Gail M. Smith
IMPACTO
The campaign has barely begun and already a barrage of questions regarding Hillary’s political baggage hound her campaign.
For starters, Hillary’s email fiasco has not been completely put to rest.
Every week new allegations surface and I suspect they will continue throughout her campaign. The merits are there, as she has vaguely explained why she had a server installed at her home to exclusively house emails used in a federal job.
She has said little to calm the waters, and quite the contrary, the vagueness and subsequent revelation that she deleted the emails has only fueled the fire.
Though, I'm not sure that the argument is resonating with today’s audience, which is tone-deaf to political scandal.
This would likely go away it wasn’t for the fact that more information keeps coming up.
The latest transgression to hit the light is scrutiny over the Clinton Foundation donor list and any quid pro quo that may have happened while she was secretary of state.
According to The New York Times, who had access to the book, “Clinton Cash: The Untold Story of How and Why Foreign Governments and Businesses Helped Make Bill and Hillary Rich,” by Peter Schweizer, before its May 5 release, foreign entities that made payments to the Foundation and to Mr. Clinton by payment of high speaking fees received “favors” from the State Department at the time Mrs. Clinton was secretary of state.
If these allegations are correct, this is even more serious than the allegations made against Senator Robert Menendez, who has been indicted on federal bribery charges.
Add to this the fact that many of the donations made to the Clinton Foundation came from foreign countries with horrific human rights violations and the whole picture does not bode well for Hillary.
Of her tenure as Secretary of State much has been reported on what actual accomplishments she had.
Some including Lincoln Chafee, former senator and governor of Rhode Island and possible Democratic candidate have suggested that Clinton’s record as secretary of state was more about “miles logged” than actual accomplishments.
He has also been vocal in his criticism of her acceptance of foreign donations to the Clinton Foundation.
This obviously shows edginess on part of her fellow Democrats.
Then there is the Whitewater scandal. For those too young to remember, Whitewater was a real estate controversy involving the Clintons. Although the Clintons were cleared of any wrongdoing, several of their associates were convicted and this leaves a dark cloud hanging over them.
The handling of the 2012 attack on the U.S. diplomatic compound in Benghazi, Libya has left Republicans fuming and who no doubt will continue to pursue explanations.
Finally, can she untangle herself from Obama’s foreign policy failures?
Much of it happened during her tenure as secretary of state. This will be difficult to explain undoubtedly.
All of this adverse chatter of combined issues may have a negative impact as she tries to position herself as a “champion for the everyday American.”
The Clinton political machine has planned Hillary’s candidacy for decades. This is why some of the very avoidable issues that now hang like an albatross around her neck perplex me.
Hillary has an aura of secrecy, lack of transparency and perception of “out of touch” that she will need to diffuse to really connect with the everyday American.
Sit tight; it should be an interesting ride.