Hillary Clinton Headlining EMILY’s List Gala in DC: Ready For Hillary?

Kevin Lamarque / Reuters
Kevin Lamarque / Reuters

On Tuesday night, Hillary Clinton will deliver the keynote speech at the 30th anniversary gala of pro-abortion PAC EMILY’s List in Washington, D.C., an event that could mark the start of her expected presidential campaign.

Though Bloomberg states EMILY’s List has not yet officially endorsed Clinton in the 2016 presidential race, “that’s just a formality,” Jennifer Epstein writes, and acknowledges, “EMILY’s List is ready for Hillary.”

After 30 years of helping women from the Democrat Party get elected, the PAC will now prepare for Clinton’s campaign. In 2013, EMILY’s List initiated its Madam President campaign with the goal of electing a woman from the Party in 2016.

“Let’s be clear: they did that for Hillary,” said Maria Cardona, senior adviser to Clinton’s failed 2008 campaign.

“She has a message and we have a mission that are both clearly attuned to what this country seems to be needing right now: more women’s voices speaking for women and families,” said EMILY’s List communications director Jess McIntosh. “Not on behalf of special interests. Not the ego-driven Washington dysfunction that we’ve seen.”

Polling commissioned by the pro-abortion rights organization has determined that voters in battleground states are ready for a woman president and believe a woman will be elected president in 2016.

EMILY’s List staffers, reports Bloomberg, also have a tight relationship with Clinton, with president Stephanie Schriock having been discussed often as a possible campaign manager prior to Clinton’s decision to hire Robby Mook. Schriock left the board of super-PAC Priorities USA, which hopes to be the largest group endorsing Clinton.

With Schriock managing EMILY’s List relations with Clinton’s campaign, Denise Feriozzi, the group’s political director, will take Schriock’s place on the Priorities USA board, offering her experience at having worked for Clinton’s 2008 campaign in Iowa, Nevada, Ohio, and Wisconsin.

Additionally, EMILY’s List executive director Jess O’Connell was national director of operations for Clinton in 2007 and 2008. The group’s founder, Ellen Malcolm, was national co-chair of Clinton’s 2008 campaign, and put her support behind Hillary Clinton two years ago.

“I’ve seen – we’ve all seen – how resilient and caring Hillary is,” Malcolm said in 2014. “I’ve been ready for Hillary to be president for decades.”

According to Bloomberg, EMILY’s List and Ready for Hillary, along with American Bridge and Priorities USA, have composed the bulk of the effort to prepare for Clinton’s candidacy. Once Clinton officially announces her run, “much of the organization will be absorbed within EMILY’s List.”

“We want to make sure the assets built by Hillary’s supporters, such as a robust social media presence, are not lost when Ready for Hillary shuts down,” spokesman Seth Bringman said. The group plans to cease operations as soon as Clinton enters the race.

Social media accounts are reportedly scheduled to be transferred to EMILY’s List once Clinton announces her run, and an email list of more than three million names will also be transferred to the Clinton campaign.

“EMILY’s List shares our grassroots approach and our goal of making history in 2016, so transferring our social media accounts to them would make perfect sense,” Bringman said.

According to CNSNews.com, speakers at the three-day conference include: House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D-CA); Sen. Tammy Baldwin (D-WI); Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY); Sen. Amy Klobuchar (D-MN); Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-MO); Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH); Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-MD); Sen. Patty Murray (D-WA); Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-MI); and Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz (D-FL).

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