Podesta to join Clinton camp
The move has long been anticipated. The former chief of staff to President Bill Clinton signed on for a yearlong stint when he joined the Obama administration early last year, and he’s been rumored to be in the running for a top job — including campaign chairman — if Hillary Clinton decides to run.
Signing Podesta onto the team is the latest indication that Clinton is laying the groundwork for her potential White House bid, The Wall Street Journal reported yesterday. The paper reported that Podesta has attended informal meetings with Clinton aides in recent months centered on her possible presidential run.
Asked about his post-White House plans in November, Podesta said on PBS’ “Charlie Rose” talk show, “If [Clinton] runs — as I hope she will — I’ll do whatever she asks me to do. But right now, she hasn’t made a decision to run, and so I’m expecting to return to what I was doing before, which is teaching law at Georgetown law school and working at a think tank.”
Podesta is expected to leave his post in February; he had agreed to stay on until after Obama’s State of the Union address, which is scheduled for next week.
Many supporters of the Obama administration’s environmental agenda have expressed disappointment that Podesta won’t be in the White House to help shape energy policies for the rest of the president’s term. Still, many greens are hopeful that Podesta will be a driving force on those issues in a possible Clinton campaign.
Another of Obama’s top environmental advisers, acting Council on Environmental Quality Chairman Mike Boots, will be departing the White House in March, raising questions about who will take on their portfolios