminism, false accusations, lying, stealing from her own campaign, bribery, cajoling, planting questions, illegal contributions, personal attacks, favortism, and the beat goes on.

The DNC should allow Bill the opportunity to speak his true mind. The polictics of Personal Destruction. It has worked before for US and there is no reason that
the American People can''t be fooled again.

Never mind that Obama campaign exuberates Class, Honesty, Trust, Loyality, Considerate, Kindness, Compassion, Leadership, an a true desire to bring about the change in Washington and get Barack to doing the work of the American People.

How CAN this be?? Just follow the outline in OUR CLINTON PLAYBOOK. Where is that Transparent Sandy Berger when you need him???? Come on now Ladies, as True Feminists, Women Libers & Activists, we''re not going to stand around. Let''''s show this Forum just what we''''re made of. Let''s go out an Win just one Our Golden Girl.

It''s not over till its over. You''ll be surprized at how much we can get by just being ourselves. NEGATIVE! Demanding, Demeaning, Intimidating, & Most of All The BLAME GAME. WE can Do It.

CACKLE CACKLE CACKLE

[pilgrimsway-2009]

We know by the charisma who said this!

It is also in my view false to say that life in AMERICA today is solely determined by considerations of foreign policy, that the primacy of foreign policy governs today the whole of our domestic life. Certainly people can reach the point when foreign relations influence and determine completely its domestic life. But let no one say that such a CONDITION is from the first either natural or desirable. Rather the important thing is that people should CREATE the conditions for CHANGE in this state of affairs.


Answer



Hit-lers quote Jan 27 1932

[nottellin1]

Posted by rational_1 at 04:29 PM : Feb 13, 2008

Obviously, we are both arguing with someone who doesn''t have a clue and with low reading comprehension skills.

[rational_1]

One other thing I have noticed is that in the year that I have been visiting this website NOT ONE PERSON has EVER given me any proof of anything, that has come from a reputable source and nor has been about ANYWHERE but TORONTO. It is ALWAYS TORONTO.
Posted by erasmus6 at 03:36 PM : Feb 13, 2008

You must be reading nothing but your own posts. When I gave you proof of filthy hospitals in Canada one of the websites I linked describe a C. difficile outbreak in a hospital in St-Hyacynthe, Quebec, that incidentally led to the deaths of 16 patients (must be truly filthy hospitals in Canada!). The website source was none other than your own federally-financed news organization, the CBC. You''re the one who''s never giving reputable sources for your assertions, well apart from the Oprah-love thing you have going on.

[rational_1]

This is the last I am going to say.
Posted by erasmus6 at 03:36 PM : Feb 13, 2008

Now who''s lying!

[rational_1]

rational_1

One last thing. EVERYONE with a brain knows that when you have a higher cost of living EVERYTHING else is also higher. Just the fact that you use ONE city for your argument shows how stupid you are. I actually don''''t think that you know what you are talking about at all. Bye!
Posted by erasmus6 at 03:44 PM : Feb 13, 2008

I have a Ph.D. and tenure in a neurobiology department at a major U.S. research university so I''m not exactly desperate to prove my intelligence to you. If anyone wishes to compare my intelligence to that of erasumus6 just look at the spelling and grammar of his/her posts.

[nottellin1]

You must be mentally retarded. It is a well known fact that the prices are higher here than in the states. There are a lot of Canadians that cross the border to buy stuff in the states because it is cheaper. It has been that way for years and years and years.





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Posted by erasmus6 at 03:39 PM : Feb 13, 2008

At least I don''t quote Oprah for my information and I actually travel to Canada instead of simply repaeting things that I have ''heard''. Perhaps Canadian hospitals have a different definition of mentaly retarded because it seems they let you out.

[demwatcher]

Answer: YOU WORTHLESS, NO EXPERIENCE, COAT-TAIL HUGGING, LOSER!