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In this photo taken Dec. 3, 2014, former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton speaks at Georgetown University in Washington. A still undeclared candidate, Clinton sits atop the prospective field of Democratic presidential candidates for 2016. But as she has ... more >

Former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton has turned to former Obama pollster Joel Benenson to join her campaign team if in fact she does decide to run for president.

Robby Mook, who helped with Ms. Clintons 2008 campaign, is a likely aide to any run for the White House she might make. But Mr. Benensons name is somewhat of a surprise to political watchers and represents a shakeup on the part of Mrs. Clinton, Politico reported.

The safer route would have been to stick with Mark Penn, past pollster for Mrs. Clinton and former President Bill Clinton, or Geoff Garin, whom she deployed after a campaign makeover during the 2008 primaries, Politico reported. But the former secretary of state seems to be casting a wider net.

Mr. Benenson served on Mr. Obamas campaign as part of a larger team a scenario that Mrs. Clinton is believed to be considering for herself if she runs for the White House, Politico reported.

Sources said Mr. Mook and Mr. Benenson are now working with Mrs. Clinton to shape the framework for her run, Politico reported, though neither would comment.

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Hillary Clinton taps Obama pollster Joel Benenson

Former Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, a potential 2016 presidential candidate, uses a teleprompter as she speaks to students at the University of California Los Angeles, UCLA campus on the subject of leadership Wednesday, March 5, 2014, in Los Angeles. AP

Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will bring on Joel Benenson, a former pollster for President Obama, and 2008 staffer Robby Mook for her campaign team if she runs for president, Politico reports.

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Hillary Clinton holds a wide margin in polls against other potential candidates for the 2016 Democratic nomination. However, there is a lack of s...

Benenson could be part of a team of pollsters, reprising his role for the Obama campaign in 2008 and 2012. In 2008, Clinton employed Mark Penn and later Geoff Garin to do her polling, staying within the universe of familiar and trusted aides.

Mook was an organizer in 2008 for Clinton, but he apparently won the respect of the Obama team, which was known for its powerhouse organizing across the country. He is widely expected to be the campaign manager should Clinton run, and has already begun holding meetings, sources told Politico.

Clinton has said she'll make a decision on a presidential bid in early 2015, although she recently accepted an invitation to deliver a paid speech to the American Camp Association in March. It is unlikely she would continue to give paid speeches once she announced a campaign.

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Report: Hillary Clinton taps former Obama pollster for campaign

Hillary Clinton will draw differences with President Barack Obama if she runs for the White House and Obama expects that, according to John Podesta, an adviser to the president and a potential campaign chairman for the former secretary of state. Podesta, a former chief of staff to President Bill Clinton who is now counselor to Obama, said he would depart the White House next month. "I'm probably going to leave in early February," he told Reuters in an interview. "Then I've got to figure out what I'm doing in life."

Figuring that out will depend largely on whether Clinton, a former senator and first lady, decides to run for president again, as she is expected to do. Podesta has been mentioned frequently as a likely chairman of her campaign. "If she decides to run, I told her I'd do anything I can to help her," he said, adding it was "up to her" whether he served as chair. "I started going door to door in Iowa in 1967. Maybe I'll come back and do that again," he joked. Iowa is the first US state to hold a nominating contest in the presidential primary race. Clinton came in third there in the Democratic contest in 2008, behind Obama and former Senator John Edwards, a defeat that marked the beginning of the end of her campaign.

Though Obama and Clinton fought bitterly for the 2008 Democratic nomination, they formed a bond when she served as his secretary of state. Podesta said they agreed on a lot, but she would highlight divergent opinions as well, if she runs. "I'm sure she'll have some different views from the president. The president understands that, I think, expects that," Podesta said. "I'm sure there will be differences, but for the most part I think that she respects greatly what the president's been able to accomplish with respect to the economy, national security and healthcare in particular," he added. "They both have a progressive view of what it's going to take to try to ensure that the economy's working for the middle class." As for his own legacy at the White House, Podesta hates the term and had it banned from Bill Clinton's White House, he said. But he noted he was proud of his contributions to Obama's plan to fight climate change and believed global warming would be an issue in the 2016 presidential campaign.

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Barack Obama's Adviser John Podesta to potentially run Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign

The following is a quick look at Sen. Marco Rubio's new book, which landed on our desk today.

Marco Rubio wastes no time in his new book, American Dreams, going after Hillary Clinton.

On page nine of the forward, a lament that the dream is fading for many, the Republican senator from Florida argues Clinton has proven herself wedded to the policies and programs of the past.

Instead of reforming a higher education system that costs too much money, is too hard for nontraditional students to access and awards too many degrees that do not lead to jobs, another Clinton presidency will be about spending more money on a broken system, Rubio writes. Instead of cutting back on regulations that stifle innovation and deny consumer choice, another Clinton presidency will be about enacting regulations her friends in the corporate world use to prevent competition. Instead of reforming an anticompetitive tax code that has made America one of the most expensive places on earth to invest and create jobs, another Clinton presidency will be about raising taxes to pay for a growing government."

The election of Hillary Clinton to the presidency, in short, would be nothing more than a third Obama term. Another Clinton presidency would be a death blow to the American Dream.

But Rubio, whose book will be published by Sentinel on Jan. 13, knows partisan jabs only go so far. He spends much of the book assessing the current state of the country and offering solutions to problems as varied as student loan debt to the strain on Social Security. It's a conservative vision, to be sure, but Rubio takes pains to not completely alienate a broader audience.

For our part, conservatives have also failed to address the challenges of the new economy but there are promising signs that this is changing, Rubio writes.

Rubio gives credit to leaders of the so-called conservative reform movement, figures such as the writer Yuval Levin and Rep. Paul Ryan. But the point of the book is to spotlight Rubio as someone who can bring it all home. He doesn't declare himself a candidate for president, of course, but the 43-year-old leaves no mystery that he thinks he's qualified to lead a movement to "restore the land of opportunity."

The book is much different from Rubio's first, which was bio-driven but also wrapped a narrative around the American Dream.

Rubio uses the stories of people hes met to explain problems, including a Plant City woman named Christine Miller who runs an emergency food bank and tries to empower the poor people who visit her with fiscal literacy programs. The anecdote is a way for Rubio to make a case that while a government safety net is necessary, government should do more to help people get ahead.

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In new book, Rubio attacks Hillary Clinton, offers conservative view to save American Dream

Hillary Clinton is beginning to put together the pieces for a likely campaign, tapping two top strategists including President Barack Obamas pollster to work with her in the lead-up toward an ultimate decision.

Robby Mook, who worked on Clintons 2008 campaign and is widely expected to be Clintons campaign manager, and Joel Benenson, Obamas pollster who had for months been eyed for a role on her team, have been working with her as she makes a final decision and begins to put together a framework for a staff, according to people close to the former Secretary of State.

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But, if he is hired, Benensons presence in the campaign would mark a major departure for Clinton, who stayed in her comfort zone in her previous campaigns using Mark Penn, the pollster and message guru who had worked for her husband. After she shook up her campaign in the second half of the 2008 primaries, Clinton made Geoff Garin her main pollster.

(Also on POLITICO: Trouble on the home front)

Obamas campaign used Benenson as part of a team of pollsters, an approach Clinton is said to be considering for her next effort. And he would come to her off two successful presidential races.

Mook, who won Obama aides respect for the job her did out-organizing them in a string of states in the 2008 primaries, has been holding meetings with people, according to multiple sources, to begin planning for a likely campaign.

Mook and Benenson did not respond to emails seeking comment. And a Clinton campaign is not expected to be launched for several weeks, possibly as late as mid-spring.

(Also on POLITICO: Gillibrand gears up)

A Clinton aide, asked about the two mens involvement in her current plans, said, She has said that she is seriously considering running for president. Shes casting a wide net, meeting with a variety of experts to discuss the economy and a range of challenges facing American families. And shes using this time to look at what components are necessary to build an inclusive, thoughtful and technically advanced campaign, so that if she decides to run, shell be ready.

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Clinton brings in Mook, Benenson for likely team