The Wall Street Journal-20080214-Clinton Team Seeks to Calm Turmoil
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Clinton Team Seeks to Calm Turmoil
Full Text (1443 words)MCALLEN, Texas -- With Spanish music blaring, Sen. Hillary Clinton campaigned across South Texas yesterday with a more populist message, as her new campaign manager sought to reshape a campaign that has lost eight straight primaries in a week.
Maggie Williams, a confidante of Mrs. Clinton from when she was first lady, has moved to assert her control following the departure last weekend of former campaign manager Patti Solis Doyle. Ms. Williams is running a daily conference on what ads to put up and expanding the inner circle with advisers from the old Clinton White House.
But the campaign has something of a shellshocked feel, as staffers privately chew over a blowup last week where internal frictions flared into the open. Clinton campaign operatives say it happened as top Clinton advisers gathered in Arlington, Va., campaign headquarters to preview a TV commercial. "Your ad doesn't work," strategist Mark Penn yelled at ad-maker Mandy Grunwald. "The execution is all wrong," he said, according to the operatives.
"Oh, it's always the ad, never the message," Ms. Grunwald fired back, say the operatives. The clash got so heated that political director Guy Cecil left the room, saying, "I'm out of here."
Adding to the sense of drama, an aide to Sen. Barack Obama yesterday declared the Clinton campaign all but doomed. Obama campaign manager David Plouffe said that Mrs. Clinton can't become the Democratic nominee without winning every remaining contest in "blowout form." In a conference call with reporters, he said that "even the most creative math" won't get her there.
To disprove that, the Clinton team is relying on its new campaign manager, Ms. Williams, and her reshaping of the candidate's message to focus more on solutions for working-class people.
As part of that revamp, Sen. Clinton is getting tougher on Mr. Obama. "There's a big difference between me and my opponent," Mrs. Clinton told a mostly Hispanic crowd here in McAllen: "I am in the solutions business. My opponent is in the promises business." Meanwhile, she launched her first negative ad, airing one in Wisconsin that criticized Barack Obama for not agreeing to debate before that state's primary.
Though Mr. Obama has pulled slightly ahead in delegates, Mrs. Clinton's advisers say their candidate can halt his momentum -- as she did after her Iowa loss by winning New Hampshire -- in part by besting him in coming debates.
On the trail yesterday, Mrs. Clinton denied there was any dysfunction or a somber mood in her campaign. "We have a tremendous amount of energy and focus. In fact, people are coming in, volunteering their time. If you look at what we've done on the Internet in the last week, supporters and contributors are really committed." This, she said, "is the exciting part of the campaign where you really get down to saying, 'OK, what are the differences?'"
Ms. Williams is pouring resources into two must-win states, Texas and Ohio, which vote March 4. Some advisers are looking even further out: to spring contests in Pennsylvania and Puerto Rico.
Mr. Penn yesterday released a memo saying that Mrs. Clinton leads in the "three largest, delegate-rich states remaining: Texas, Ohio and Pennsylvania." He noted that they have 492 delegates, or 64% of the remaining total Mrs. Clinton needs for the nomination.
Campaign aides say Ms. Williams and newcomers she brought from the old Clinton White House, such as Doug Sosnick and Steve Richetti, bring a needed jolt of energy. Some add, though, that the drumbeat of recent Obama wins casts a pall, particularly on the long-timers who've watched the campaign's slide.
Still, it's possible the tumult, including the staff shakeup, could be just what the limping Clinton campaign needs. John McCain dumped his campaign managers last summer when his candidacy seemed to be tanking. Now he is the strong Republican front-runner.
Indeed, the biggest sign of trouble for Mrs. Clinton recently -- the need for her to make a $5 million loan to her campaign -- will turn out to be "the turning point," predicts Alan Patricof, a venture capitalist who is one of her national finance chairs. "People see what a fighter Hillary is and want to help her come back," he says. The campaign projects it will raise around $20 million this month.
