Senate The US Politics discussion

Josh what do you think of the Clinton email scandal? Seems like it's gaining some traction, although I don't think it's going to last, especially given that many of the GOP candidates running for governor have had a mountain of email issues from their own past.

 

It's a great example of the divide between Washington conventional wisdom and most everyone else. I don't think most people care, and it will be forgotten in short order.

 

Let's be clear here: "scandal"

 

What's true for Walker is largely true of Clinton as well-- the things that drive conservatives into a rage about her don't register with most Democrats.

 

I'm on the fence here (in regards to its impact).

I think she's such a known quantity that it won't change anyone's minds, but it may hurt with those who are still on the fence.

What concerns me here is the use of a private server. If it wasn't secure, she may have put the country, however inadvertently, at risk. That will potentially resonate with both heartland voters and suburban swing voters. A lot will depend on who the GOP eventually puts up, but they're not going to let this go. It's a potential gold mine, especially what's IN the emails (although I don't think there are any smoking guns).

If she's smart, she'll officially declare soon and start stumping on this. If I were her, I'd use this as yet another example of what's gone wrong with Washington. The fact that soundbyte politics, dysfunction, and the need-to-win have gotten so out-of-hand could be a powerful explanation as to why she felt the need to take this potentially illegal step. I don't think she intended to jeopardize anyone, but she needs to explain her thoughts. Simply trying to rise above it won't work.

 

Jay-- I promise you, no one will care. This is not going to be something that moves any true independent voter. "Well, I was going to vote for Hillary, but she used her own private email server, so that's out now." It's just not going to happen that way.

Clinton is the Democrats' version of Walker, and just as Democrats can get unhinged about him, we know from decades of experience what happens to many Republicans toward her.

 

Not by itself, no, but if she compromised national security in any way, it will create a story that will reach well beyond the conservative blogosphere.

Check out politico. Several articles have been posted privately voicing key Democrats' concerns over this. It feeds into a broader narrative, that she's a creature of the past, that she would be well-advised to get in front of, and soon.

 

Colin Powell was Secretary of State when we got involved in one pretty justified war and one pretty unjustified war and used private emails for everything not to other directors, pretty much the same.

There's zero fallout. None. and his security was arguably more important at the time.

 

It's unfortunate that Beezer is so anti-Clinton and anti-Democratic in general, because his view of inflation-gate matches what I think could turn out to be the case with Clinton's email-- it may reveal that a lot of politicians have done either the same thing themselves, or something similar. I'dl be interested in knowing how many influential politicians are hoping that this goes away yesterday, because they're afraid of what more reporting will turn up about other people.

Check out politico. Several articles have been posted privately voicing key Democrats' concerns over this. It feeds into a broader narrative, that she's a creature of the past, that she would be well-advised to get in front of, and soon.​

If it wasn't this, it would be something else. Clinton has no shortage of enemies within the party who are willing to snipe at her privately-- just not publicly. The one thing I think is legitimate as a concern is what Jonathan Chait wrote about, which is that it could point to her struggle to surround herself with smart people, and whether she can run a good campaign.

 

I think that's just it KnightWriter. She has yet to prove she's good enough at campaigning for herself as prez(did plenty good for her husband and others).

 

Except it was too late by then, and it was too late in part because Clinton's campaign team didn't bother with knowing how the caucus delegate system worked, and busied themselves more with knifing each other in the back. David Axlerod's memoir shows just how important it was to Obama that his own team treat each other respectfully, and avoid drama.

By the time Clinton found her footing (which came in part because she ditched Mark Penn, who is one of the more malevolent presences in modern politics), it was too late for her to win.

 

Yeah it was too late and she put people in charge that took her from shoe-in to has-been. It was hers to lose and she snatched defeat from the jaws of victory. That's why dems behind the scenes are anxious about her this time out. I wouldn't be shocked if this email thing was being pushed from inside the party.

 

I think Jim Webb would be a hard man for Scott Walker or almost any Republican to attack. Not enough is being said about him. Webb took down George Allen in 2006, which was a hard climb even with Allen's infamous own goal comment.

 

Yes, all she has done since then is learn from her mistakes, perform as a widely-respected SecState to get out of her husband's shadow at the Federal level, and laugh at her critics while being bulletproof.

I'm struggling to see the downside...

 

That they're still talking about this email nothingness in the MS press is the downside.

KnightWriter wow…there's a guy I hadn't considered but, yeah, Webb could go toe to toe with Walker. I still would like to see Warren. People think she's too liberal. Yeah, she's progressive. But, it would be refreshing to see the two square off.

 

But the AMERICAN PEOPLE don't care. Those that do wouldn't have voted for her anyways -- she'll still crush most people in a debate, has a record better than basically any candidate already named (or potentially)...

 

The American people don't choose the nominee. Partisans do. Did she crush Obama in a debate? She hasn't locked the nomination.

Senator Bob Menendez to be charged with corruption:

http://www.cnn.com/2015/03/06/politics/robert-menendez-criminal-corruption-charges-planned/

 

Didn't this sink Corzine too?

 

Yeah I couldn't remember what happened to him. Interesting.

 

I think you nailed it, Josh.

 

What do people think of the letter to Iran that 47 Republican senators co-signed?

http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs...-though-barack-obama-isnt-even-the-president/

http://www.lawfareblog.com/2015/03/the-error-in-the-senators-letter-to-the-leaders-of-iran/

If it's not a violation of the Logan Act, it's one of the closest instances we've seen in awhile.