Republicans bet on Clinton’s ghost
CRITICS SUGGEST the strategy reeks of desperation, if not sexism. But with no Democrat to attack in the White House for the first time in nearly a decade, Republicans are betting big that the ghost of Hillary Clinton will serve them well in 2018. Saddled with US President Trump’s poor approval ratings, they may have little choice.
It’s helpful, some Republicans say, that Clinton refuses to disappear from national politics altogether.
Less than a year ago, she launched a political organisation designed to encourage antiTrump ‘resistance’ groups. She made two public appearances this week alone. During recent remarks in India, she took a shot at Trump’s slogan and his appeal across middle America: “His whole campaign, ‘Make America Great Again,’ was looking backwards,” Clinton said.
The national GOP pounced, running digital ads featuring Clinton’s comments – and her image – to attack the 10 Democratic Senate candidates running for reelection in states Trump carried.
“She’s called you ‘deplorable.’ Now, she’s called you ‘backwards,’” said one ad that targeted Florida Democratic Senator Bill Nelson.
“If Bill Nelson had his way, Hillary Clinton would be president,” the ad continued. “Florida won’t forget.”
COMPETITIVE RACES
Even if Clinton avoids the spotlight moving forward, the Republican Party plans to evoke her early and often in key congressional races, particularly in regions Trump won, which feature most of the midterm season’s competitive races. They include places like western Pennsylvania’s 18th Congressional District, where Republicans spent millions in last month’s special election to oppose Democrat Conor Lamb.
Lamb won the election, despite the flood of attack ads.
Internal polling and focus groups conducted by Republican campaigns find that Clinton remains one of the most unpopular high-profile Democrats in the nation, second only to Pelosi, the House minority leader. Just 36 per cent of Americans viewed Clinton favourably in a December Gallup poll, an all-time low mark that bucked a trend in which unsuccessful presidential candidates typically gain in popularity over time.