As fall approaches and campaign season picks up, Hillary Clinton's numbers in the polls may start to plummet faster than the temperature. Clinton has been dealing with a seemingly small problem since March, regarding the use of her personal email on a private server. Much like a viciously feeding disease, although it has started small, the issue has all but exploded in a huge blemish towards her campaign efforts, that could play a decisive role in her ability to obtain the Democratic nomination.
Earlier this year, Hillary Clinton's email records were brought into contention, specifically concerning her use of a privately operated server rather than a government server in association with the use of personal email addresses. The situation became sticky for Clinton when questions were raised as to the content being exchanged through her emails, as she was serving as part of President Obama's Cabinet at the time in the role of Secretary of State. The convenience of using one server, rather than separating "work and play," is a wrong Clinton has publicly tried to right, having gone on record saying "Yes, I should have used tow email addresses, one for personal matters and one for my work at the State Department. Not doing so was a mistake. I'm sorry about it, and I take full responsibility."
While repetitive apologies have been issued by herself and those on her behalf, her numbers in the polls don't appear to be seeing any negative implications...yet. Early on in the race for the Democratic nomination, she held 60%+ of the votes over her opponents. That gap has significantly decreased, as she now holds an estimated 44% of the vote over Bernie Sanders' 22% and Vice President Joe Biden's 20%. More concerning than her drop in numbers is the increasing percent of Americans who wouldn't even think of associating Clinton and the word "trustworthy" in the same sentence.
While those such as former U.S. Attorney Anne M. Tomkins say that what Clinton did was "probably not" illegal, the water continues to get murkier as time goes on. Tomkins stands by her position supporting Clinton's innocence in the matter, writing in USA Today this statement, "Clinton is not being investigated for knowingly sending or receiving classified materials improperly." The topic of classified materials has become a growing concern due to the fact that while none of the material exchanged in the emails was classified at the time of transmission, 125 have been deemed retroactively classified.
Perhaps the biggest thorn in Clinton's side is that this issue will simply not go away. As former Obama campaign adviser David Axelrod stated "Her answers have evolved over time and prolonged this story...She's trying to bring this thing to an end so she can be heard on other subjects, but she needs a consistent answer." As her two chief opponents Bernie Sanders and Vice President Biden continue their uphill battles for nomination victory, Clinton may be on the fast track to realizing that what may seem convenient at the time, can be a nightmare to relive later.
Articles and Polls:
Hillary Clinton on Emails: "I'm Sorry"
Hillary Clinton's Email Controversy, Explained.
2016 Democratic Presidential Nomination Poll - RealClearPolitics
While she continues to desperately try and bounce back from the email issue, I do not see this as being something that she will be able to recover from politically. As you said, her responses regarding the emails have changed multiple times causing the voters to have less and less trust in her as a potential government leader.
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