CAP’s John Podesta Confirms He’ll Lead Obama Transition

John Podesta, head of the liberal Center for American Progress, confirmed he will be heading President-elect Barack Obama’s transition team.

This is not surprising. Echoing a Nation magazine report, we noted a year and a half ago that the aggressive think tank is viewed as a kind of left-wing “shadow government,” or government-in-waiting. 

Podesta, a former Clinton White House chief of staff, said he will not serve in the Obama administration itself and will return to making wonky leftist mischief at CAP when he completes his transition duties.

CAP has taken in at least $9 million from the Democracy Alliance. The bulk of the money has come from Democratic Party owner and financial speculator George Soros, insurance tycoon Peter B. Lewis, and Herb and Marion Sandler, the financial innovators who somehow convinced Wachovia to buy their now-troubled financial institution.

For more on CAP, see “The Center for American Progress: ‘Think Tank On Steroids,’” by John Gizzi, Organization Trends, May 2007.