OPINION:
Hillary Clinton, in an op-ed published in The Washington Post, urged her fellow Democrats to find a better path to the White House and full congressional domination than simply pressing for impeach, impeach, impeach — than simply demanding “immediate impeachment or nothing.”
Yes, indeed, Clinton actually suggested they come up with a more “sensible agenda” for the 2020 election fights.
It’s like a clue, Democrats.
Democrats: You know you’ve gone off the rails when even perennial rail-rider Hillary Clinton phones in the caution.
Of course, this is the same woman who couldn’t quite come up with a winning campaign message to best then-candidate Donald Trump. Her big get-out-the-vote ideas to would-be voters? Vote for me; Trump stinks.
Eh. With that in mind, then, with that grain of salt stutter-step, here’s the failed presidential candidate’s Wa-Po advice: “History suggests there’s a better way to think about the choices ahead.”
And this: “We have to remember that this is bigger than politics.”
And this — after you’re done laughing at that last, that is: “Whether they like it or not, Republicans in Congress share the constitutional responsibility to protect the country. … It’s up to members of both parties to see where that road map leads — to the eventual filing of articles of impeachment, or not. Either way, the nation’s interests will be best served by putting party and political considerations aside and being deliberate, fair and fearless.”
OK. So the laughing continues a bit. After all, a Hillary Clinton who slings around phrases like “protect the country” and “nation’s interests” and “putting party and political considerations aside” is a Hillary Clinton who’s maybe hit the cough syrup a bit hard. Did she consider the same while setting a private email server in her home while serving as secretary of State? How about while wiping clean her computer system of 30,000 or so of those emails?
Regardless: The woman has a point.
Democrats are leaning a bit heavy on the old impeachment message, particularly as it seems — as Robert Mueller’s special counsel report concluded — there is no impeachable offense to be found.
Then again, Clinton also said this, just a day before her op-ed came out: “Any other person [besides Trump] who had engaged in those acts would certainly have been indicted, but because of the rule in the Justice Department that you can’t indict a sitting president, the whole matter of obstruction was very directly sent to the Congress.”
Tuesday, at the Time 100 summit, she fuels impeachment talk; Wednesday, in an op-ed for The Washington Post, she tamps it down and urges caution. Which way to go? Which Clinton to believe?
It seems a conundrum.
But bet on this: The answer lies in politics. With Clinton, it’s always about the political expediency of the moment.
Still, dear Democrats, the rest of America doesn’t speak with the same silver tongues, and for the rest of America, the message is clear: Impeachment is a loser of a campaign platform.
• Cheryl Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com or on Twitter, @ckchumley.
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