Hillary emails cause headaches for Obama White House
- By Mitchell Blatt
0 Comment(s)
Print
E-mail China.org.cn, March 17, 2015
|
|
|
Hillary Clinton is under fire for an email-related scandal. |
Hillary Clinton was once thought to be the unassailable nominee for the Democratic nomination and the presumed favorite for the 2016 presidential election.
Now, without a challenger to speak of, and before she has even announced her campaign, Clinton is under fire for an email-related scandal that is causing analysts to ask whether her presidential hopes are doomed.
From January 2009 to February 2013, when she served as secretary of state, Hillary Clinton never used a government email address. Instead, she used a private server at her home. The reason this is a problem is because it appears to be in violation of rules requiring that government officials use official email addresses. With a government email address, the work-related emails she sent would have been matters of public record. For years when the Associated Press and other news outlets made records requests, they didn't receive State Department emails that should have been on the record.
From one perspective this is a Clinton scandal. It reflects poorly on her trust and on her ability to campaign. When responding to the controversy at a press conference, she looked up, down, and to the sides, but rarely did she look directly at the camera. She raised her eyebrows like she was surprised she even had to be there. Unlike her husband, Hillary Clinton isn't able to fake conviction or care when explaining away a scandal.
When Bill Clinton was being criticized during the 1992 Democratic primary, he looked his competitor Jerry Brown in the eye and said, "I don't care what you say about me, but you ought to be ashamed of yourself for jumping on my wife. … Jerry comes here with his family wealth and his 15,000 dollar suit and makes a lying accusation about my wife…"
He didn't actually address the question, but he hit back with such confidence that the accusations didn't stick, and then he kept running through anything else that came at him during his two terms, leaving with a 68 percent approval rating even after being impeached.
Now Hillary is on her own and won't be able to hide behind Bill. And without him, she's already struggling. National Journal correspondent Ron Fournier said, "I've never seen her look as un-presidential as she did at that news conference." Liberal political pundit Bill Maher summarized the problem she faces when he said, "We've seen a lot of this woman. We're sick of her already."
Go to Forum >>0 Comment(s)