The 2016 presidential campaign arrived fully formed on Friday when ABC News published the contents of an email list managed by one of the top contenders to be Hillary Clinton’s campaign manager.
The breathless headline is “EXCLUSIVE: Read the Secret Emails of the Men Who May Run Hillary Clinton’s Campaign.”
It’s a strange meeting of Journolist and the notorious infighting of Clinton’s 2008 campaign. The actual content of the emails themselves are almost entirely without news value; the only news here arguably is that somebody wanted to damage the candidacies (as it were) of Robby Mook, the Democratic operative who set up the list, and Marlon Marshall, another operative active on the list who is rumored for a Clinton 2016 role.
The ABC report was at least transparent about this: “The person who provided the emails is, like the vast majority of those on the listserv, supportive of Hillary Clinton, but does not support the idea of Mook or Marshall holding leadership roles in a second presidential bid.”
But that’s really all there is to learn here.
ABC tries to pump it up. “The exchanges provide a window into the clubby and pugnacious motivational styles of both Mook and Marshall, two stars of their party’s universe of field organizers and operatives.” But the ordinariness of the emails softens whatever punch the leaker was trying to deliver. “Much of the email traffic on the listserv appears to have been mundane: announcing job openings and new assignments, advertising or seeking rooms for rent in battleground states and organizing reunions in places including Las Vegas and Columbus, Ohio.”
Nothing else is particularly revealing, except that Mook and Marshall sound like bros in the company of their friends. They say things like “crushing it mafia style” and “F U Republicans. Mafia till I die.”
Not exactly disqualifying stuff.
Mook and Marshall are both veterans of Clinton’s 2008 campaign. Mook has since run the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee and Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe’s 2013 campaign. Marshall is currently a senior staffer at the White House.
People close to the Hillary 2016 proto-infrastructure have been saying for months that Mook in particular is one of the top candidates to manage Clinton’s campaign. As one Democratic source said when asked about the leaks: “Happens to the frontrunner.”
The leaks will almost assuredly have no bearing on whether or not Mook or Marshall play a prominent role in a Clinton 2016 bid. But they do announce that all the worst elements of a presidential campaign are already on full display, including pre-emptive oppo research drops against potential future campaign staffers.
