It depends a lot on whether the stated aims are genuine or not.

If a politician's stated aim is all air, then the failure is part of the plan to look like a supporter without actually being one.

If the support is genuine, then the failure will teach the politician how not to fail the next time she, or he, tries to achieve the aim. There are always other ways to fail, but success is more likely if one learns from the initial failure.

I have hopes that Hilary is smart enough to learn from her failures.

And honestly, although the fish stories about herself are embarrassing, they're not anything I'm willing to hold against her. Lots of people inflate the size of the catch in the story to make themselves appear better fishermen.