- White House adviser John Podesta will head over to take a top job in Hillary Clinton's political operation next month, according to a report by the Wall Street Journal's Peter Nicholas and Colleen McCain Nelson. The news signifies that Clinton is moving closer to beginning a presidential campaign.
- Podesta served as White House chief of staff for Bill Clinton and president of the Center for American Progress, a liberal think tank, and the head of Obama's transition to the presidency in late 2008. He has served as a top adviser in Obama's White House since December 2013.
- Back in September, Politico's Maggie Haberman reported that Podesta was highly likely to become Clinton's campaign chairman. This position would likely be distinct from that of the campaign manager, who would run day-to-day operations. According to multiple reports, Democratic operative Robby Mook is Clinton's likely choice for campaign manager.
- Meanwhile, Clinton has also hired two veterans of Obama campaigns — Joel Benenson and Jim Margolis — as her chief strategist and media adviser, the Washington Post's Anne Gearan and Philip Rucker report.
- The news of these hires comes on the same day as a report in which Elizabeth Warren said she's not going to run for president, in slightly stronger language than she's used in the past.
- Though all signs indicate that Clinton will indeed run, she reportedly doesn't plan to make a final decision or announcement until the spring. If she does not in fact run, it is a total mystery who the Democrats would nominate.
Hillary Clinton just made a big move toward a 2016 campaign
Laura Cavanaugh / FilmMagic / Getty
Andrew Prokop is a senior politics correspondent at Vox, covering the White House, elections, and political scandals and investigations. He’s worked at Vox since the site’s launch in 2014, and before that, he worked as a research assistant at the New Yorker’s Washington, DC, bureau.
See More:
