Joining the Team

Ten days ago, National Journal's Linda Douglass was on "Hardball," chatting about whether Barack Obama might pick Hillary Clinton.

The decision "is going to be up to him," Douglass said. "Does he believe that she's really going to campaign for him, but does he think that she's going to help him on the ticket? There's an argument, obviously, that she would, because there is, in fact, a very energized female vote out there that you can't ignore."

Now Douglass will find herself defending whatever decision the candidate makes--as Obama's spokeswoman.

After a three-decade career as a reporter for CBS and ABC, Douglass said yesterday she is signing on as a senior strategist and traveling press secretary for the Illinois senator. As the campaign unfolded, she said, "I thought to myself, 'I just can't sit on the sidelines this time.' "

Douglass, who has covered six presidential campaigns, said this is "an irreversible move" at this stage of her life. "Once you cross over to an advocacy role of this magnitude, you can't go back to being an objective journalist," she said.

Asked if she was commenting on the campaign while negotiating for a job, Douglass said the opportunity had arisen in the last several days--she spoke to Obama on Sunday--and that she stopped talking about him at that point.

"This is going to be an adjustment in all kinds of ways," she said.

Interestingly, on a "Hardball" appearance earlier this month, Douglass was asked why Hillary was staying in. "You never know what's going to happen to Barack Obama," she said. "Maybe Jeremiah Wright is going to come out and say something again. Maybe we will find some videotape evidence that he was sitting in the pew."

This is a classic general-election move: bringing a TV-savvy professional on board to deal with the ravenous press and go on talk shows. And if lots of Hillary-loving women are mad at you, it makes sense to hire someone like Douglass.

Marc Ambinder, a former colleague at ABC, calls Douglass "eminently fair," but says her appointment "will give media critics plenty of ammunition to attack the press." He also notes that her husband is a major Obama fundraiser.

Meanwhile, let the veeeeeeeepstakes begin!

This Adam Nagourney scoop, posted on the New York Times Web site yesterday afternoon, lets everyone into the pool: