podesta_email_01921.txt

podesta-emails 5,255 words email

D6 P17 V11 P22 D8

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*​**Correct The Record Sunday November 23, 2014 Roundup:* *Headlines:* *New York Times: “G.O.P.-Led Benghazi Panel Bolsters Administration” <http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/23/world/middleeast/republican-led-benghazi-inquiry-largely-backs-administration.html>* "'The effort to turn the Benghazi tragedy into a political scandal never had a factual basis,' said David Brock, founder of Correct the Record, a group that defends Mrs. Clinton in the news media, and author of the e-book 'The Benghazi Hoax.' ... 'The Republican committee report should close the case,' he added. 'If the scandal persists into 2016, it will only be for partisan reasons.'" *ABC News: “Top Hillary Clinton Supporters Gather to Plot, Strategize” <http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2014/11/top-hillary-clinton-supporters-gather-to-plot-strategize/>* “The attendees at the event included Correct the Record’s David Brock and Burns Strider, who were invited guests to last weekend’s 10th anniversary event for the Clinton Presidential Library in Little Rock, Arkansas, as well as political strategists Harold Ickes, James Carville and Paul Begala.” *Newsday: “Hillary Clinton eulogizes lawyer Thomas A. Twomey Jr. in East Hampton” <https://www.newsday.com/long-island/obituaries/hillary-clinton-eulogizes-lawyer-thomas-a-twomey-jr-in-east-hampton-1.9645065>* “Hillary Rodham Clinton eulogized prominent environmental lawyer Thomas A. Twomey Jr. at his funeral in East Hampton on Saturday, recalling how he helped her connect with everyday Long Islanders and win her Senate seat from New York in 2000.” *Associated Press: “Obama: Americans want 'new car smell' in 2016” <http://bigstory.ap.org/article/5e45b15d8f0944709eaf8a064a048d2e/obama-americans-want-new-car-smell-2016>* "He said a number of possible Democratic candidates would make 'terrific presidents,' but Hillary Clinton is the only one he mentioned by name. He said she would be a 'formidable candidate' and make 'a great president' if she decides to run a second time." *CNN: “Sen. Lindsey Graham: GOP-led Benghazi report is 'full of crap'” <http://edition.cnn.com/2014/11/23/politics/lindsey-graham-benghazi-report/index.html>* “Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-South Carolina, has some harsh words for the recently released Benghazi report, led by his own party. ‘I think the report is full of crap,’ Graham told Gloria Borger on CNN's ‘State of the Union’ on Sunday.” *The Hill blog: Briefing Room: “GOP-led Benghazi report purposely buried in news cycle, Democrat says” <http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/225129-gop-led-benghazi-report-purposely-buried-in-news-cycle-democrat>* “A GOP-led investigation that debunked theories about the 2012 Benghazi attack was purposely released on the Friday before Thanksgiving to evade exposure, Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) said Sunday.” *New York Times: “A Deep 2016 Republican Presidential Field Reflects Party Divisions” <http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/23/us/politics/a-deep-2016-republican-presidential-field-reflects-divisions-in-age-and-ideology.html>* “As Democrats signal that they are ready to rally behind Hillary Rodham Clinton before their primary season even begins, allowing them to focus their fund-raising and firepower mostly on the general election, the Republicans appear destined for a free-for-all.” *Articles:* *New York Times: “G.O.P.-Led Benghazi Panel Bolsters Administration” <http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/23/world/middleeast/republican-led-benghazi-inquiry-largely-backs-administration.html>* By Michael S. Schmidt November 22, 2014 WASHINGTON — A report released late Friday about the fatal 2012 attacks in Benghazi, Libya, left Republicans in the same position they have been in for two years: with little evidence to support their most damning critiques of how the Obama administration, and then-Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, responded to the attacks. Similar to five other government reports, the one released by the House Intelligence Committee on Friday said that the administration had not intentionally misled the public about what occurred during the attacks in talking points it created for officials to use in television appearances that turned out to be inaccurate. It also said that no order was given by the military to “stand down” in responding to try to save the four Americans killed in the attacks, a claim that Republicans have made based on the account of a member of the security team in Benghazi that day. Coming six months after Speaker John A. Boehner created a separate special committee to investigate the Benghazi attacks, the report raised