If Hillary Loses in NH, Heads Will Roll

According to this article in the Politico, Team Hillary has decided against a full bore attack on Barack over the next couple of days. They have decided that there is simply not enough time to change the setup of the race. This sets up, again, according to the article, real fears that Clinton could lose New Hampshire.

And furthermore, there is some data indicating that Obama is making inroads among the African American community which will be just in time for him to come up big in South Carolina.

More momentum for Obama, and the fast schedule is keeping Hillary from deploying countermeasures. Which leads to the next step, a shakeup in the Clinton campaign.

Also percolating within the campaign is the understanding that if Clinton loses New Hampshire, the press will demand some sort of acknowledgment of failure, and supporters will want a clear signal that the Clinton team got the message.

Officials are debating what that signal could be. New faces would be the easiest way to turn the page, but Clinton's senior team has been with her for years, and it's not her style to throw someone overboard. One potential solution: Add some trusted officials to the team, perhaps former Clinton administration officials who have credibility with the press and the campaigns' key donors and surrogates.

Emphasis mine, and oh come on. It's perfectly within the Clintons style to let someone else take the bullet when necessary. In just one case among many: Her treasurer took the rap for the Peter Paul fundraiser. She will throw folks overboard when necessary.

I'm sure she wouldn't want to do that. It's also quite possible that she has the best staff any presidential candidate could ever have, and it's simply the candidate that's bad, and there's very little anyone can do about that.

In which case, dumping staff would lead to a deterioration of the campaign rather than an improvement.