NEWS AND OPINION:
Shrill partisan finger-pointing has its limits in the political marketplace, and could weary voters who are hungry for empowering facts rather than mere outrage and indignation. One conservative veteran points out that a certain Democratic presidential hopeful is deft at deflecting muckraking, no matter how justified.
“To defeat Hillary Clinton, Republicans should be challenging and campaigning against her policies — yet they remain fixated on attacking her at what may be her strongest point — the ability to weather a crisis,” says longtime conservative maven Richard Viguerie, who adds that the “Republican establishment” seems obsessed by Mrs. Clinton’s scandals and forgetful of past history.
“They just can’t grasp that scandal mongering isn’t going to defeat Hillary Clinton. Scandals are a part of the Clinton package that has already been accepted by Hillary’s base in the Democratic Party and they will be old news to general election voters when they come around to making a decision in November 2016,” Mr. Viguerie continues.
“Does that means Republicans should ignore the scandals? No, of course not. But it does mean that Republicans must stop treating them like a silver bullet and start telling voters what the election of Hillary Clinton would mean, and drawing a sharp and clear contrast between conservative policies and those far-Left policies upon which Hillary Clinton is already campaigning. First, and most importantly, Republicans ought to be asking if voters really want the third term of the disastrous Obama presidency,” he observes.
BEN, CARLY AND MIKE
It is hard to be coy in a presidential race. Three Republicans will reveal their White House plans as the week fires up and gets underway; expect much squawking media coverage, for better or worse. Mostly worse. Ben Carson has chosen a major music center in Detroit for a morning announcement Monday based around his motto, “Unite, heal, thrive.” The campaign is also asking for prayers for his mother Sonya Carson, who is seriously ill.
SEE ALSO: Ben Carson launches 2016 White House bid
Carly Fiorina, meanwhile, appeared on ABC News in the morning to make her presidential declaration, assure viewers that she understood the nation and preview her new book “Rising to the Challenge: My Leadership Journey.” She’ll then showcase in an online town hall to elaborate on her primary directive, which is this: “I am resolute in my belief that the highest calling of leadership is to unlock the potential in others.”
His “Prosperity for All Fund” up and running, Mike Huckabee is poised to launch late Tuesday morning. He plans a 90-minute event with all the trimmings at Hempstead Hall, a major public event site with a 1,600-seat theater, in Hope, Arkansas — his birthplace.
The venues and style of the three GOP hopefuls differ.
Their follow-up strategies are the same. Once their big reveals are through, all three will travel to Iowa for heartland campaigning — Mr. Carson on Monday, Mr. Huckabee on Wednesday and Ms. Fiorina on Thursday.
CONSERVATIVE QUESTIONS ARE PERCOLATING
The season of questions for Hillary Rodham Clinton appears to be reaching full flower.
SEE ALSO: Obama veto threats irk GOP
“Clinton’s lack of candor, and repeated attempts to distract or hide truths from the American people have raised questions that deserve answers. At some point, Mrs. Clinton will have to answer questions about how and why she and her husband appear to have rigged the system to their political and financial benefit,” says American Conservative Union chairman Matt Schlapp.
“Whether it’s a Russian uranium dealer trying to do business with Mrs. Clinton’s State Department, or her broken promises to the Obama administration regarding foreign donors to her charitable foundation, her actions continue to produce more questions than answers,” Mr. Schlapp continues. “As such, we have come up with five important questions that we think the American people deserve to have answered.”
And here they are, verbatim:
“Does Mrs. Clinton feel she is bound by the agreement signed by Bruce Lindsey on her and her husband’s behalf and the White House? Was she aware of the details of the agreement?
“Besides Mr. Giustra, did anybody or any organization that provided funding to Clinton Giustra Sustainable Growth Initiative have any business before the administration or any federal agency from 2009-2013? Are there any other entities that have been established?
“Will Mrs. Clinton disclose the identity of any person who stood to benefit from Administration or State Department actions who has also given financial support to Clinton Global Initiative?
“Did Secretary Clinton know when signing the agreement that she would not be disclosing all donors because of Canadian law? If so, did she communicate this to the White House and/or the Senate Foreign Relations Committee?
“In total, how many foreign governments and individuals are financial donors to the Clinton Foundation and its entities?”
FOR THE LEXICON
“Drone vandalism”
— Term coined by Wired.com after a six-story Calvin Klein billboard at a major New York City intersection was defaced by a remote-controlled drone outfitted with an automated can of red spray paint. The drone was operated by local graffiti tagger “KATSU,” who defaced the image of model Kendall Jenner — yes, the daughter of Bruce Jenner — then promptly produced a video of the process. “Robotic graffiti” is synonym for the practice, Wired notes.
“It turned out surprisingly well. It’s exciting to see its first potential use as a device for vandalism,” the tagger told the techie publication.
DAYS OF YORE
“Cities stagger under the weight of demands unfulfilled; joblessness and poverty increase — and with it comes all of the pathology of communities without resources and without purpose: indecent housing, unresponsive schools, disease, crime, and the slow death of hope itself. It is clear that we cannot permit the flourishing of violent dissent. But it is also clear that we will not check the growth of destructive disorder by words. We will do it only if we can change the way our government works, only if we are wise enough to respond to the truths about us, and take those urgent, necessary steps to build a better life for our people.”
— New York City Major John Lindsay, to the Ripon Society on Dec. 15, 1968.
POLL DU JOUR
• 94 percent of Americans have had an animal as a pet; 96 percent of Republicans, 94 percent of independents and 93 percent of Democrats agree.
• 75 percent of Americans say animals should be afforded some legal protections; 69 percent of Republicans, 72 percent of independents and 83 percent of Democrats agree.
• 74 percent overall agree that “animals have rights”; 67 percent of Republicans, 71 percent of independents and 83 percent of Democrats agree.
• 58 percent overall have a favorable opinion of animal rights groups; 43 percent of Republicans, 51 percent of independents and 76 percent of Democrats agree.
• 31 percent overall have an unfavorable opinion of those groups; 48 percent of Republicans, 37 percent of independents and 15 percent of Democrats agree.
• 51 percent overall would support medical research over supporting animal rights; 65 percent of Republicans, 51 percent of independents and 41 percent of Democrats agree.
Source: A YouGov poll of 1,000 U.S. adults conducted April 21-23 and released Friday.
• Weary sighs, complaints to jharper@Washingtontimes.com; follow her @HarperBulletin.
• Jennifer Harper can be reached at jharper@washingtontimes.com.
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