According to the Washington Examiner, Republicans think that they have a secret weapon -- not only to hold off any gains the Democrats might make in the 2018 midterm elections, but one that will help them make gains of their own. The weapon’s name is Hillary Clinton, the failed 2016 presidential candidate who is still searching for relevance while placing blame for her defeat. Clinton has announced that she would like to get involved in the 2018 midterms, and Republicans are pleased that she proposed to do so.
Hillary Clinton as a polarizing figure in American politics
Clinton has angered and confounded many people, including Democrats, in her attempts to place blame for her 2016 defeat. The long list of conspirators who denied her the Oval Office include the Russians, Macedonian hackers, and even the Democratic National Committee. Her refusal to accept even an angstrom of responsibility has started to weigh on Democrats as well as Republicans.
Moreover, supporters of Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vermont are still seething over what they consider the unfair and high-handed treatment their candidate got during the campaign. The left wing of the Democratic Party believes that if anyone had been the party’s nominee besides Clinton, he would have easily won against Donald Trump.
How the failed 2016 candidate will remain the face of the Democratic Party
Clinton’s failings and history have not changed since November. She is still the person who accumulates scandals as frequently as other women might purchase pairs of shoes. Clinton is still a heady combination of far left liberal and someone in the pocket of Wall Street.
She is still a rape enabler, and not just of her husband, either.
The Republicans intend to fundraise off of Hillary Clinton. The Hillary factor alone is likely to reap huge dividends. They also will try to link every Democratic candidate to Clinton, even those who hail from the Bernie Sanders wing. For some Democrats the tactic will be a way to force them to deny the Clintons, sowing turmoil and division within the party.
Hillary Clinton, far more than her husband (who was a relatively successful centrist president) has been a transformative figure in the Democratic Party, albeit not quite as she imagined. She still thinks of herself as a woman of destiny, someone who should be given the presidency by divine right for all the suffering she has endured at the hands of her philandering husband. Instead, like President Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton has been a plague upon the party, losing two presidential elections in a row, dragging down other candidates, and threatening to make the third time the charm in 2020. She is, for the GOP, the gift that keeps on giving.
