New Year’s resolution for Republicans: focus on Hillary Clinton. Over the past several months, Mrs. Clinton has skipped merrily towards coronation as the Democratic nominee, with only the righteous but insignificant Bernie Sanders nipping at her toes. Donald Trump, Marco Rubio, Ted Cruz and the rest of the GOP pack occasionally fire a volley in Hillary’s direction, but they are much happier aiming at each other – a damaging necessity.
It’s a miss, because Hillary is exceedingly disliked by Republicans; successful attacks will be rewarded. And, voters have a short attention span. Ignoring Hillary could allow her to rebuild her confidence and her brand -- a costly mistake. Plus, there’s usually new material, such as her latest fictions and the risky decision to highlight husband Bill.
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For instance. The New York Times recently ran a lengthy piece aimed at winning Hillary support in the black community. It chronicles a time when Hillary the courageous law student “went undercover” to unmask racism in the Deep South. It describes her as working for activist Marian Wright Edelman, who was building a case that towns in the south were circumventing forced desegregation by starting up all-white tax-exempt schools. The author imagines Clinton posing as a mother and asking an admissions officer about his school’s admission policies. Oddly, Mrs. Clinton, whose camp surely encouraged this coverage, declined to be interviewed about her youthful experiences, even though she appears to be the only source for the story. Even odder, there is not a single person quoted in the thousand-word piece who can verify that the events described actually took place.
The Times includes comments from people who “did work similar to Mrs. Clinton’s,” and people who have researched segregated schools in the south. But nobody apparently remembers Mrs. Clinton’s presence, or her involvement. Apparently the ensuing report fails to reference Hillary’s research. The piece suggests that while in Dothan, Alabama, Hillary “most likely” stayed at a Holiday Inn and imagines that she probably had to forgo her usual outfit of corduroys and dress the part of the traditional mother and wife (she was neither at the time; in fact she was living with future husband Bill Clinton.)
It is an embarrassing piece of journalism, supposing, as the writer does, almost every detail of the story, including the school that Clinton supposedly visited and the local civil rights leaders she supposedly talked to. The author discovers a school through legal town records, and decides that must have been the institution that Hillary infiltrated. This flight of imagination is rooted in, as The Times notes, some 300 words contained in her 562-page “Living History” memoire. In other words, The Times has given Hillary’s foray into civil rights activism much more play that she did.
Could it be fiction? Like Clinton’s effort to join the Marines?
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Possibly, but make no mistake, the supposed summer job is important, because Clinton needs and wants the support of the black voters who helped elect Barack Obama—especially since some polls have shown Clinton’s support dropping precipitously among blacks. Similarly, her unfavorable ratings with blacks have soared. The Washington Post reported on one such reading in October, which showed support for Clinton among blacks sliding 31 points in three months.
That poll spurred the Clinton camp to crisis mode, launching an all-out effort to corral black voters. Shortly after its release, Clinton met behind closed doors with Black Lives Matter leaders. Three weeks later, she unveiled campaign policies suggested by the group, including an end to privately run prisons and to immigration detention centers.
At the same time, she began to laud the economic policies of President Obama, who remains popular with blacks. Her real ace in the hole, though, is the decision, also made in the days after the release of the worrisome poll, to haul Bill Clinton into the race, despite the many dangers of doing so. Bill, whom Toni Morrison dubbed “the first black president,” has always been popular with African-Americans, in a way that his wife is not.
But, Bill tends to wander off-script, and his participation makes him a target for her adversaries. In the past few days, GOP contender Donald Trump has warned Hillary that he considers Bill’s sexual exploits fair game, describing the latter as “women abuse.” Clinton is hoping that voters will focus on Bill’s economic successes – which she has increasingly touted – rather than Monica Lewinsky. But even the legacy of growth and employment gains registered while Bill was in the Oval Office is not without complications.
Related: Hillary Clinton’s Half-Truth about Trying to Enlist in the Marines
The best-remembered policies of Bill Clinton’s presidency are NAFTA and welfare reform – both now anathema to the Left. Democrats aggressively oppose the TPP, the large 12-nation trade pact proposed by President Obama. They decry American jobs lost under similar agreements, especially under NAFTA. Hillary liked the TPP before she disliked it; her earlier enthusiasm about both NAFTA and the TPP make it a prickly problem for the former first lady. Welfare reform is equally unpopular on the Left and equally tricky for Clinton.
Everything is tricky for Hillary Clinton, because nothing is true. Her opinions come from polls and focus groups, not from her convictions. She has no core, just as Bill has no core. His dishonesty is easier to take, wrapped as it is in bonhomie. That’s why he is and will remain more popular than his wife.
Hillary is cruising towards the Democrat nomination, avoiding the bruising being inflicted on GOP contenders. Even so, she polls barely above potential rivals Trump and Cruz; when matched up against Marco Rubio, she rarely comes out on top. The GOP candidates need to press their advantage, and remind voters why Hillary Clinton should never become president. It’s so clear, and will eventually be so rewarding.
