Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has tapped a pair of top-tier Democratic Party strategists to work with her as she decides whether to enter the 2016 race,
Politico reported Wednesday.
One is Robby Mook, who worked on her unsuccessful 2008 White House run and is expected to become her campaign manager. The other is Obama pollster Joel Benenson.
According to Politico, Benenson's presence "would mark a major departure for Clinton, who stayed in her comfort zone in her previous campaigns, using Mark Penn, the pollster and message guru who had worked for her husband."
After the former first lady shook up her campaign late in the 2008 primaries, she selected Geoff Garin as her main pollster.
Mook — who reportedly won the respect of Barack Obama's aides for out-organizing them in a number of states during the 2008 primaries — has been holding meetings with people "to begin planning for a likely campaign," according to Politico.
Mook, who also managed Terry McAuliffe's successful 2013 gubernatorial campaign in Virginia, would likely be part of a team with current Obama White House aide John Podesta, a veteran Clinton adviser.
In November,
ABC News reported that Mook and a close friend named Marlon Marshall had set up an email list to stay in touch with 150 campaign veterans. They dubbed it the "Mook Mafia."
Marshall, ABC reported, serves as special assistant to the president and as principal deputy director of the White House Office of Public Engagement.
The emails strike an aggressive tone, with Mook saying Democrats should "smite Republicans Mafia-style."
They were reportedly leaked by a Democrat on the email list who supports Clinton for the Democratic presidential nomination but is bothered by the thought of Mook or Marshall having senior roles in another presidential campaign.
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