Hillary Clinton’s traveling press secretary from her last presidential campaign will now run messaging efforts for the Democratic National Committee (DNC), in yet another sign that Democrats are circling around Clinton in preparation for the 2016 presidential election.
Mo Elleithee, who served as Clinton’s traveling campaign press secretary when the former first lady and U.S. senator ran for president in 2008, has been named the new communications director for the DNC, replacing Brad Woodhouse.
“Mo’s experience working in the public sector, the private sector, on issue advocacy and electoral campaigns at every level will make him an invaluable asset at the DNC and for Democrats across the country,” said DNC chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz.
Elleithee is a founding partner of the Washington-based consulting firm Hilltop Public Solutions. The DNC did not immediately return a request for comment.
Though still in its hypothetical stages, Clinton’s 2016 fundraising infrastructure already has a significant amount of overlap with the progressive donor movement that both elevated and helped re-elect Obama to the White House.
As The Daily Caller reported, San Francisco environmentalist Susie Tompkins Buell is one of the key founding members of the Finance Council for Ready for Hillary, a super PAC that hopes to build a strong coalition of donors and online supporters in preparation for Clinton’s expected 2016 presidential campaign.
Buell, a co-founder of the Esprit clothing line, is a member of the Democracy Alliance, a secretive “donor club” co-founded by progressive billionaire George Soros that helped steer millions in funding to the left-wing organizations Media Matters and the Center for American Progress, and was integral in securing Obama’s re-election victory. Buell’s Susie Tompkins Buell Foundation also donated money to Media Matters, which has close ties to the Obama White House, through the Tides Foundation, an intermediary for progressive nonprofits.
Buell is one of the only known founding members of the Finance Council, along with Houston lawyer Steve Mostyn and his wife, Amber, who were among the top contributors to President Obama’s 2012 super PAC Priorities USA.