Continuing to layout what could be a blueprint for Hillary Clinton's possible 2016 presidential run, the "Ready for Hillary" super Pac is about to begin targeting younger voters.
The group, formed to support Clinton should she decide to run, has hired Rachel Schneider, the national youth-vote coordinator for President Barack Obama's 2012 campaign, to served as "young-Americans director" for the super PAC, reports
Politico.
"Rachel will harness the enthusiasm of young Americans who want to see Hillary run for president," an official with Ready for Hillary told the publication. "The engagement of young Americans online and on the ground is essential to encouraging Hillary to run because we want to show her that young people will get engaged in her campaign and come out in strong numbers if she decides to enter the race."
Schneider will appear this weekend on a panel at the College Democrats of America convention in Washington.
And she reportedly will speak at the Young Democrats of America convention in San Antonio. "Ready for Hillary" is a convention sponsor. That event is being headlined by Mayor Julian Castro, who a
recent poll found was a top 2016 vice-presidential contender for the Democrats.
Schneider also will actively engage with college students on campuses around the country.
The group has been steadily adding key personnel since its launch Jan. 25. In February it hired former Clinton aide
Seth Bringman, who worked in Clinton's 2008 presidential campaign, as communications director.
Perhaps most significant, the group is bringing in major Democratic fundraisers. In May, San Francisco philanthropist Susie Tompkins Buell, co-founder of the Esprit clothing line, and Houston trial lawyers Steve and Amber Mostyn, who helped fund an Obama re-election super PAC, signed on to "Ready for Hillary."
Also helping raise funds for the McLean-based super PAC are Harold Ickes and James Carville, former advisers to Bill Clinton, and Ellen Malcolm, founder of Emily's List.
According to the
New York Times, the PAC has already raised $1 million.
"One of the purposes is to show what we think is the very broad and deep support for her," former White House aide Harold Ickes, a close Clinton friend and political associate who is advising Ready for Hillary, told the newspaper.
"And if she decides to run, then within the confines of the law, these names and email addresses [the group is assembling] would be given to the campaign."