Long-time supporters of Hillary Clinton have opened a super PAC to lay the groundwork for a 2016 presidential campaign, even though Clinton, just finishing a four-year term as secretary of state, has said nothing about her future plans.
ReadyForHillary launches a splash page next Monday at its website, ReadyForHillary.com. Allida Black and Judy Beck, two veteran Clinton fundraisers, are spearheading the new organization. They recruited Adam Parkhomeko, who helped launch a "Draft Hillary" movement in 2003 and was later hired by the campaign, to corral the far-flung vestiges of the Clinton campaign organization. NGP Software, which designed the Clinton campaign website in 2008, has been hired by the PAC.
Several former Clinton campaign staffers are offering input and suggestions. The PAC has no formal affiliation with Clinton or any of her top aides. ...Mark Ambinder, The Week
Can one assume that this money will team up with this organization, making a perfect storm to knock over Republicans at every level of governance? We really do need to match the Kochs' (and other pluto-efforts) at state level. The Republicans got their spinach -- their money and their power -- when they took over state legislatures.
ReadyForHillary aims to have its ducks in a row should Clinton decide to press go on a 2016 bid. It will serve as a virtual gathering place for supporters and donors. When prominent Democrats like Donna Brazile offer their endorsements — like Brazile did today in a tweet — the organization, which already claims close to 50,000 Twitter followers, will document them and push them out to the world.
And why the name? It was chosen, according to someone involved in the group, because everyone seems "Ready for Hillary." ...Mark Ambinder, The Week
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By the way, did you hear about how Hillary's campaign debt was finally retired? Bloomberg's Joshua Green has the story.
Last week campaign disclosure reports revealed that Hillary Clinton had finally retired the debt from her 2008 presidential campaign—with a little help from the guy who beat her, Barack Obama. Clinton’s debt once totaled more than $20 million, although it had dwindled to about $250,000 by last year. That’s when a team of top Obama donors decided to surprise Clinton, and thank her for her loyal service, by raising enough money to pay off her bills. As secretary of state, she was forbidden from political fundraising. ...Bloomberg, h/t Political Wire
They left her with a nice little surplus, too. A little extra for 2015.
