Lessons From Hillary's E-Mail Debacle

Hillary Clinton's explanation for use of private e-mail while Secretary of State will never satisfy her detractors, including the unwashed GOP base.  Her supporters are and will continue to be only too happy to accept the explanation and move on.  Fortunately, 47 GOP Senators provided the perfect mechanism for Hillary to change the subject - especially since their communication may well have been a federal crime (see yesterday's last post).  Where things go from here will depend in large part on one's political leanings and how fearful you are about the thought of a Republican in the White House.  Many will choose to support Hillary, defects and all, rather than see a Republican in the White House - I am probably in this camp myself.  An editorial in the Washington Post looks at what we may expect as things move forward.  Here are highlights:

The controversy over Clinton’s  e-mails as secretary of state is an early skirmish in what will be one of the defining battles of her quest for the White House. Her success will depend in significant part on which aspects the 1990s voters choose to remember. 

Clinton’s foes want Americans to recall the investigations, the political circus and fascinating philosophical discussions over what the meaning of “is” is. Her supporters want every voter who casts a ballot to think about a period when the going was good, when every income group saw its standard of living rise and when the world beyond our borders looked much safer and more stable.

Round One, the e-mails saga, goes to Clinton’s opponents. . . . Democrats were thus happy to accept her explanation Tuesday that she used a private server out of “convenience.” They were willing to trust that the e-mails she deleted really were about weddings, funerals and yoga.

They know their party has no real alternative to Clinton. They also share her dim view of a Republican Party willing to pick up any rock to throw the Clintons’ way and remember a GOP that had been happy to push the country to an impeachment drama most voters plainly didn’t want.

It was thus shrewd of her to lead Tuesday’s news conference by assailing the 47 Republican senators who wrote an open letter to Iran’s leadership by way of undermining President Obama’s nuclear negotiations. Pointing to this outlandish move reminded Democrats (and the country as a whole) that she is still dealing with an opposition that scorns the traditional rules and norms of statesmanship and politics. She also gently nudged Obama to remember which side he needs to be on.

Rallying Democrats will likely get Clinton through this storm, even if her responses will not satisfy those who will always wonder which e-mails she deleted and whether her use of a private server was not only about convenience but also a way of shielding her electronic correspondence from Freedom of Information Act and congressional requests.

To survive the next 20 months until Election Day, she will have to find her way toward a less viscerally antagonistic view of media scrutiny that distinguishes between partisan muggings and the sorts of questions all presidential candidates inevitably confront.

[T]he e-mail saga could be highly useful to Clinton’s campaign and her potential presidency — if she draws the right conclusions.