By Gabrielle Wanneh

For The Diamondback

The Philip Merrill College of Journalism and the College of Behavioral and Social Sciences hosted a political discussion Wednesday surrounding Hillary Clinton’s 2016 presidential campaign.

Jonathan Allen, a University of Maryland alumnus and co-author of Shattered: Inside Hillary Clinton’s Doomed Campaign, conversed with students and faculty about the inner workings of Clinton’s run. The book has been named a New York Times bestseller.

The college held a similar event over the summer, said Kayla Newton, a coordinator for the journalism school. It attracted a lot of interest. Margaret Talev, a White House correspondent for Bloomberg News and an alumna of this university, moderated the event.

“Universities are great places to convene thought and debate, and when you can convene a conversation like this, I think it helps students individually,” Talev said. “It’s also good for the university and when you can do it with a university alumni, it’s even better.”

During the discussion, Allen talked about how he and co-author Amie Parnes reviewed key decisions and missed opportunities of Clinton’s campaign, which may have cost her the race. Allen and Parnes had previously collaborated on another book, 2014’s HRC: State Secrets and the Rebirth of Hillary Clinton, which was about the rebirth of Clinton’s political endeavors.

Allen also touched on the making of the book, as well as the journey he and Parnes had following along with the campaign’s many ups and downs.

“I think my big takeaway from the book was a better understanding of the events that we all saw,” Allen said. “To experience the campaign in a fuller way, to learn a little bit about campaign operations and about politics and about what’s working and what’s not.”

Students, faculty and other attendees also asked Allen questions regarding his book, the Clinton campaign and other aspects of the 2016 election. Senior J.T. Stanley, an individual studies major, said he found the political dialogue to be different from what he was expecting.

“It wasn’t exactly as I had expected in terms of the content that was covered,” he said. “But it was still interesting hearing about how the whole book process was done, especially the unconventional aspects of it.”

Stanley also voiced his support for future events on similar topics.

“Overall, I think from these events, you can come away with something a bit more, and I think it’s great that the university hosts them,” he added.

Sophomore Ally Tobler, a journalism and marketing major, also said she learned new elements that played a factor in the 2016 election.

“I feel like they really juxtaposed [Donald] Trump and Clinton’s campaigns, and that’s not something that I did when I was watching it unfold,” Tobler said. “It made me realize that [Clinton] wasn’t as persuasive in pointing out her whole motto and other things I noticed but didn’t really analyze too much.”

Allen and Parnes will be writing another book about the 2020 election, which is expected to be published in 2021.