in the 2008 presidential primary campaign, mitch stewart devoted himself to defeating hillary rodham clinton, overcoming the advantages of a well-funded democratic front-runner through grass-roots organizing, and propelling barack obama to victory.









on tuesday, mr. stewart and a dozen or so other political operatives and 170 donors will gather in new york to plot how to help mrs. clinton win in 2016. the meeting is the first national finance council strategy meeting of ready for hillary, a <u+201c>super pac<u+201d> devoted to building a network to support mrs. clinton<u+2019>s potential presidential ambitions.









<u+201c>we<u+2019>re coming up with plans on how to engage emerging constituencies that will be incredibly important if there<u+2019>s a primary and in a general <u+2014> whether that<u+2019>s women, african-americans, latinos, l.g.b.t.,<u+201d> said mr. stewart, who went on to run mr. obama<u+2019>s battleground-state strategy in 2012.









the all-day meeting at the parker meridien hotel will be closed to the news media, but a preview of the day, with panel discussions like <u+201c>what america will look like in 2016,<u+201d> about changing demographics, and <u+201c>building the resources to win,<u+201d> about developing a campaign infrastructure, provided an early look into what supporters consider mrs. clinton<u+2019>s strengths and potential pitfalls in 2016.









mrs. clinton has never had a problem raising money from deep-pocketed donors, but her 2008 campaign lacked the grass-roots enthusiasm and modest internet donations that buoyed mr. obama. ready for hillary hopes to build that kind of support.









a grass-roots super pac may seem an oxymoron: such groups can raise and spend unlimited amounts of money on political races as long as they do not coordinate with a candidate. but rather than invest in expensive television ads, ready for hillary puts all of its donations into building its email list of supporters.









for every $25,0000 the group raises, it cuts a payment to rising tide interactive, a firm that helps build online lists of supporters. a social media tool on the website will allow supporters to work together to organize to plan rallies and small-dollar fund-raising events. with no candidate and over a year before a potential campaign, ready for hillary has roughly a million names on its email list, about half the size of the hillary for president campaign list at the time mrs. clinton suspended her campaign in 2008.









<u+201c>it<u+2019>s not our job to be a campaign and it<u+2019>s not our job to make decisions to tie any potential candidate<u+2019>s hands,<u+201d> said craig t. smith, an aide in the administration of president bill clinton and senior adviser to ready for hillary. <u+201c>the goal is to build a list.<u+201d>









the strategy is an acknowledgment of mistakes made by mrs. clinton<u+2019>s 2008 campaign, but also a recognition that she cannot simply run as the establishment candidate with inside-the-beltway support without also inspiring young and minority voters who largely favored mr. obama in 2008. mr. stewart helped mr. obama pick up delegates in small but important caucus states and turn states like arizona, new mexico and virginia into battlegrounds by tapping into changing demographics.









a lineup of longtime clinton backers and aides will attend tuesday<u+2019>s meeting, including susie tompkins buell of san francisco; ann lewis, a former adviser to both clintons; jennifer m. granholm, the former governor of michigan; and tracy sefl, a democratic strategist. along with ms. sefl, two young ready for hillary volunteers, taj magruder, 23, of philadelphia, and haley adams, a student at yale, will open the event, signaling that the clinton world intends to bring in fresh voices, even if it means edging some loyal aides out.









the event signals a turning point for ready for hillary. the group, registered just before mrs. clinton left the state department in february by young staff members who worked in junior roles on her 2008 campaign, was largely viewed as a makeshift organization that sold hillary clinton buttons and iphone cases online.









some longtime supporters had worried that the group emerged too soon and that if it were not well run, it could hurt mrs. clinton<u+2019>s prospects, even though she is not involved or in contact with its organizers. but veteran aides like mr. smith, ms. sefl and harold ickes, a former deputy chief of staff in the clinton white house, are now signed on as advisers. in recent months, the group has held events in several cities from san francisco to houston and has become among the dominant <u+2014> if not best financed <u+2014> political action committees on the democratic side.









the sessions in new york will point to several advantages favoring a democrat in 2016. <u+201c>democrats do have a series of advantages baked into the cake in terms of demographics and the electoral map,<u+201d> said geoff garin, a pollster who succeeded mark penn as chief strategist for mrs. clinton<u+2019>s 2008 campaign.









fresh off working on behalf of terry mcauliffe in his successful campaign for governor of virginia, mr. garin will talk about reaching the growing numbers of hispanics and college-educated white women, and the decline in non-college-educated white male voters, one of the most challenging demographics for mrs. clinton. but, he added that some very big odds will work against any democratic presidential nominee in 2016. <u+201c>since world war ii, the only time the same party won a third term in the white house was 1988,<u+201d> mr. garin said.









supporters are also well aware of the attacks mrs. clinton would face. during a lunch session, david brock, founder of media matters for america, will lead the <u+201c>ready for the right wing<u+201d> tutorial on how to combat conservative attacks and misinformation in the media.









the future of ready for hillary is unclear. should mrs. clinton run, the group would most likely dissolve, after encouraging those on its email list to transfer their support to the official clinton campaign. the widespread belief is that several ready for hillary staff members would take up positions on the campaign, which has made the group somewhat of a way station for hopeful aides. if mrs. clinton does not run, the group would likely throw its support behind whoever becomes the democratic nominee.









either way, this type of early unity and strategizing around a single candidate is a good thing and a rarity in democratic politics, said ronald feldman, a ready for hillary national finance council co-chairman who supported john edwards in 2008.









<u+201c>we<u+2019>ve never been paying this much attention this early on, but this time it seemed like a necessity,<u+201d> mr. feldman said.
<u+2018>super pac<u+2019> gets early start on pushing for a 2016 clinton campaign
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