BILLARY: Fear & Loathing On The Campaign Trail

NEW YORK TIMES: Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton and her advisers are increasingly concerned that, after her victories in the Feb. 5 primaries, she could be on a precipitous losing streak in nomination contests this month that could endanger her competitiveness in the upcoming votes in Ohio and Texas on March 4, several aides said on Monday. Her losses last weekend in Washington, Nebraska, Louisiana and Maine have thrown the Clinton campaign into a state of anxiety not seen since her drubbing in the Iowa caucuses on Jan. 3, with major donors and supporters saying for the first time that they are deeply worried that the Democratic nomination may be slipping from her grasp…

Mrs. Clinton held a buck-up-the-troops conference call on Monday with donors, superdelegates and other supporters; several said afterward that she had sounded tired and a little down, but determined about Ohio and Texas.They also said that they had not been especially soothed, and that they believed she might be on a losing streak that could jeopardize her competitiveness in those states. “She has to win both Ohio and Texas comfortably, or she’s out,” said one superdelegate who has endorsed Mrs. Clinton, and who spoke on condition of anonymity to share a candid assessment. “The campaign is starting to come to terms with that.”

DAYS OF WHINE AND POSES: Democrat Hillary Rodham Clinton said Monday that the replacement of her campaign manager reflected a need to add more people to her campaign staff. Former campaign manager Patti Solis Doyle will remain a trusted friend and adviser, Clinton said. “There is just too much to be done, so we had to add some more people. There really is not significant change, we really just got to get more help, we just don’t have enough help,” Clinton told a Chicago television news crew. Solis Doyle is a Chicago native. MORE BULL

REALITY CHECK: According to Marc Ambinder of Atlantic.com, Hillary Clinton didn’t know about her campaign’s financial straits until after the Iowa caucuses. The Chicago Tribune goes further to charge that then campaign manager Patti Solis Doyle had been “lying” to Hillary about her campaign’s financial situation. Ambinder also points out another campaign problem that appears to be solved by this weekend’s staff shakeup: Maggie Williams planned to leave the campaign if her role in the chain of command was not “clarified.” The relationship between Maggie Williams and Patti Solis Doyle has been described as close but acrimonious, akin to two longtime friends who have the same goal in mind but argue about how to get there. They have argued in private, and increasingly, in public settings. Two sources said that Williams last week threatened to leave the campaign — she had only been on a 30-day consignment — unless the chain of command was clarified — what one person privy to the threat called “a mutiny.” MORE

THERE GOES THE LATINO VOTE: Siempre Mujer magazine invited Hillary Clinton to write an introduction to their second annual “Siempre Inspiran” (Always Inspiring) feature in the October/November issue. Campaign Manager Patti Solis Doyle is profiled in the same issue among the “Ten Inspiring Women” of the Year!…Hillary for President Campaign Manager Patti Solís Doyle (Mexican-American) – Solis Doyle is striving for a simple legacy: helping elect the first woman President in the United States. Her job, she says, “is a labor of much love. I’m doing the best for my country.”

RELATED: For the 16th consecutive year, Hispanic magazine celebrated its annual Latinas of Excellence Awards at the New York Palace Hotel on May 21, 2007. FOX News Correspondent Rebecca Gomez acted as master of ceremonies, while Dr. Antonia Novello, America’s first woman and first Hispanic to ever serve as U.S. Surgeon General, delivered the keynote address. This year’s recipients included Patty Solis Doyle, campaign manager for Hillary Clinton. [via HISPANICONLINE.COM]

FOLLOW THE MONEY: But even more troublesome was the campaign’s money crunch. Over the last seven years, Clinton had raised $175 million for her re-election and her presidential campaign. But Solis Doyle didn’t tell Clinton that there was next to no cash on hand until after the New Hampshire primary. “We were lying about money,” the source said. “The cash on hand was nothing.” Clinton didn’t tell Solis Doyle she was lending money to keep the campaign afloat. Solis Doyle found out third-hand. And when she asked Clinton about it, the senator told her she couldn’t understand how the campaign had gotten to such a point, the source said. [via CHICAGO TRIBUNE]

BILL’S SKILLS PAYS THE BILLS: Clinton herself was not informed that the campaign was in dire financial straits until after Iowa, one adviser said. For two days, Bill Clinton camped out in the campaign’s Ballston, VA, headquarters and poured through the numbers with Williams and other aides. Aides and advisers say that Clinton’s decision to lend herself money was not made by consulting members of the senior staff and was relayed to them after-the-fact. MORE