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> http://www.politico.com/story/2015/05/priorities-usa-hillary-clinton-staff-moves-118134.html?hp=t4_r <http://www.politico.com/story/2015/05/priorities-usa-hillary-clinton-staff-moves-118134.html?hp=t4_r>
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> Messina in the cross hairs at pro-Clinton super PAC
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> Guy Cecil, the new head of the pro-Hillary Clinton super PAC, Priorities USA, is moving quickly to consolidate his hold over the organization, moving to replace a key Obama-era holdover with one of his own allies.
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> Buffy Wicks, the highly regarded former Obama field organizer who served as Priorities’ executive director — and a close ally of board co-chairman Jim Messina — will be leaving the organization for an as-yet unspecified position on Clinton’s campaign or for a job with the national party, according to several sources with knowledge of the situation.
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> Wicks’ departure, first reported by BuzzFeed, allows her to reconnect with close friend and Clinton campaign manager Robby Mook. Under federal law, the two were not allowed to coordinate strategy, and they hadn’t spoken for months, which “was a real hardship for both of them,” according to a mutual friend.
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> But the move was also intended as a clear signal to co-board chairman Messina, who was responsible for many of the group’s early hires, that he will now be limited to a strictly circumscribed role as a fundraiser, tasked with tapping many of the liberal donors who gave to President Barack Obama’s 2008 and 2012 campaigns.
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> Cecil, who will working closely with longtime Clinton adviser Harold Ickes, is expected to name several key new staffers in the coming days — and has yet to take a formal title himself, apart from “chief strategist.”
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> The appointment of Cecil — which was greeted with relief in Clinton’s Brooklyn headquarters — creates new opportunities while solving several chronic problems for Clinton and her team. Cecil has a solid working relationship with another aggressive fundraiser working on the Democrats’ behalf, David Brock, who recently announced his intention to start his own Hillary-friendly super PAC in the 2016 cycle.
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> And, in a classic Clintonian management gambit, it sets up a natural rivalry between Mook, who won the campaign manager’s job with the backing of Bill Clinton, and Cecil, who finished second but was the favorite of many inside-the-Beltway Democrats. “A little bit of friendly competition never hurt,” said one aide close to Clinton.
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> Cecil, who has already begun meeting with donors in Washington on behalf of the group, has appointed Anne Caprara as the new executive director, several people close to the situation told POLITICO. Caprara, who served as a top Cecil deputy when he was executive director of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, is now a senior political adviser to EMILY’s List.
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> Senior Democrats described Cecil’s moves as an end to the period when Priorities was run by a small team of operatives loyal to Messina, whose role in the organization is expected to diminish significantly. But he isn’t cleaning house: Several holdovers, including veteran operative Sean Sweeney, a Messina ally with deep connections in both the Clinton and Obama camps, is expected to stay on, albeit in a newly defined capacity.
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> Justin Brennan, a high-powered former Obama fundraiser who has presided over Priorities’ less-than-stellar recent cash-gathering operation, will also have a place in the organization if he chooses to stay, a senior Democrat said.
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> The moves come at a time when Clinton is kick-starting her new and untried fundraising strategy of relying more heavily on small and mid-level contributors. There is a growing realization inside her Brooklyn headquarters and among the wider circle of Democratic operatives that coming up with the requisite $1 billion to $2.5 billion in campaign and super PAC cash for the 2016 campaign will be a lot tougher than anticipated — and demands a more aggressive approach to out-of-the-gate fundraising.
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> The pace of donations to Clinton’s 3-week-old campaign is surpassing forecasts — but Clinton’s team, especially campaign chairman John Podesta, have become increasingly concerned that the underperforming Priorities operation wouldn’t be able to compete with massive super PAC cash machines being set up by Jeb Bush and other Republican hopefuls.
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> In a surprise move this month, Clinton began appearing at Priorities events to prime the big-money pump — even while vowing to oppose the Supreme Court decision that empowered the PACs and flooded the system with virtually limitless outside cash.
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> Despite reports to the contrary, Bill Clinton is expected to begin raising cash for Priorities in the coming months, according to several Democrats familiar with the planning. And Priorities still hopes to raise a minimum of $150 million and as much as $300 million in the 2016 cycle.
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> The group is off to a slow start. In February, POLITICO’s Kenneth P. Vogel reported that it was struggling to come up with 30 or more pledges of at least $1 million apiece to be unveiled when Clinton formally jumped into the race; to date, the group has only secured five million-dollar commitments and a handful of smaller donations, according to a source with knowledge of the organization’s finances.
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Eric D. Schwerin
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