questions about what that panel might uncover that the Intelligence Committee — whose chairman, Representative Mike Rogers, Republican of Michigan, is leaving Congress — and the other investigations missed. The special committee that Mr. Boehner created is led by Representative Trey Gowdy, Republican of South Carolina, who has a budget of $3.3 million for the investigation. Mr. Gowdy, in a written statement, said that his committee had reviewed the latest findings along with the other reports. “It will aid the select committee’s comprehensive investigation to determine the full facts of what happened in Benghazi, Libya, before, during and after the attack and contribute toward our final, definitive accounting of the attack on behalf of Congress,” he said. Democrats have asserted that the special committee was created by Republicans only to try to discredit Mrs. Clinton, who is expected to seek the Democratic nomination for president in 2016. “The effort to turn the Benghazi tragedy into a political scandal never had a factual basis,” said David Brock, founder of Correct the Record, a group that defends Mrs. Clinton in the news media, and author of the e-book “The Benghazi Hoax.” “The Republican committee report should close the case,” he added. “If the scandal persists into 2016, it will only be for partisan reasons.” While the report backed up many of the administration’s longstanding claims that its response was proper, it agreed with the other reports that criticized the State Department for having inadequate security at the compound where the ambassador to Libya, J. Christopher Stevens, was killed. “The State Department security personnel, resources and equipment were unable to counter the terrorist threat that day and required C.I.A. assistance,” it said. The panel’s findings reflected well on the intelligence apparatus, particularly the Central Intelligence Agency. The agency “ensured sufficient security” for its facilities in Benghazi and “without a requirement to do so, ably and bravely assisted the State Department on the night of the attacks,” according to the report. “Their actions saved lives,” the report said. The report said the C.I.A. did not have an “intelligence failure” in the months before the attacks. In fact, the report said, the agency had increased its security because of intelligence reports showing that attacks had intensified in the area. In the course of the investigation, the committee reviewed thousands of pages of intelligence assessments, cables, emails and other documents, and it interviewed many senior intelligence officials and people who were on the ground during the attacks — including eight security personnel who responded to them, it said. Republican lawmakers have said that the administration, fearing political fallout from the attacks — which occurred on Sept. 11, 2012, less than two months before the presidential elections — tried to mislead the public. In particular, the Republicans have said that Susan E. Rice, who was the ambassador to the United Nations at the time, lied on several Sunday television talk shows when she said the attacks were set off by a protest over an anti-Muslim video. They claimed that she glossed over whether the fatalities were the result of “terrorist” attacks by Al Qaeda because that would have undermined the administration’s narrative that it had all but defeated the group. The panel found that in the days after the attacks, there was contradictory intelligence about what precipitated them and who was behind them. Ultimately, Ms. Rice’s assertions were wrong, the committee said, but there was no evidence that the administration was attempting to misconstrue the facts. Even today, the report said, the government is still uncertain about much of what happened that day. “Much of the early intelligence was conflicting, and two years later, intelligence gaps remain,” the report said. A mix of individuals, “including those affiliated” with Al Qaeda, participated in the attacks, it said, adding, however, that “the intelligence was and remains conflicting about the identities, affiliations and motivations of the attackers.” A man accused of being the ringleader of the attackers was apprehended in a raid by American commandos in Benghazi in June, and will likely go on trial in Washington next year on murder charges. The report also debunked a few accusations against the C.I.A. It said that the agency had not intimidated or prevented “any officer from speaking to Congress or otherwise telling their story.” It also said that the agency had not administered “any unusual polygraph exams” to officers about their assignment in Benghazi. And it said that the C.I.A. was not collecting arms in Libya and sending them to rebel groups in Syria. *ABC News: “Top Hillary Clinton Supporters Gather to