On Tuesday, the campaign faced another shift when deputy campaign manager Mike Henry resigned, following Ms. Solis Doyle. He said he wanted to pave the way for the new campaign manager to build her own team. Both Mr. Henry and Ms. Solis Doyle felt pressure to allow a new direction in the campaign.
Ms. Solis Doyle recently returned home after two months on the road to find a family accustomed to her absence, she told colleagues. When her 6-year-old son cried out one night recently, he rebuffed his mom, saying, "I want Daddy." Ms. Solis Doyle flew out of the room in tears and told her husband: "Joey doesn't want me. S- this campaign, I'm quitting."
Some Hispanic leaders had written to Mrs. Clinton that it would be "troubling to many" if Ms. Solis Doyle, the first Latina to run a presidential campaign, was removed because of primary losses that were other people's fault. The campaign urged Ms. Solis Doyle, whose parents and siblings emigrated from Mexico, to state publicly that she wasn't forced out. Ms. Solis Doyle told reporters: "This is my decision, my choice, my timing. . . . There was no pressure."
Mr. Patricof, the co-finance chairman, is brainstorming for new fund-raising ideas, having already raised the maximum legal amounts from hundreds of donors. Last weekend, he emailed finance director Jonathan Mantz with a suggestion to dial for dollars via video conference. The campaign is considering it. Mr. Patricof has even pulled out all his Christmas cards with their envelopes (for their addresses) as a reminder of people he can ask to donate to Mrs. Clinton.
Another idea from the campaign: Host several private events -- at supporters' apartments all located in a single Manhattan high-rise -- in one night, so Mrs. Clinton can appear simply by riding the elevator.
Earlier this week, Mr. Mantz held a quick meeting in a hotel lobby in Washington with donors, some of whom are involved in the pro-Israel lobby AIPAC and were in town for other business. Mr. Mantz also went to Philadelphia to meet with Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell and supporters there. "Momentum [for Mr. Obama] doesn't amount to a sweep, and we can weather the storm in February," Mr. Mantz told the groups. "This is a roller coaster; hang on for the topsy-turvy ride."
The campaign is planning several fund-raisers in the next two weeks. Debbie Branson, a Dallas lawyer who will host one, says instead of the standard fee of $1,000, she's lowered the price for some tickets to $250 to attract more attendees.
To quash a rumor that operatives had resorted to working free, campaign chair Terry McAuliffe told reporters last week: "All staff are 100% being paid. We now have money."
But Ms. Williams is working as a volunteer. So are several other recent additions, such as Steve Richetti, who was deputy chief of staff in the Clinton White House.
One priority now is wooing the so-called superdelegates -- elected and party officials who could decide the nomination if the tally of pledged delegates from primaries and caucuses is very close. Some who were supposed to stay neutral aren't holding. Virginia Rep. Jim Moran, who initially wasn't backing either candidate, came out this week for Mr. Obama. Yesterday, another superdelegate, David Wilhelm, sided with Mr. Obama. Mr. Wilhelm had been Bill Clinton's 1992 national manager.
The pressure inside the campaign began after Iowa. Devastated by her third-place showing in the Jan. 3 caucuses, Mrs. Clinton brought in Ms. Williams as an adviser. In her victory speech after she won New Hampshire, Mrs. Clinton said she had "found her voice." Some aides believe that voice came from Ms. Williams.
When Feb. 5 Super Tuesday results were inconclusive, the team led by Ms. Solis Doyle grew more deflated, and it was increasingly clear fresh leadership was needed. Named to the campaign manager job, Ms. Williams began putting in place new processes to make decisions more quickly.
With each recent contest, Mr. Obama has made inroads into Mrs. Clinton's voter base, including women, older voters, whites and working-class voters. He's also outpacing her on money raised.
All day yesterday, the Clinton and Obama campaigns traded barbs via emails to the press. Mrs. Clinton stayed on the stump, wearing her trademark yellow jacket and a sunny disposition, while the campaign song blaring here, in Spanish, was "Estos Celos," or "This Jealousy."
