Obama's third term

Personnel is policy, as the saying in Washington goes. That’s why, when President Clinton’s former chief-of-staff John Podesta went to serve as an adviser to President Obama in the White House, it hinted at continuity between the policies of two administrations led by two apparently very different Democrats.

It is therefore telling that Podesta plans to leave the White House in February so he can help run Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign. The campaign has not been officially launched, but Podesta’s move, announced Tuesday, means we know something highly significant about it. Assuming Clinton seeks the office her husband left in 2001, she will be running not only for a third Clinton term, but also for a third Obama term.