Plot, Strategize” <http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2014/11/top-hillary-clinton-supporters-gather-to-plot-strategize/>* By Liz Kreutz November 21, 2014, 8:01 p.m. EST NEW YORK – Two-hundred prominent Democratic strategists, former Clinton aides and donors, joined forces today for a day-long strategy meeting hosted by the pro-Hillary Clinton super PAC Ready for Hillary to coalesce their efforts, plot and plan for when and if Hillary Clinton runs for president. The meeting, held at the Sheraton Hotel in Midtown Manhattan, where the Clintons hold their annual Clinton Global Initiative summit, was made up of a series of closed-to-the-media strategizing panels and marked the beginning of the end of Ready for Hillary, which plans to shut down its operations once Clinton announces a run. It also marked a turning point for Clinton’s potential 2016 campaign. Although nobody today would flat out say it (hypotheticals like “if” and “hope” preceded all statements about her candidacy), the general sentiment among the panelists and attendees was: She’s running. And when she does, her supporters said, they will be ready. “Hopes run high,” Marty Chavez, the former Albuquerque mayor and a senior adviser for Ready for Hillary, told reporters. “The biggest takeaway I have is … there are a lot of people who have her back if she says yes.” The attendees at the event included Correct the Record’s David Brock and Burns Strider, who were invited guests to last weekend’s 10th anniversary event for the Clinton Presidential Library in Little Rock, Arkansas, as well as political strategists Harold Ickes, James Carville and Paul Begala. Two people who have been mentioned as possible campaign managers for Clinton, Stephanie Shriock, the head of EMILY’s List, and Guy Cecil, executive director of the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, also were there. Hillary Clinton herself was not at the event. Super PAC rules would not allow her to go. Very little was said about other possible Democratic presidential candidates, such as former Sen. Jim Webb of Virginia, who just this week became the first candidate to throw his hat in to the ring. The panelists said they saw Hillary Clinton as the most “formidable” candidate and that any concerns were not about a “Hillary Clinton problem,” but rather a problem for the Democratic Party, as a whole. “We have yet to figure out a message on the economy that resonates with working-class voters,” Mitch Stewart, a former Obama adviser and founding partner of 270 Strategies, which partnered with Ready for Hillary, told reporters. “We have not been able to persuade them that your values align with ours. And that, for me, is the biggest concern out there.” The meeting also focused on acknowledging what Ready for Hillary has accomplished since it launched nearly two years ago. In that time, the group has raised $11 million and gained 3 million supporters. Once it shuts down, the group plans to transfer its vast email list of supporters to Clinton’s campaign. It was unclear, however, what would happen to the group’s now-famous bus. Ready for Hillary’s meeting came a day after Hillary Clinton came out in support of President Obama’s executive action on immigration and blamed Congress for inaction on the issue. It was a rare move for Clinton, prompting speculation she might be starting to position herself as a candidate, because she has remained relatively mute on policy matters since she stepped down as Obama’s secretary of state in 2013. Ready for Hillary also hosted a grassroots fundraising event Thursday night at a noisy, haram-themed lounge downtown. The event, with roughly 150 people, cost $20.16 to attend and offered up cocktails thematically linked to Clinton, who might run to become America’s 45th president. “I’ll have one ‘Ceiling Breaker’ and one ’45,’” a young 20-something guy, donning a small Ready for Hillary sticker on his button-down shirt, was heard yelling out to the bartender. Two minutes later, he was handed two ambiguously colored drinks. “No idea,” he shouted out when asked what was in them. But, he said with a smile, “They’re named after her.” Hillary Clinton, who has a lighter-than-usual schedule in the coming month, has said she will likely make a decision on 2016 sometime early next year. *Newsday: “Hillary Clinton eulogizes lawyer Thomas A. Twomey Jr. in East Hampton” <https://www.newsday.com/long-island/obituaries/hillary-clinton-eulogizes-lawyer-thomas-a-twomey-jr-in-east-hampton-1.9645065>* By Debbie Tuma November 22, 2014, 8:29 p.m. EST Hillary Rodham Clinton eulogized prominent environmental lawyer Thomas A. Twomey Jr. at his funeral in East Hampton on Saturday, recalling how he helped her connect with everyday Long Islanders and win her Senate seat from New York in 2000. "He said to me, 'You need to meet real people, those who built this state and also East Hampton,' " Clinton, who attended the afternoon service