Today marks the first occasion former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has apologized for her private email server fiasco, calling it "a mistake." This is just the continuance of a downward trend in the Clinton campaign domination. She’s not quite a “Don’t Buy,” but Clinton is in danger of becoming a “Risky” investment for the Democrats in 2016.
Her implicit admittance of fault will be stressed as weakness by the right. And, in all likelihood, the left. If she can’t withstand a prolonged attack at this point, how well could she truly handle vocal critics and relentless Republicans as the first female president?
The vindication she has given the Republican witch hunt for her email server is just as dangerous. They now know if they push hard enough or push the right buttons, Clinton will budge. How can she provide the unity and enthusiasm a president needs when these attacks compromise her image?
“Are you feeling it now, Mr(s). Krabs?” Can you smell the coffee, Democrats? Clinton's capitulation to the Republican siege on her credibility is just step one in her impending decline. Losing New Hampshire to Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) will be pernicious truth #2 that her campaign must endure. Imminently.
150 of #HillaryClinton emails deemed #classified by state department
— Trish Regan (@trish_regan) August 31, 2015
Sander's nonstop ascension as the dark horse Democrat darling has been punctuated by leading the all-important state of New Hampshire. Sanders has the Clinton campaign nervous. Could she lose Iowa next? Instead of improving her own campaign, Clinton decided to lash out.
The Republicans have been holding back on a full bombardment of the rest of the Democratic field, and their sage gambit has paid off; Democrats have started eating each other in the same manner as the rabid Republicans they find so repugnant.
Clinton fired the first shots of the intra-Democratic war at Democratic Sanders. She chided Sanders for merely giving a speech and waving his arms while not "really hearing what people are either saying to you or [what they] wish you would say to them." Sanders, however, has continued to refrain from personal attacks against Clinton.
OK, Shillary Hillary. Well, what the peasants, the
plebes, the proles, the hoi polloi are saying
to you is this; you're a liar, you're dishonest, you’re untrustworthy,
you're a corporate
union-splitter, you're the anointed candidate — the choice nobody wants but
that the nation will have thrust upon it anyway. What Trump would call a
loser.
This is why Joe only sends faxes. #HillaryClinton
— Jill Biden (@JillBidenVeep) September 8, 2015
Yeah, Clinton, nobody seems fond of you these days; look at your numbers. They're the worst they've ever been — in your long, storied history as a public figure — and continue to plummet. Biden would trump you throughout the nation.
Hell, there are even some polls out there that show Trump being able to trump you as well. Wow, there could be a President Trump if the Democratic establishment (with minor contribution from the electorate) runs you as the candidate? How much does the public dislike your incompetent bureaucrat friends, Hillary? This is the truth.
You’ve dropped 10 percent in one month? Your campaign is bleeding, on the verge of a mortal injury. This is the beginning of your death spiral among Democrats and Americans.
When will the scandals add up to too much? Don’t people remember Whitewater or Travelgate or the numerous other scandals that rocked your husband's administration? Do we not recall these stormy, clandestine, awkward, furtive years? Did you not learn that full disclosure is a necessity if your campaign is to be seen as legitimate or even palatable to a mass thinking audience?
Do tell, Clinton, ye of extensive experience, does America really want eight more years of swarmy deception and swift double-talk? Another decade of scandal and smear? Ask the people that, and see if you still want to listen. Sanders is doing you a favor by not attacking your credibility, your history, or your falling favor.
They speak about glass houses, but yours is a glass mansion resting on a foundation of sand. The Clintons are too susceptible to attacks to ever vie for a presidency as long as the Baby Boomers (my own parents’ generation) are still alive. This enterprise seems more prone to failure with every passing day or downtick in the polls.
The strategy of the Democratic Party has successfully alienated liberal voters of all shades to the party’s own acute disadvantage. Instead of listening to the countless voices who are screaming “Change!” from the Trump and Sanders camps, the party has decided to take the lukewarm establishment route and prop up Clinton.
Let’s all now chant the motto of the new Democratic Party: Chancellor Clinton!! Über Alles!!
Reach the columnist at hfinzel@asu.edu or follow him on Twitter @OnlyH_man
Editor’s note: The opinions presented in this column are the author’s and do not imply any endorsement from The State Press or its editors.
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