HILLARY, YOUR SLIP IS SHOWING – AT 9:24 A.M. ET: Oh dear, oh dear, even Democrats are starting to notice that Hillary Clinton is violating the Girl Scout oath. It's starting to show in the numbers. Can panic be far behind? From Reuters:
(Reuters) - Democratic support for Hillary Clinton's expected presidential campaign is softening amid controversy over her use of personal email when secretary of state, but most Democrats are for now sticking by their party's presumed candidate.
Support for Clinton's candidacy has dropped about 15 percentage points since mid February among Democrats, with as few as 45 percent saying they would support her in the last week, according to a Reuters/Ipsos tracking poll. Support from Democrats likely to vote in the party nominating contests has dropped only slightly less, to a low in the mid-50s over the same period.
Even Democrats who said they were not personally swayed one way or another by the email flap said that Clinton could fare worse because of it, if and when she launches her presidential campaign, a separate Reuters/Ipsos poll showed.
Democratic strategist Ben LaBolt, a former spokesman for President Barack Obama's 2012 campaign, said that the email controversy has been a "galvanizing call for the Clinton campaign-in-waiting to build an organization," by hiring top political communicators who can defend her record. Clinton, who ran for the White House in 2008 and lost to Obama, is expected to announce as early as April that she plans to seek the White House in 2016.
COMMENT: One thing about the Clintons – there's always a new scandal. I'd imagine many Democratic operatives are worried silly that something new will come out. And I'd imagine that the Clinton Foundation's acceptance of large foreign checks while Hillary was secretary of state is a scandal that has barely been explored.
Republicans should hold their fire, and time their revelations well.
March 19, 2015 |