Hillary Clinton has reminded both Democrats and Republicans why she’s the front-runner this month in the race to the White House.
After a summer dominated by news of her private email server, questions about her honesty and doubts about her overall formidability, October has proven to be the turning point commentators and some supporters were unsure would come.
And Clinton’s shift in fortunes started with a gift from the GOP.
House Majority Leader Kevin McCarthy’s now infamous comments to Fox News’ Sean Hannity confirmed what critics of the House of Representatives’ Select Committee on Benghazi had been arguing since its creation.
“Everybody thought Hillary Clinton was unbeatable, right?” asked the majority leader on Fox News. “But we put together a Benghazi special committee, a select committee. What are her numbers today? Her numbers are dropping,“ he said.
The Clinton campaign rightfully pounced on these comments and turned the tables on the committee, reframing the assault on her character by attacking their credibility. The gaffe in part cost McCarthy the speakership, while also repositioning the email server controversy before the first Democratic debate.
During the first Democratic debate in Las Vegas, Clinton presented a forceful and nuanced policy vision that reminded the public why she’s considered the front-runner on either sides of the isle. Above all, she made it clear she’s the most serious Democratic candidate.
Millennials and the most liberal wing of the Democratic Party have been flocking to Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Ver., and for good reason. His excoriating of income inequality and the special interests that have rigged the system is necessary. It’s an issue that Sanders’ candidacy has brought to the forefront of the race, and the party is that much better off for it.
But so much of the rhetoric employed by Sanders stands little chance of actually translating into the meaningful legislation necessary to make so many of his proposals a reality.
Republicans are likely to control the House of Representatives for the foreseeable future because of gerrymandering. The next president must be able to bring both sides to the negotiating table and find a way to govern despite massive amounts of gridlock in Congress. As the debate showed, that person isn’t Sanders. It’s Clinton.
Her performance at the debate has reassured supporters and demonstrated the context in which she thrives: a fight. This was particularly true at the long-awaited Benghazi committee hearing, where she faced off against what has essentially become an arm of the Republican National Committee.
During the course of her testimony, Clinton displayed what she asked of the committee in her opening statement: statesmanship. Despite the intense partisan sniping between Democrats and Republicans on the committee at times, Clinton kept her composure, confidently answered pointed questions and above all, looked presidential.
She didn’t need to remind the public of the partisan nature of the Benghazi committee — it did it for her.
For all the people who have been aching to write the obituary for Clinton’s presidential ambitions, October has shown they couldn’t be more wrong.
Clinton turns 68 Monday. Despite her long record in public service, make no mistake. She’s just getting started.
edsalas@indiana.edu
