Left-leaning MSNBC panelist Mike Barnicle told Morning Joe host Joe Scarborough Wednesday that the perception that Democrats have a "rising concern" about Hillary Clinton regarding her marathon private email scandal was "putting it mildly."
Since March, the story of Clinton's private server at the State Department has haunted her campaign, and she has repeatedly been shown to either be misleading or not telling the truth on various aspects of it, including whether classified information was on it, whether it was allowable under government policy, and whether it matters to voters.
Her favorability numbers have crumbled, and what was once a seemingly inevitable march to the Democratic nomination has tightened into a three-way race. Vice President Joe Biden, a beloved figure among the party's loyalists, polls at 25 percent support among Democrats in a new Bloomberg poll despite not yet announcing a run, with Clinton only slightly ahead at 33 percent. Socialist Sen. Bernie Sanders (I., Vt.) stood just behind Biden at 24 percent.
"Everybody that I talk to is hearing from Democrats, powerful Democrats, a rising concern about Hillary Clinton, about this FBI investigation, and they're looking at Joe Biden," Scarborough said. "They're looking at Bernie Sanders. They're looking hard at other options."
"Rising concern, your phrase, is putting it mildly," Barnicle said.
"It's near panic for a lot of Democrats who want to win the White House," Scarborough said.
"There's a huge gap between the reality of what's in these emails, we don't know, and the perception of the emails themselves, which is devouring her candidacy," Barnicle said. "The perception around the emails is devouring her candidacy, and she can't seem to get ahead of it or get out from it."
"Her story has been inconsistent," Scarborough said. "It has been wrong. She has had to reverse herself several times."