PATTI SOLIS DOYLE….This is genuinely fascinating: Barack Obama has named a chief of staff to his eventual vice presidential nominee, and his choice is longtime Hillary Clinton confidante and former campaign manager Patti Solis Doyle. What’s fascinating is not just that he made the choice he did, but that he made it even though he must know that it’s going to whip up a frenzy of media speculation. Is this part of a rapprochement with Hillaryland? A payoff for endorsing him? A none-too-subtle wink to Hillary’s supporters that maybe she’s his choice for VP? A sign of genuine admiration for Solis Doyle’s administrative talents? Beats me, but speculation is bound to run rampant.
Also of interest: when I looked up “confidante” to make sure I had spelled it right, I learned that it properly refers only to a woman. I had always thought it referred to anyone in which you regularly confided. You learn something new every day.
UPDATE: I missed this just before I left on vacation, but Ben Smith reported a few weeks ago that Solis Doyle has been talking with the Obama campaign for a while. Today, Smith adds, “Clinton fired her in February, and many of her backers view Solis Doyle as a bit of a traitor for having signaled that she’d move to Obama before the primary was over.” So I guess the signal Obama is sending here is even more nebulous than I thought.
UPDATE 2: For what it’s worth, CQ’s Jonathan Allen quotes a source who says there’s nothing nebulous about it:
A Clinton insider, who spoke on the condition of anonymity, told CQ Politics that the subtext is clear. “Translated subtitles aren’t necessary,” the insider said. “There is no other way to interpret this other than ‘[Expletive] you.’”
