Hillary Clinton Campaign Sorted Potential VP Picks into 'Food Groups' by Race and Gender, Email Shows

ABC News(NEW YORK) — Clinton campaign officials grouped potential vice presidential running mates by race and gender, according to a recently leaked email, further suggesting the degree to which their run for the White House appeared to be scripted.

Campaign chairman John Podesta — whose hacked emails have been published in regular installments by WikiLeaks, a site devoted to the cause of anti-secrecy — sent the March 17 email to Hillary Clinton shortly after she won a slate of primaries in Illinois, Missouri, Ohio and Florida, bolstering her chances for winning the nomination.

The list was also published after her Democratic opponent, Sen. Bernie Sanders, won what was widely considered a stunning upset in Michigan, revitalizing his campaign. The timing of the list seems to imply that despite whatever perceived threat Sanders posed to Clinton in the public eye, the Clinton camp was already, to some degree, looking beyond their primary battle.

In the email, Podesta writes that he “organized names in rough food groups,” and goes on to list clusters of names, including Latino, female, black, white male, military and business-oriented candidates. Standing alone on an island, and appearing to defy categorization to Podesta, is Sanders, a self-proclaimed Democratic socialist.

“Let me know if there are people you would like to see added or removed before we begin the process,” the email reads. “I have organized names in rough food groups.”

He grouped the following by name only, with no category titles:

–Rep. Xavier Becerra of California (which Podesta misspelled as Javier), U.S. Secretary of Housing and Urban Development Julian Castro, Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti, U.S. Secretary of Labor Tom Perez and former U.S. Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar [Hispanic origin]

— Sen. Tammy Baldwin of Wisconsin, Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand of New York, Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, Sen. Claire McCaskill of Missouri, (which he misspelled as McKaskill), Sen. Jeanne Shaheen of New Hampshire, Sen. Debbie Stabenow of Michigan and Sen. Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts [women]

–Sen. Michael Bennet of Colorado, Sen. Sherrod Brown of Ohio, Sen. Martin Heinrich of New Mexico, which he misspelled as Heinreich), Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia (the ultimate selection), Virginia Gov. Terry McAuliffe, Sen. Chris Murphy of Connecticut and U.S.Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack [white men]

–Mayor Steve Benjamin of Columbia, South Carolina, Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey (which he misspelled as Corey), Mayor Andrew Gillum of Tallahassee, Florida, former U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder, former Gov. Deval Patrick of Massachusetts, Mayor Kasim Reed of Atlanta and U.S. Secretary of Transportation Anthony Foxx [black men]

–John Allen, Bill McCraven and Mike Mullen [military]

–Mary Barra, Michael Bloomberg, Ursula Burns, Tim Cook, Bill Gates, Melinda Gates, Muhtar Kent, Judith Rodin and Howard Schultz [business]

–Bernie Sanders

Podesta has already received blowback for urging the former Secretary of State to contact two “needy Latinos” to convince them to endorse her for president in previous emails.

“Needy Latinos and 1 easy call,” Podesta wrote to Clinton in an email on Aug. 21, 2015.

The Clinton camp has not confirmed the authenticity of the emails, or commented on Podesta’s list of potential vice presidential candidates.

Copyright © 2016, ABC Radio. All rights reserved.

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