even to skeptics, the presidential campaign of senator bernie sanders of vermont has often appeared less quixotic with the benefit of hindsight. if mr. sanders had only edged hillary clinton in iowa <u+2014> and not the other way around <u+2014> before winning a blowout in new hampshire , perhaps things would have been different. if he had only attacked mrs. clinton<u+2019>s use of a private email server as secretary of state, instead of offering her a reprieve , some supporters lamented, perhaps things would have been different. and now, as mrs. clinton contends with daily disclosures from the hacked messages of top campaign aides <u+2014> missives that have reinforced the central progressive criticisms of her bid, including her coziness with wall street <u+2014> some of mr. sanders<u+2019>s admirers have been compelled to consider again what might have been. with a couple of breaks and more fortunate timing, many of them believe, the rumpled socialist really, truly could have been president. <u+201c>i think they should have put the damn emails out before the primaries were over,<u+201d> said roseann demoro, the executive director of national nurses united, a union that campaigned heavily for mr. sanders . <u+201c>bernie could have won the election, and that<u+2019>s the most irritating and painful thing. it would have made a world of difference. <u+201c>now we are going to have a dynamic status quo,<u+201d> ms. demoro predicted. <u+201c>it<u+2019>s going to look like change. but it<u+2019>s not change.<u+201d> not all sanders supporters believe an earlier release would have altered the election. the emails <u+2014> disseminated by wikileaks from the account of john d. podesta , mrs. clinton<u+2019>s campaign chairman, who has attributed the hack to russian intelligence officials <u+2014> have created a relatively modest headache for mrs. clinton as she nears election day, providing occasional fodder for donald j. trump as democrats condemn the apparent foreign interference in an american election. but the content of the messages, while a measure short of astonishing so far, almost certainly could have upended a primary campaign premised largely on mrs. clinton<u+2019>s place in an increasingly progressive and populist democratic party . in excerpts from paid speeches to financial institutions and corporate audiences, mrs. clinton embraced unfettered international trade and offered praise for a budget-balancing plan that would have required cuts to social security . she spoke of the need for <u+201c>a public and a private position<u+201d> on politically sensitive issues. and she allowed that her family<u+2019>s growing wealth had left her <u+201c>kind of far removed<u+201d> from the experience of the middle class. <u+201c>i feel like i<u+2019>m channeling captain renault from <u+2018>casablanca,<u+2019><u+201d> said jonathan tasini, a former union leader who challenged mrs. clinton in her senate primary in new york in 2006. <u+201c>i<u+2019>m shocked <u+2014> shocked! <u+2014> that hillary clinton has a close relationship with wall street.<u+201d> it is a familiar, if still painful, sensation for sanders backers, even as most of his voters drift toward mrs. clinton, some more haltingly than others. for at least a handful, the emails have especially rankled given the seeming free fall of mr. trump, which has bolstered their view that mr. sanders<u+2019>s proudly left-wing politics would not have precluded victory in the general election. on the heels of leaked emails over the summer from the democratic national committee, which suggested favoritism toward mrs. clinton among party leaders, and persistent complaints that mr. sanders<u+2019>s bid was not taken seriously enough from the start, sanders allies say the latest revelations have heightened tensions that are likely to persist if mrs. clinton is elected. <u+201c>there is still this real disconnect between her and working people. that<u+2019>s very difficult to see,<u+201d> winnie wong, a founder of people for bernie , a group of sanders supporters, said of mrs. clinton. <u+201c>the people really have to get together and make sure some of these agenda items on the platform become a reality.<u+201d> ms. demoro, of the nurses<u+2019> union, expressed outrage over an email sent to mr. podesta by randi weingarten, the president of the american federation of teachers, who vowed to combat the nurses<u+2019> <u+201c>high and mighty sanctimonious conduct.<u+201d> (mr. podesta replied, <u+201c>thanks.<u+201d>) <u+201c>we are going to have to fight and organize like we would against a republican, if the emails ring true,<u+201d> ms. demoro said. and nina turner, a former state senator from ohio who campaigned for mr. sanders <u+2014> and who has not endorsed mrs. clinton <u+2014> said she was especially troubled by an email that she said seemed filled with vindictiveness. in it, two longtime clinton supporters wrote to representative tulsi gabbard of hawaii, who resigned her position at the democratic national committee to endorse mr. sanders, and told ms. gabbard that they would no longer raise money for her. <u+201c>it tells me they are going to be gunning if i dare to run for anything else,<u+201d> ms. turner said. <u+201c>here you have a very good public servant in hawaii that went with her heart, and what she gets are threats by the moneyed machine.<u+201d> robert b. reich, a secretary of labor under president bill clinton who supported mr. sanders in the primary, said that perhaps the most worrisome message in the podesta files came in october 2008 from michael b. froman, a former citigroup executive who now serves as the united states trade representative. under the subject line <u+201c>lists,<u+201d> mr. froman offered a collection of prospective cabinet members, weeks before president obama<u+2019>s election. many on the list were later named to the very posts he suggested. if that history is any guide, mr. reich said, <u+201c>the concern is that personnel decisions are already being made, and that wall street has a seat at the table.<u+201d> on the campaign trail, mrs. clinton has insisted that she is fully committed to progressive policies, frequently trumpeting a college tuition plan that absorbed elements of mr. sanders<u+2019>s, among other agenda items. and mr. sanders himself has suppressed any latent frustrations, continuing to campaign aggressively for mrs. clinton and declining to dwell on the emails. <u+201c>the job of the progressive movement now is to look forward, not backward,<u+201d> he said in a statement after the speech excerpts were revealed. <u+201c>no matter what secretary clinton may have said years ago behind closed doors, what<u+2019>s important today is that millions of people stand up and demand that the democratic party implement the most progressive platform in the history of our country.<u+201d> some supporters, too, have cast doubt on whether the emails would have affected mr. sanders<u+2019>s chances had they surfaced before the primaries. dan cantor, the national director of the working families party , which supported mr. sanders and has since endorsed mrs. clinton, said the emails would have been unlikely to dent mrs. clinton<u+2019>s support among the black voters who helped lift her to the democratic nomination. <u+201c>hillary<u+2019>s firewall was based above all on strong support from african-american leaders and voters, and they weren<u+2019>t in the dark about her relationships on wall street,<u+201d> mr. cantor said. <u+201c>bernie did something incredible that will have long-lasting effects, but clinton won fair and square.<u+201d> find out what you need to know about the 2016 presidential race today, and get politics news updates via facebook , twitter and the first draft newsletter . a version of this article appears in print on october 19, 2016, on page a15 of the new york edition with the headline: sanders backers rue an 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in hindsight, backers of bernie sanders lament what might have been
matt flegenheimer yamiche alcindor