Subject: WSJ story
From: Brent Budowsky <[email-masked]>
To: John Podesta <[email-masked]>
Date: Mon, 2 Mar 2015 11:11:48 -0500

Hope WSJ story is wrong citing you as a major advocate of HRC making a formal announcement
of candidacy in April.  Setting up a legal entity to accept donations?  Yes. Major policy addresses
in prestigious settings staking out important positions?  Definitely.  A formal announcement of
her candidacy in April?  That just makes her one of 14 candidates, looking hyper-political when
it would be better for her to be elevated and above the petty politics for as long as possible. The
minute she formally announces she will have to publicly comment or publicly decline to comment
on every word Obama says and every action any Democrat takes....while every consultant will
also be commenting to every reporter on her behalf whether they speak for her or not.....the
tendency after an early announcement would be to diminish her into another candidate....the
more elevated she acts, the better for her....I get the money angle for a committee, and I darn
well get the major policy addresses.....I don't get the early announcement idea at all.....

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