Is "Ready For Hillary" The Official Clinton Campaign By Another Name?

Ready For Hillary, a supposedly independent outside group, appears to be the actual Hillary Clinton presidential campaign by another name. Ready For Hillary is narrowly focused on Hillary Clinton.

Ready for Hillary “was really good in helping build up a volunteer base and enthusiasm for those running in 2014,” said Kathy Sullivan, the former New Hampshire Democratic Party chairwoman who was central to Clinton’s New Hampshire surge during her 2008 bid for the Democratic nomination. “Now that 2014 is behind us, we can narrow the focus to Hillary.”

Ready For Hillary is staffed by old Clinton hands.

In New Hampshire, most of the band is already back together — including [former state party chair and 2008 Hillary supporter Kathy] Sullivan and Terry Shumaker, a senior adviser to the super PAC and the US ambassador to Trinidad during the Clinton administration — all of them talking the Ready for Hillary talk to everyone who will listen in an effort to raise money and enthusiasm for a candidate who may or may not toss her hat into the ring.

Ready For Hillary is doing all the things a campaign would do, including purchasing voter files.

In New Hampshire, $70,000 was distributed across several initiatives — to buy the state Democratic voter file, to sponsor the annual 100 Club Dinner and sell tickets for the annual Jefferson-Jackson Dinner, and to organize shuttles from local universities to help get out the college vote.

Ready For Hillary follows Hillary Clinton around to her appearances, but claims to not have contact direct contact with her. The group is also building databases with the intention of selling them to her campaign.

Ground rules include no direct contact with Clinton, and no handing over lists or databases — those can be sold to her campaign if and when she does declare her candidacy. “None of us have any special ‘in’ with Hillary, and we explain that at every party. Yes, we’ve followed her when she had her bus, and her book signing tour, but there’s no personal contact, in keeping with what a super PAC is,” Thomas said.