Gatekeepers of Hillaryland

They all describe the first lady's office as having been a veritable day-care center at times, with kids' toys everywhere. When Marshall became pregnant, she didn't want to give up her job -- and neither would Clinton think of replacing her. Days after her son was born, Marshall was back at her desk with baby and her mother in tow. Clinton brought Chelsea's crib from storage, set it up in the residence and got her mother a White House pass.

"We were a family," said Melanne Verveer, Hillary's chief of staff in the second term, who today raises money and serves as the institutional memory on policy issues.

And as with many families, problems arise. The lowest moment came the day it became clear that Bill Clinton was about to admit his relationship with Lewinsky. "Everyone was angry," says one source, who like others would not talk for attribution on the topic. "It was a very weird time," says another. "I remember he stuck his head in one day and I could barely look at him."

Hillary Clinton confided her own feelings to no one on her staff, aides say, although many sources speculate she spoke to Maggie Williams, who had left the White House by then. Williams won't comment on that time period. But she acknowledges that she and Clinton have a closeness rooted in both spirituality and issues.

"We both believe that faith is a critical element in one's life and key to your decision-making and how you see the world," says Williams, who consults with the campaign from her home in Rhode Island. "It's rooted in a continuous struggle to do better."

Clinton insisted that as her top aide Williams be given the same title as the president's chief of staff: assistant to the president. And while Williams describes Hillary Clinton as a "very good friend," she says her loyalty comes from a sense of mutual purpose.

"It starts with a common commitment to ideas and a common worldview," says Williams, who met Clinton when she worked at the Children's Defense Fund and Clinton was on the organization's board. "This commitment thing is a big piece of the loyalty. I think there is a commitment to fairness, a sense of those who have more should be entrusted to do more."

The Inner Circle Grows

There is no shortage of top-level political operatives these days who would like to eventually join Team Clinton, amid grumblings that the campaign seems reluctant to open up its senior roles to outsiders.

Clinton has invited a select few of those who worked for "him" into her fold. All of them have been battle-tested by their years with the Clintons. Cheryl Mills, who as White House deputy counsel addressed Congress during Clinton's impeachment hearing, is a lawyer for the campaign. Former Democratic National Committee chairman Terry McAuliffe remains as Clinton fundraiser emeritus. John Podesta, President Bill Clinton's last chief of staff, accompanied the senator to the South Carolina debate. Former presidential aide Kris Balderston is now deputy chief of staff in the Senate.

And, with the first primary votes seven months ago, top aides say they understand the necessity of expanding the campaign's inner circle. They point to relatively recent additions to Hillaryland as proof that newcomers are welcome: scheduler Kim Molstre; the campaign's deputy chief of staff, Mike Henry; its latest spokesman, Phil Singer, who was the spokesman for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee through 2006. Her longstanding Senate press secretary, Philippe Reines, came from Al Gore's campaign and Lorraine Voles, Clinton's Senate communications director, held the same job for Gore when he was vice president.

"We know that it takes a lot of talented, experienced people to get her elected and we are opening it up," assures Solis Doyle. "We have to bring in new people. We cannot do this on our own."

As for Luzzatto, she is fully integrated into the fold.

A top aide to Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.) for 15 years, she had taken a sabbatical from the Hill when Verveer tapped her as the experienced hand needed to guide Clinton's transition from first lady to senator. "She was absolutely focused on doing good," Luzzatto says, "defying a lot of expectations and, frankly, caricatures. She wants the right things to happen."

Three years ago, Luzzatto was diagnosed with a brain tumor, initially thought to be cancerous. It was Clinton who "mobilized" her medical care, finding her a surgeon. And her colleagues in Hillaryland stepped up to help her do battle.