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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

Hillary Clinton announces 2008 presidential run archive
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Iowa Democratic leaders say they are troubled by the prospect that Hillary Clinton could win the states 2016 presidential caucuses without a serious challenge, a view primarily rooted in a desire for a more liberal candidate or at least a robust debate about the partys policies and direction.

Interviews with more than half of Democratic chiefs in Iowas 99 counties show a state party leadership so far reluctant to coalesce behind Clinton. County Democratic officials also voiced qualms about Clintons ability to win a general election and her fundraising ties to Wall Street firms and corporations, which remain a target of liberal ire.

Many county officials said they would like to see senators including Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Bernie Sanders of Vermont enter the race, though they were split over whether any could gain traction and overtake Clinton.

My heart wouldnt be in it for Hillary to the extent that it might be if it was a different candidate, said Jennifer Herrington, chair of the Page County Democrats in southwest Iowa. I admire Hillary, shed be a great president, but you know, she isnt my first choice I guess.

Of course, candidates can secure a party nomination without winning Iowa, an idiosyncratic contest that tends to reward candidates with strong local organization and passionate supporters. But as the first-in-the-nation contest, set to take place about a year from now, Iowa draws outsize attention from candidates and the media, and it can set a narrative for a partys entire primary season.

Clinton was also the front-runner at the start of the 2008 presidential campaign, but her big polling lead eroded as the Iowa campaign wore on and caucus participants migrated to the insurgent campaign of then-Sen. Barack Obama, who won in Iowa, and former Sen. John Edwards, who finished in second place. Clinton bounced back with a win in New Hampshire and won several other states before bowing out of the race in early June after Obama built an insurmountable delegate lead.

An expanded version of this story is available at WSJ.com.

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The Wall Street Journal: Top Iowa Democrats slow to rally around Hillary Clinton