Democrats lay groundwork for Clinton 2016 Carolyn Kaster/AP - Former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton speaks in Gaston Hall at Georgetown University in Washington. By Dan Balz, E-mail the writer The institutional apparatus of the Democratic coalition is shifting gears as party strategists, outside groups and the people who finance campaigns prepare for what they believe is an inevitable 2016 presidential bid by Hillary Rodham Clinton. As President Obama struggles with the debacle of his Affordable Care Act rollout and fights to regain his political standing, his party’s machinery is pivoting to the next White House campaign. Concrete steps are being taken to wage a general-election contest with Clinton as the presumed nominee. Hillary Clinton gathers plaudits as supporters await her decision on 2016:The former secretary of state has been traveling widely in recent months, often to receive awards for her service. One stop was in Los Angeles, where Californians appeared eager to offer support for a 2016 presidential candidacy if she chooses to run. All of this may seem premature, and in many ways it is. Obama’s presidency, weak or strong, has three years left. Clinton hasn’t said definitively whether she will run in 2016. If she does, she must prove herself as a candidate — and there are enough memories of the mistakes that she, and particularly her team, made when she ran in 2008 to make any Democrat nervous. Still, the signs of activity, and the implications of those efforts, speak to Clinton’s unique position in the Democratic Party and to the understanding that the sophistication of modern politics — especially on the scale of a presidential campaign — requires far more lead time and preparation than it did a generation ago. A formal Clinton campaign would lie well into the future, although informal discussions among key advisers have been going on for months. But the outside entities that are part of any presidential bid are making themselves into promoters and protectors of Candidate Clinton. “There’s an amazing amount of outside activity, but more important, structural formation,” said one prominent Democratic strategist with a long history in presidential campaigns, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to be candid . “There’s a real apparatus out there.” The latest evidence came last week when BuzzFeed and, later, other news organizations reported that Jim Messina, Obama’s 2012 campaign manager, was nearing agreement to join the super PAC Priorities USA. Priorities was formed to back Obama in 2012 and is now becoming the pro-Clinton super PAC for 2016. Also expected to play a significant role is John Podesta, who was White House chief of staff during president Bill Clinton’s administration. Priorities USA struggled to raise money for a good part of the 2012 cycle. With Podesta and Messina aboard, that’s not likely to be a problem for the pro-Clinton PAC. The Biden factor Messina’s likely move is notable for another reason. It signals to other prospective Democratic candidates, particularly Vice President Biden, that even if Obama remains neutral in the Democratic nomination contest, key members of his political team will be working for Clinton. This is not out of any disloyalty to Biden. Obama advisers are moving to Clinton because they are convinced that the vice president will not run if she does. In fact, Biden has told some key Democrats that he understands there would not be room for him if Clinton were a candidate (although some of his allies think there might be). He will do all he can to maintain his viability as a candidate as the party awaits Clinton’s decision.
Posted on: Sun, 17 Nov 2013 16:45:02 +0000
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