the hacked wikileaks emails reveal that many of the biggest developments of the 2016 campaign were a big surprise for hillary clinton<u+2019>s team. | getty 2016 clinton<u+2019>s team has taken her to the edge of the white house, but not without a few bumps in the road. by hanna trudo 11/08/16 05:33 am est 2016 was the presidential election that nobody saw coming, including some of the people who studied it longest and know it best: hillary clinton<u+2019>s top advisers. the thousands of hacked emails published by wikileaks reveal that many of the biggest developments of the 2016 campaign were as big a surprise for clinton<u+2019>s team as they were for everyone else. story continued below here are five examples where her camp missed their goals, didn<u+2019>t quite see what was coming or even were completely blind-sided. winning the democratic nomination: clinton projected having the democratic primary contest locked down in march 2016, according to a strategy memo sent by robby mook to senior staffers in late november 2015. <u+201c>our goal is to become the presumptive nominee by mid-march,<u+201d> the document titled <u+201c>a macro-level look at the primary and general electorates<u+201d> indicates. clinton<u+2019>s primary rival, sen. bernie sanders (i-vt.), however, proved an indefatigable competitor throughout the primary process, which led clinton<u+2019>s camp to misjudge the timeline to secure of the party<u+2019>s nomination by three months. ultimately, in june early 2016, the associated press reported that clinton had secured enough delegates to capture the democratic nomination, making her the presumptive nominee . by daniel strauss on those <u+201c>damn emails<u+201d>: clinton<u+2019>s use of a private email server has dogged her entire campaign, but stolen documents show that preliminary warning signs of the scandal <u+2013> first exposed in a bombshell new york times article in early march 2015 <u+2013> caught aides off guard. campaign chairman john podesta asked mook if he knew the <u+201c>depth<u+201d> of the piece just hours after it broke. <u+201c>did you have any idea of the depth of this story?,<u+201d> podesta wrote on march 2. mook replied candidly, recalling a conversation that took place over the summer suggesting there was no action plan for addressing the emails. <u+201c>nope. we brought up the existence of emails in reserach this summer but were told that everything was taken care of,<u+201d> mook replied. on the michigan primary: clinton<u+2019>s team knew securing a win in the michigan democratic primary would be challenging, but two days before the state<u+2019>s election on march 8, podesta projected that clinton would pull off a narrow win, hacked emails indicate. <u+201c>how are we feeling?<u+201d> adviser neera tanden, a progressive think tank leader, asked. podesta provided a timid prediction of victory: <u+201c>up a little and stable. should get a squeaker win,<u+201d> he wrote, <u+201c>but he can still get past us.<u+201d> sanders ultimately did pass clinton, earning 49.8% of votes, compared to her 48.3%, and won slightly more delegates, 67 to 63. 2016 by shane goldmacher on nailing down nancy pelosi<u+2019>s endorsement: nancy pelosi would have endorsed clinton in the summer of 2015 if the house minority leader followed clinton<u+2019>s preferred timeline. an email chain between podesta, mook and top aide huma abedin suggests the team<u+2019>s frustration with pelosi<u+2019>s hesitation to provide an endorsement in june 2015 when clinton asked for it. <u+201c>hrc asked for her endorsement and she didn't say yes,<u+201d> abedin wrote to her colleagues. <u+201c>hrc said she felt it was a non-answer.<u+201d> mook replied, <u+201c>that's frustrating. but i think she will get big kudos for asking.<u+201d> the congresswoman<u+2019>s <u+201c>non-answer<u+201d> became a public stamp of approval a full year later, in june 2016, when she endorsed clinton on the day of california<u+2019>s primary, soon after she secured the party<u+2019>s nomination. <u+201c>i'm a voter in california and i have voted for hillary clinton for president of the united states and i'm proud to endorse her for that position,<u+201d> pelosi said on june 7. on knowing your enemies: joe biden, elizabeth warren and deval patrick were a few of the names outlined in a hacked memo describing potential primary rivals who could threaten clinton<u+2019>s bid for the democratic nomination. the strategy document, circulated by mook in november 2014, describes major <u+201c>political<u+201d> threats along with policy and demographic issues. <u+201c>potential opponents: biden, warren, patrick, o<u+2019>malley, sanders,<u+201d> the memo states. <u+201c>my goal was to keep this brief, bulleted to spur discussion,<u+201d> mook wrote, adding, <u+201c>these are not final.<u+201d> while weeks of speculation mounted about whether vice president joe biden or massachusetts sen. elizabeth warren would toss their names into the race, neither democratic figure ended up running. former maryland gov. martin o<u+2019>malley suspended is presidential bid after earning less than 1 percent of support from iowa caucus goers on february 1. sanders, the last name included on mook<u+2019>s list of potential rivals, however, proved to be clinton<u+2019>s fiercest competitor during the primaries, before formally motioning to nominate clinton during the democratic national convention in late july 2016. by michael grunwald by bill scher by thomas wright by joshua zeitz
5 surprises that caught clinton<u+2019>s 2016 team off guard - politico
hanna trudo daniel strauss shane goldmacher michael grunwald