Jim Messina, who was a top White House aide and then campaign manager for President Obama’s 2012 run, announced Thursday he will help direct Priorities USA, a Democratic “Super PAC” that supported Obama in 2012, and that the group will start raising money to support a Hillary Clinton 2016 campaign.
The move is only the latest sign that key Democrats are organizing to anoint Clinton as the party’s candidate, even though Clinton has not said if she wants to run and Vice President Biden has indicated he would like to be considered as the party’s presidential choice.
The president himself has praised both Clinton and Biden for their service in his administration, while largely avoiding commenting on any potential successor. But it’s hard to imagine Messina would opt to align with Clinton if Obama strongly objected.
In his new role, Messina will be a co-chair of Priorities, which is expected to court big donors who can give millions to so-called Super PACs.
“I think the numbers clearly show that she’s the strongest presidential candidate on the Democratic side,” Mr. Messina said in an interview with the New York Times. “And Priorities is going to be there for her if she decides to run.”
Priorities is a part of a number of Democratic groups that are unofficially aiding Clinton, either by promoting her or highlighting the controversies of Republicans like New Jersey’s Chris Christie.