with her husband, former President Bill Clinton, told a crowd of more than 600 mourners at St. Luke's Episcopal Church. The former first lady and secretary of state, who is weighing a second try for the White House in 2016, said she met Twomey in the mid-1990s. He took her to spend time with the North Fork farmers who helped him in a successful 1977 bid to stop nuclear power plants from being built in Jamesport, she said. "What really impressed me was these people had families going back 10 to 12 generations, and I learned how their grandparents and great-grandparents had loved and cherished this place," Hillary Clinton said. "It made a great impression on me." The Clintons are longtime friends of Twomey and his wife, Judith Hope, the former state Democratic chairwoman, former appointments secretary to Gov. Hugh Carey, the first female East Hampton town supervisor and a native of Arkansas. "The first thing Tom Twomey said to me [when they met] was, 'We have something in common, we both married someone from Arkansas,' " Clinton said. Together, Twomey and Hope -- like the Clintons -- were a longtime political power couple, and also fundraisers with statewide and national connections. During his legal career over more than four decades, Twomey built the East End's largest law firm -- Twomey, Latham, Shea, Kelley, Dubin, Quartararo -- with 28 lawyers based in Riverhead. He also served as legal counsel to numerous local municipal boards and worked as a lawyer for the Long Island Farm Bureau. Twomey's efforts to help farmers and stop nuclear plant construction, Clinton said, "made me think about how Tom took on responsibility in his own community, which is something purely American. "He understood that we are individuals but we are also members of communities," she added. Before her eulogy, Clinton sat in the front row between her husband and Hope. When the service was over, the Clintons chatted with mourners for about a half-hour about topics such as President Barack Obama, immigration and Hillary Clinton's potential presidential run. Throughout their long friendship, Clinton said in her eulogy, Twomey taught her valuable political lessons. "He knew how to find common ground," Clinton said. "But he also knew how to stand his ground." *Associated Press: “Obama: Americans want 'new car smell' in 2016” <http://bigstory.ap.org/article/5e45b15d8f0944709eaf8a064a048d2e/obama-americans-want-new-car-smell-2016>* By Darlene Superville November 23, 2014, 1:04 p.m. EST HENDERSON, Nev. (AP) — President Barack Obama says voters want a "new car smell" in the 2016 White House race and that Hillary Rodham Clinton would be "a great president." But would Clinton pass that particular smell test? In a nationally televised interview broadcast Sunday, Obama seemed to suggest that any Democrat other than him would provide the turn of the page that he says voters are interested in. He acknowledged the "dings" to his own political standing during nearly six years of sometimes bruising battles with Congress and said Americans will want something new. "They want to drive something off the lot that doesn't have as much mileage as me," Obama said in the interview with ABC's "This Week," which was taped Friday in Las Vegas following a public appearance there by the president. He said a number of possible Democratic candidates would make "terrific presidents," but Hillary Clinton is the only one he mentioned by name. He said she would be a "formidable candidate" and make "a great president" if she decides to run a second time. But if she does run — which she is considering, with a decision expected to be announced early next year — would she have that "new car" scent for voters? Hillary Clinton has been a powerful force in Democratic politics for many years, beginning as Arkansas' first lady before she became America's first lady after her husband, Bill Clinton, was elected president in 1992. When his two terms were up, she ran for and won a U.S. Senate seat from New York. She later sought and lost the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination to Obama, then cemented her worldwide profile by serving Obama as secretary of state in his first term. The Democratic political establishment is now awaiting word on whether she will take on the challenge of another national political campaign. New car smell or not, Democratic voters hold her in such high regard that she outdistances anyone else in polling of possible Democratic candidates for 2016. One of them is Vice President Joe Biden, who has not ruled out a third run for the White House. Eight in 10 Democrats held positive views of Clinton in an Associated Press-GfK poll conducted in late July. Biden had a 71 percent favorable rating in the survey. Obama acknowledged that Hillary Clinton won't agree with him on everything, suggesting that such a stance would be a welcome break for voters