Kenric Ward has an interview with Peter Schweizer, author of “Clinton Cash,” that makes the link between The Macker’s financial shenanigans and those of Bill and Hillary Clinton.
Survivors of the 2013 gubernatorial campaign are familiar with all this ground. The Governor had dealings that gave every appearance of being shady. He was hammered on them. And he still won.
That campaign, ugly and distasteful as it was, should serve as an object lesson for Republicans chasing after Hillary’s money trail.
Voters really don’t seem to care. They may not like transactional politics, of which the Clintons and McAuliffe are past masters. They may not even like the candidate all that much (McAuliffe had sky-high disapproval ratings heading into the 2013 election…though Ken Cuccinelli’s were even higher).
But an aggressive, well-funded, highly organized campaign can over come that.
Oh, and if the GOP nominates someone who can be portrayed as very scary? It’s even easier.
The template for beating Hillary, then — should indifference not take a toll on her first — is to ask why, exactly, she should be given the keys to the White House.
Think about it: between them, the Clintons have held political power since the 1970s. Throughout that time, they have been a team — sometimes a fractious one, but still a team.
The question becomes: what have they accomplished during all that time with all that power, all those friends, and all that money?
Did Arkansas become a shiny example of how Clintonism could raise the poor out of misery, educate the masses, and blunt the evils of inequality? Not really. Or how about Mrs. Clinton’s time as a New York Senator. Did the Empire State flourish with her holding sway in DC, or did it not? We can even refight the White House years…which depended so much on Bill tossing his fellow Democrats under the bus to advance his career.
How about her time as Secretary of State? Is out nation more safe, secure, respected — nevermind feared — in the world?
Ask the questions. Ask whether four more years tacked on to the four decades of Clintonism will change anything at all.
McAuliffe proved that dwelling on the money and the “ick” isn’t enough. Bring those issues up. Have fun with them. But do not attempt to build an entire campaign narrative around them.
And yes…we should, and must, ask the same questions of Jeb Bush, who has an even longer lineage to account for.
