Shattered - Inside Hillary Clintons Doomed Campaign
Amie Parnes and Jonathan Allen
Contributed by Marshall Raine
Chapter 14
Summary

Clinton was having a hard time selecting a running mate. She was not satisfied with her options and, therefore, could not figure out what to do. Some of the options she was considering included: Elizabeth Warren, a liberal and Trump antagonist; Tom Vilsack; Cory Booker, a senator from New Jersey; Tim Kaine; a senator from Virginia; and even Joe Biden, Obama’s vice president (Allen and Parnes 220). However, there was no way she could select Joe Biden, someone who flirted with the idea of running for many months and even bad-mouthed her in public. Vilsack was a good choice, but the consensus of the campaign was that they did not need a minority, let alone a black American, as her running mate. In the case of the Elizabeth Warren, the Democrats were worried that if she left her seat in the Senate, it would be taken by a Republican (Allen and Parnes 225). Obama had previously vouched for Kaine, but Clinton did not know him too well. Even so, Kaine was the likeliest selection, because he had a good résumé.

Over time, the Clinton’s and the Kaine’s started to come together and developed a strong rapport. She liked Kaine’s values after getting to know him, and ultimately decided to make him her running mate (Allen and Parnes 227). Before she could make the announcement, Wikileaks released internal DNC e-mails that indicated Debbie Wasserman Schultz, a lawmaker from Florida who pledged neutrality during the primaries but seen as an ally of Clinton’s, was anti-Sanders. These emails showed DNC employees deriding Bernie Sanders and plotting ways of helping Hillary Clinton. In addition, they also hinted that the party’s elections were rigged in favor of Clinton, since Wasserman Schultz was the head of the DNC at the time (Allen and Parnes 229). The leak further alienated Sanders supporters from Clinton.

Analysis

The discussion in this chapter seems to be making the suggestion that the running mate decision could have contributed to Clinton’s defeat. The Tim Kaine selection was not well-taken by Sanders’ supporters after Wikileaks released the DNC e-mails. Most of Sanders’ supporters were hoping that Clinton would pick him as her running mate. The fact that she did not pick either of the liberals, that is Sanders or Warren, foiled the narrative that the DNC elections were rigged, and possibly alienated some, if not all, liberal supporters. Most of the voters could not differentiate the earlier e-mail scandal with the DNC’s, which worked in Trump’s favour.

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