after eight years of Obama. A benefit of running for president, he said, "is you can stake out your own positions." The 2016 presidential race could feature a repeat face-off between a Clinton and a member of another leading American political family: former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, who is considering entering the 2016 race. His father and brother both were elected president. Three of the past four presidents dating to the 1988 election have been named Bush or Clinton. Jeb Bush's father, George H. W. Bush, was elected president in 1988. He lost re-election in 1992 to Bill Clinton, who served two terms. Jeb Bush's brother, George W., then defeated Clinton's vice president, Al Gore, in 2000 and was re-elected in 2004. The elder Bush also served two terms as vice president to Ronald Reagan. In the AP-GfK survey, Jeb Bush was most popular among potential 2016 GOP presidential candidates, with 56 percent of Republicans viewing him favorably. Majorities also held positive views of outgoing Texas Gov. Rick Perry and Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul. *CNN: “Sen. Lindsey Graham: GOP-led Benghazi report is 'full of crap'” <http://edition.cnn.com/2014/11/23/politics/lindsey-graham-benghazi-report/index.html>* By Sara Fischer November 23, 2014 Washington (CNN) -- Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-South Carolina, has some harsh words for the recently released Benghazi report, led by his own party. "I think the report is full of crap," Graham told Gloria Borger on CNN's "State of the Union" on Sunday. "I don't believe that the report is accurate, given the role that Mike Morell (deputy director of the Central Intelligence Agency at the time) played in misleading the Congress on two different occasions. Why didn't the report say that?" The investigative report Graham is referring to was released Friday by House Intelligence Committee Chairman Mike Rogers, R-Michigan, and Ranking Member Rep. Dutch Ruppersberger, D-Maryland. The report finds little to support the questions that have been raised about CIA actions on the ground in Benghazi the night of the deadly attack on September 11, 2012. Graham, who has maintained a critical voice in the Benghazi controversy over the past two years, says it's "garbage" that the report finds no members of the Obama administration lied to cover up what happened in Benghazi. "That's a bunch of garbage," Graham said. "That's a complete bunch of garbage." The investigation also found the security at the diplomatic outpost was weak and also described a "flawed" process used to create talking points for House members and for then-U.N. Ambassador Susan Rice, whose public statements after the attack incensed critics who said the administration was trying to avoid calling the attack terrorism. "When Susan Rice was on television after the attack, she said on three different occasions the consulate was strongly, and significantly secure," Graham said. "Nothing could be further than that from the truth, and there's nothing in the talking points about the level of security." To conclude, Graham says the findings of the report prove the House Intelligence Committee "is doing a lousy job policing their own." "Anybody who has followed Benghazi at all knows that the CIA deputy director did not come forward to tell Congress what role he played in changing the talking points and the only way we knew he was involved is when he told a representative at the White House," Graham said. Asked why the Republican chairman of the Intelligence Committee would be "buying a bunch of garbage," Graham simply replied, "good question." Graham said he is going to take another look at the findings of the report. "I'm going to do a hard review of this." *The Hill blog: Briefing Room: “GOP-led Benghazi report purposely buried in news cycle, Democrat says” <http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/225129-gop-led-benghazi-report-purposely-buried-in-news-cycle-democrat>* By Rebecca Shabad November 23, 2014, 11:03 a.m. EST A GOP-led investigation that debunked theories about the 2012 Benghazi attack was purposely released on the Friday before Thanksgiving to evade exposure, Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) said Sunday. On CNN’s “State of the Union,” Schiff questioned the decision behind the timing of the release of the House Intelligence Committee’s report. “Why is this report being released on the Friday before Thanksgiving?” Schiff asked. Schiff said if a panel spends two years compiling an important report, it wouldn’t make much sense to conceal it. “You want to trumpet it to the high heavens, you don’t want to bury it on the Friday before Thanksgiving,” he said. The House Intelligence panel released the report Friday evening, and it found there was no intelligence failure surrounding the attack, no delay in the rescue of