Back in June of this year when he stepped down as CEO of Starbucks, Howard Schultz responded to rumors that he was planning a run for the White House by simply stating he intended “to think about a range of options, and that could include public service. But I’m a long way from making any decisions about the future.” Well, apparently he’s a lot closer to those ‘decisions about the future’ now as he readies release of a new “civic-minded book” and assembles an elite public relations team for its release. Perhaps most interestingly, he is retaining Steve Schmidt, former vice chairman of the PR firm Edelman, who just so happens to have run the unsuccessful John McCain Presidential campaign back in 2008. Schmidt was a republican political operative who renounced the Republican Party as fully the party of Trump in June of this year. The socially progressive Schultz will likely join a very crowded democratic primary field if he runs.