The unauthorized fishing expedition into the database housing the names and demographic information of voters Clinton plans to target – which led to the sacking of a top Sanders staffer and the suspension of two more — has embittered the campaigns against one another, even if the two principals made nice on the debate stage Saturday night.
And it’s a source of real and deepening concern for Clinton’s data and voter targeting teams in Iowa – where Clinton leads by single digits — and New Hampshire, where she trails neighboring-state Sen. Sanders by a similar spread.
“We’re down in New Hampshire and we all know Iowa is going to tighten,” said one Clinton staffer on the ground in a battleground state. “[The Sanders team] is full of s–t when they say they didn’t get any intel … It’s like the opposing general getting your battle plans.”