U.S. personnel and no political cover-up by Obama administration officials. Schiff, a member of the committee, said he wouldn’t be surprised if Republicans employed a similar tactic when the House Select Committee on Benghazi releases its own report on the attack. “If the select committee comes up with a similar conclusion, it’ll release a similar report on Christmas Eve,” he said. Schiff rejected Sen. Lindsey Graham’s (R-S.C.) earlier claims that the report is “full of crap” and a “bunch of garbage.” Republicans and Democrats on the Intelligence committee supported the report’s findings, Schiff said, adding that it exonerates the Obama administration. Schiff said talk about Benghazi would have died down by now if it weren’t for the former secretary of State possibly running for president. “If Hillary Clinton weren’t a likely candidate for president,” he said, “I think this investigation would have been over with a long time ago.” *New York Times: “A Deep 2016 Republican Presidential Field Reflects Party Divisions” <http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/23/us/politics/a-deep-2016-republican-presidential-field-reflects-divisions-in-age-and-ideology.html>* By Michael Barbaro and Jonathan Martin November 22, 2014 BOCA RATON, Fla. — Republican presidential primaries have for decades been orderly affairs, with any momentary drama mitigated by the expectation that the party would inevitably nominate its tested, often graying front-runner. But as the 2016 White House campaign effectively began in the last week, it became apparent that this race might be different: a fluid contest, verging on chaotic, that will showcase the party’s deep bench of talent but also highlight its ideological and generational divisions. As Democrats signal that they are ready to rally behind Hillary Rodham Clinton before their primary season even begins, allowing them to focus their fund-raising and firepower mostly on the general election, the Republicans appear destined for a free-for-all. “I can think of about 16 potential candidates,” said Haley Barbour, the former governor of Mississippi and a veteran of Republican presidential politics dating to 1968. “Almost every one of them have a starting point. But there is no true front-runner.” The sprawling nature of the race was on display Thursday as an array of would-be candidates took steps to position themselves. At a gathering of Republican governors here, Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey sought to capitalize on the party’s victories this year in Democratic-leaning states while at least six fellow governors tested their messages and met with potential donors. On the same day in Washington, Jeb Bush, the former Florida governor, addressed an education conference and tried to tamp down differences with the right on the Common Core standards. On Capitol Hill, Senator Rand Paul of Kentucky continued his outreach to African-Americans by having breakfast with the Rev. Al Sharpton, while Senator Ted Cruz of Texas appealed to conservatives by citing Cicero on the Senate floor in a speech castigating President Obama’s executive action on immigration. And in California, Mike Huckabee, the former governor of Arkansas, just back from taking a group of evangelicals from early primary states on a trip to Europe honoring Ronald Reagan’s Cold War leadership, venerated Mr. Reagan in a speech at his presidential library. If the dizzying activity on a single day captured the depth of the Republican field, it also underlined its factions, split among pragmatists, hard-liners and those trying to bridge the blocs. Foster Friess, a major Republican donor whose contributions to Rick Santorum’s “super PAC” helped keep alive the former Pennsylvania senator’s presidential campaign two years ago, acknowledged that the coalescence around Mrs. Clinton was a “huge advantage” for Democrats. “That’s why the Democrats run the government and the Republicans run the museums,” Mr. Friess said. But the eventual choice for the nomination will not merely speak to philosophical direction. Republicans also confront a generational decision: They have several energetic governors and senators in their 40s and early 50s lining up to run. Yet there is also an older group of potential candidates, such as Mr. Bush and Mitt Romney, who could arrest the ambitions of the next generation of Republicans but whose experience could be appealing. To date, Mrs. Clinton, 67, has been the target of the age-oriented attacks by the younger Republicans. But some of that fire is now from within, albeit subtly. After Gov. John Kasich of Ohio, 62, mentioned 1980s-era congressional doings, when he was in the House, at a news conference here, Gov. Scott Walker of Wisconsin, 47, shot back: “John talked about ‘86? That’s when I was in high school.” Democrats have had their share of intergenerational battles, but this is