With an increasing amount of support arising from swing state voters, moderates, women, minorities, young people and even some within the GOP, Hillary Clinton is primed to become the first woman president in United States history. And yet, she remains unpalatable to many voters — indeed, a much larger percentage remains “Undecided” today than at this point in elections past.
A timeline of Clinton’s campaign for presidency, and promise to carry the torch of Obama’s legacy:
April 12, 2015: Hillary Clinton announces her campaign for the presidency, little more than a month after the New York Times publishes a report of her private e-mail server use during time spent as President Obama’s secretary of state.
April 13, 2015: The Associated Press runs a headline reading, “Clinton already uniting prospective GOP presidential field.” The apparent unity would not last for long.
April 30, 2015: A septuagenarian by the name of Bernie Sanders enters the Democratic race for president. Although he is relatively unknown to most millennials, within one month the self-styled socialist spurs massive online support from young Americans in his effort to beat Clinton and “frighten the billionaire class.”
May 30, 2015: Clinton receives another challenger in former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley, who would fail in connecting with voters on a large-scale basis.
Aug. 10, 2015: After the Sanders campaign popularizes the idea of tuition-free public universities, Clinton releases a plan on her campaign website to eliminate college debt.
Aug. 11, 2015: Clinton’s campaign indicates her private e-mail server is being turned over to the Justice Department. Her favorable ratings have trended downward since the scandal was revealed, and now 44.3 percent of Americans have a negative view of Clinton.
Sept. 25, 2015: The Obama administration announces it has uncovered e-mails from Clinton’s private server related to the Benghazi incident that she had previously failed to turn over. Republicans continue raising questions over deleted e-mails from the server.
Oct. 6, 2015: Polls show Clinton with a 16 point lead over Sen. Sanders, her chief rival, with just a week before the first Democratic debate in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Oct. 13, 2015: In sharp contrast to the ongoing GOP debates, the decorum at the first Democratic debate is civil in tone and several policy positions are covered. Both Clinton and Sanders turn in a strong performance, with the highlight coming when Sanders answers a question about Clinton’s most recent scandal by saying, “We’re sick and tired of hearing about your damn e-mails!”
Oct. 23, 2015: Following the footsteps of Sen. Jim Webb three days earlier, former Rhode Island Gov. Lincoln Chafee exits the race for the Democratic nomination after failing to resonate with voters.
Nov. 14, 2015: The second Democratic debate is held just a day after deadly attacks in Paris, France. Alongside Sanders and O’Malley, Clinton discusses national security and gun control among other topics. Sanders also questioned her coziness to the financial industry, saying, “Why over her political career has Wall Street been the major campaign contributor to Hillary Clinton? It ain’t complicated.”
Nov. 30, 2015: Clinton unveils a $275 billion plan to invest in modernizing domestic infrastructure, which she calls a “down payment on our future.”
Dec. 19, 2015: The remaining three Democratic nominees clash at the third Democratic debate in New Hampshire. Again, the outcome is far more congenial than what is happening with the Republicans. Clinton points out Donald Trump’s “bluster” and “bigotry” and claims his style helps ISIS in their recruitment.
Jan. 17, 2016: In the fourth Democratic debate, Clinton takes more flak from Sanders over her coziness with Wall Street. “The first difference is, I don’t take money from big banks,” he says. “I don’t get personal speaking fees from Goldman Sachs.”
Feb. 1, 2016: O’Malley secures less than 1 percent of the vote in the Iowa caucuses, and exits the race accordingly. Voting is close between Sanders and Clinton, although eventually it is announced Clinton has won a razor-thin victory that sets up a long primary battle.
Feb. 5, 2016: Polls show Clinton’s earlier 31 point advantage over Sanders has vanished, with the pair polling neck and neck. Framing her as the “establishment” candidate while promising universal health care, the wild-haired senator becomes a social media darling and favorite of millennials unenthusiastic over the prospects of another Clinton White House.
March 2, 2016: On Super Tuesday, Clinton wins seven states — mostly across the South, due to her minority “firewall.”
