Hillary Clinton's been blindsided - and it's fired her up
The Clinton campaign predicted a WikiLeaks intervention, but the new FBI probe has taken them by surprise, writes Cordelia Lynch.
Wednesday 2 November 2016 10:06, UK
Rain was lashing down in Miami, Florida. The palms trees swinging in the wind, the skies an ominous shade of grey. It was a fitting hue as Hillary Clinton's political forecast looked decidedly uncertain.
Her email scandal, now , has delivered an 11th hour gift to her opponent and critics.
There was a celebrity distraction on show on Saturday night - Jennifer Lopez offering a rallying cry to Latino voters and millennials who Mrs Clinton needs.
As J-Lo and her dancers dazzled the soaked crowd, Mrs Clinton's been busy with her own bit of political choreography, trying to turn the focus of the FBI review into a rallying cry against her opponent.
Her campaign is at war with James Comey, too. They predicted a WikiLeaks intervention, but this unexpected review from the FBI blindsided them.
Hillary is in attack mode. She will ultimately bear responsibility for whatever happened to her emails, but she is now sharing the stage with Anthony Weiner and Huma Abedin.
What it does mean is the spotlight has shifted from Donald Trump. Republican strategists tell me if he can remain disciplined and resist the propensity to tweet in the early hours, there is plenty of political capital to be made.
But in the crowd, Mrs Clinton's abuse seems more fired up than I have seen for some time. There is anger, resentment.
Many I spoke to had already voted. Some say that as volunteers they feel even more driven about getting Mrs Clinton to the White House.
The drip, drip of emails, they say, does not whiff of suspicion, but a partisan play.
The content of the emails is unlikely to be known before the election. It is understood the FBI director does not even have the legal authority to read them yet. But in the absence of facts, the potential damage is impossible to assess.
:: Watch America Decides, a special programme on the US election at midnight on Monday.