Clinton Keeps Key Staff 'Till Dec. 31
As Sen. Hillary Clinton reaches a final decision about a 2008 presidential run, her political team will shutter her re-election campaign’s seven regional field offices tomorrow and terminate the employment of back-end operational staff in New York and Washington, D.C.
But core and long-serving staff members from the campaign, Friends of Hillary, and Clinton’s HillPAC, have been told that they will keep their jobs until at least Dec. 31, a sign that Clinton plans to open a presidential exploratory campaign account shortly after the turn of the year.
It is common for campaigns to take several months to close their books, but the size of Clinton contingent that will remain on the payroll, as well as the hints they've received about employment beyond the new year, suggests that behind-the-scenes planning for a fully fledged presidential campaign has begun.
All it awaits is a formal decision from Clinton herself.
Her top donors have been told to expect a private signal as early as December. If that timetable is correct – and no one who knows for sure is talking – Clinton could push "go" over the Thanksgiving holidays. Long-time allies of the Clintons would expect to see public trial balloons floated as early as the first week in December.
The noose-tight upper echelon of Clinton’s political team countenances no speculation about who will serve as campaign manager, but the first among equals in her next campaign will likely be Patti Solis Doyle. Longtime Clinton associate Maggie Williams is also participating in informal interviews with potential senior staff. [MARC AMBINDER]