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ABC Recaps How for Hillary Clinton, 2014 'Didn't Go Exactly as Planned.'

December 28, 2014

ABC's Jon Karl unveiled his postmortem of Hillary Clinton's political activities in 2014, claiming the year "didn't go exactly as planned" for the former Secretary of State.

Former Obama adviser and Democratic operative David Axelrod said Hillary is in danger of making the same mistake in 2016 as she did in 2008:

"Hillary's candidacy got out in front of any rationale for it, and the danger is that that's happening again," Axelrod said. "You hear 'Ready for Hillary,' it's like, ready for what?"

Hillary also faced challenges explaining why she was charging $200,000 in speaking fees to promote her dismally-selling book, Hard Choices.

"We came out of the White House not only dead broke, but in debt," Clinton told ABC's Diane Sawyer.

Karl pointed out that this was a misrepresentation, because although the Clintons were in debt due to legal fees, they quickly made millions.

Clinton also found herself at odds with her former boss's foreign policy, telling the Atlantic's Jeffrey Goldberg that the rise of the Islamic State was due to President Obama's "failure" to arm moderate Syrian rebels.

Clinton again had to backtrack her statements.

"We have disagreements, as any partners and friends, as we are, might very well have," Clinton said. "But I'm proud that I served with him, and for him."

Even DNC Vice Chairwoman Donna Brazile acknowledged that Clinton had a less than stellar year in politics.

"She spent four and a half years off the campaign trail, and I think she had to regain her political footing," Brazile told Karl.