March 8, 2016: With polls giving her double-digit leads, Clinton is shocked to find out Sanders has beaten her in Michigan for a nice delegate haul. It follows the Democratic debate in Flint, Michigan, the previous Sunday, where he hit her hard on free trade agreements.
April 9, 2016: After losing the Alaska and Washington caucuses late in March, Clinton hands Sanders another victory in Wyoming’s contest.
April 19, 2016: With sagging national poll numbers indicating a virtual tie, Clinton gains a decisive win in New York. The victory follows a contentious debate in Brooklyn, New York, a few days earlier and gives her a 260 pledged delegate lead — although the total number grows to more than 700 when considering party insiders known as superdelegates.
May 17, 2016: After Sanders puts together a string of victories, Clinton wins in Kentucky, needing just 140 delegates to secure the nomination.
June 6, 2016: Clinton clinches enough delegates to become the first woman to ever win a major party nomination in the U.S.
June 7, 2016: As if it were icing on the cake, Clinton wins two huge victories in California and New Jersey ahead of final primary voting in Washington, D.C. In front of an enormous crowd, Sanders promises he’ll “take our fight for social, economic, racial and environmental justice to Philadelphia,” indicating he may contest the convention.
July 5, 2016: The FBI director says he will not recommend charges against Clinton for her use of a private e-mail server, but says she acted “carelessly” with classified information. It follows her three-and-a-half-hour grilling by the agency a few days earlier.
July 12, 2016: Sanders formally endorses Clinton in a joint appearance in New Hampshire, bearing the slogan “Stronger Together.” He proclaims “she will be the next president” and ends any speculation of a brokered convention.
July 24, 2016: Transparency organization Wikileaks sheds light on a trove of e-mails revealing that leaders in the DNC had aimed to defeat Sanders in the primaries and ensure Clinton’s victory, causing party chairwoman Debbie Wasserman Schultz to resign.
Aug. 10, 2016: Another scandal heats up for Clinton, as newly released e-mails show ties between State Department employees and the Clinton Foundation. One message said “it’s important to take care of” a person loyal to Clinton, and find them a position in Washington.
Aug. 21, 2016: The Clinton campaign goes full-speed ahead with more than 20 fundraisers in a blitz that brings in everyone from Hollywood elites to financiers and hedge fund managers. According to The Associated Press, she now has held more than 300 events to build her war chest.
Sept. 11, 2016: After a comment in which she called Trump supporters a “basket of deplorables,” Clinton is depicted in a cellphone video being dragged into a car by the Secret Service. The campaign appears to have kept her health status a secret, lending more speculation surrounding her trustworthiness.
Sept. 18, 2016: Clinton’s once-comfortable lead in the polls has vanished. Nationally, there is nary a difference, with her holding just a 0.7 point advantage according to Real Clear Politics.
Sept. 26, 2016: Finally, Trump and Clinton are face-to-face in a presidential debate viewed by more than 80 million people. She defends herself against attacks on her record and her character, saying at one point, “I have a feeling that by the end of this evening, I’m going to be blamed for everything that’s ever happened.” Her opponent’s answer? “Why not.”
Oct. 4, 2016: Yet another poll is released that shows Clinton has an “honest and trustworthy” problem, with the Washington Post reporting that 62 percent of people say she is dishonest.
Oct. 9, 2016: Clinton’s opponent slices into her on very personal terms at a debate unlike any other presidential contest witnessed by Americans. She calls Trump out for living “in an alternative reality” and had better hope so, because he claims she “would be in jail” if a President Trump were inaugurated.
Oct. 11, 2016: Delivering on a promise made earlier to shed light on secrets within the Clinton campaign, Julian Assange and Wikileaks release a trove of damning e-mails implicating her campaign chair John Podesta. Exchanges reveal private positions at odds with the ones Clinton has delivered speeches on in public, including on the issues of minimum wage, gay marriage and big banking.
Oct. 19, 2016: Trump and Clinton clash at the final presidential debate, and although it’s contentious at times, moderator Chris Wallace of Fox News manages to keep the candidates on track.