relatively new terrain for Republicans. With the exception of George W. Bush, every Republican nominee since 1976 has been over 60. Now, the wide range of age, experience and viewpoints could lead to an unusually turbulent contest. “It is unpredictable as I can recall, but I worry less about it because we’ve changed the calendar and we’ll have a de facto nominee by late April and a convention by late June,” said Charles R. Black Jr., a longtime Republican strategist, referring to the changes made by the Republican National Committee to compress the primary schedule and nominating convention. While the would-be candidates are taking public steps to assert themselves, the action has been just as intense behind the scenes as they build political operations. Jeb Bush has started reaching out to Republicans in early primary states, including Senator Lindsey Graham of South Carolina, whom he called on election night. And he met with Spencer Zwick, Mr. Romney’s finance director, this year. Yet Mr. Bush has not decided on a bid, and those familiar with his thinking say he will give no indication until next year. Some of his private comments in recent months — musing about the need for a “pain threshold” to run and complaining about a video tracker that the liberal group American Bridge assigned to him — raise doubts about his intentions. Still, some of Mr. Bush’s confidants have had informal conversations with potential aides. Sally Bradshaw and Mike Murphy, his two closest advisers, have quietly met with campaign lawyers, data specialists and donors. While Mr. Bush was in Washington to attend his education foundation’s conference, Ms. Bradshaw spent days in the capital visiting with a number of Republicans. They included two of the party’s most in-demand strategists after its success this month: Rob Collins, executive director of the National Republican Senatorial Committee, and Liesl Hickey, executive director of the National Republican Congressional Committee. Mr. Christie’s supporters have been just as aggressive. They envision him establishing a political organization in the coming months to raise money. They also foresee a top role for Phil Cox, who is stepping down as executive director of the Republican Governors Association. “The governor has really come to appreciate Phil’s talents and counsel,” said William J. Palatucci, one of Mr. Christie’s closest advisers. Mr. Christie may also look to Rick Wiley, a former Republican National Committee political director who is close to Mike DuHaime, Mr. Christie’s chief strategist. Mr. Paul has been perhaps the most open about his presidential intentions, and last week he hired away a strategist from Mr. Cruz. But Mr. Paul has not found a campaign manager, having been turned down by Ward Baker, who accepted a job running the Republicans’ senatorial committee. There is also some uncertainty about who will run Mr. Walker’s expected campaign. Mr. Wiley, if he does not work for Mr. Christie, would be a possibility. Another prospect is Mr. Walker’s strategist, Keith Gilkes, but he is said to be in the running for the top staff job at the Republican Governors Association. Senator Marco Rubio of Florida has a seasoned group of advisers in place, and his team has begun considering aides for early primary states. Gov. Rick Perry of Texas also has a team ready and is inviting donors to Austin. Gov. Mike Pence of Indiana said in an interview that he would not decide on his future until after his state’s legislative session. “After that concludes in the spring, we will sit down and make decisions about our future,” he said. The nomination season is likely to be effectively underway at that point, which gives pause to some in the party who fear a replay of the long and contentious battle in 2012. “You might argue it was more divisive than it needed to be,” Mr. Friess said, adding that this time, “the donors are not going to let that happen.” *Calendar:* *Sec. Clinton's upcoming appearances as reported online. Not an official schedule.* · December 1 – New York, NY: Sec. Clinton keynotes a League of Conservation Voters dinner (Politico <http://www.politico.com/story/2014/09/hillary-clinton-green-groups-las-vegas-111430.html?hp=l11> ) · December 4 – Boston, MA: Sec. Clinton speaks at the Massachusetts Conference for Women (MCFW <http://www.maconferenceforwomen.org/speakers/>) · December 16 – New York, NY: Sec. Clinton honored by Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice and Human Rights (Politico <http://www.politico.com/story/2014/11/hillary-clinton-ripple-of-hope-award-112478.html> ) · February 24 – Santa Clara, CA: Sec. Clinton to Keynote Address at Inaugural Watermark Conference for Women (PR Newswire <http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/hillary-rodham-clinton-to-deliver-keynote-address-at-inaugural-watermark-conference-for-women-283200361.html> )