From Mike Allen.
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INSIDE HILLARY'S 2016 PLAN -- Campaign takes shape, with "big-tent mentality" and "good cop" for press: Clinton is in the final stages of planning a campaign that is likely to launch in early April, and has made decisions on most top posts. One notable exception: communications director, a job that is now the subject of lobbying and jockeying by some of the biggest names in Democratic politics. A top contender is White House Communications Director Jennifer Palmieri, who is close to likely campaign chairman John Podesta. Other names that have been in the hopper: Brian Fallon, Mo Elleithee, Karen Finney and Kiki McLean.
The exact timing of Clinton's launch is unknown, but close allies expect her to officially enter the 2016 race shortly after the end of this quarter, so that her first fundraising report will be a blockbuster. Friends and advisers say she is planning this campaign "her way," without being buffaloed by outside pressure. "She is taking her time," one adviser said. "Part of doing something right is ... taking the time to balance the advice she is getting with her own thoughts. She's in no rush."
Numerous lessons from Clinton's '08 campaign are being baked into the 2016 plan, including a determination to improve relations with the press - or, at least, to have a "good cop" role to help her get off on a better foot with the journalists who will help shape her image. She got largely favorable coverage as Secretary of State, and experienced a press corps that she considered more substantive. She visited with reporters in the back of her plane on international trips, and discovered they don't bite. "You do see what works, and address what works the next time around," an adviser said. "The default isn't toward the pit-bull mentality."
Bill Clinton is being integrated from the start. The former president got a "heads-up" from the camp of President George H.W. Bush a few days before Jeb Bush made his surprise Facebook announcement in December. The two former presidents have developed a friendly bond, partly because of their work together on earthquake relief for Haiti. More details on staff, plus the V.P. short list politi.co |
