GOP Hops Aboard the Inevitability Train

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Speaking of (perceptions of) the inevitability of Sen. Clinton winning the Democratic nomination for president, Republicans are behaving as if the votes have already been cast. The Hill newspaper has a piece today about Stop Her Now and other efforts to tarnish Clinton’s image in anticipation of her winning the nomination. And Mike Duncan, the chairman of the Republican National Committee, blasted an email today entitled “4 More Years of Clinton?” in which he condemns both Clintons’ response to the recent MoveOn ad on Gen. Petraeus and helpfully reminds readers how MoveOn got its start:

Why are the Clintons so invested in defending MoveOn.org? Well, remember what MoveOn.org’s original purpose was? It was founded to attack any Republican who dared stand against the Clinton machine during the former President’s impeachment and trial in the Senate for perjury and obstruction of justice.

Duncan goes on to ask, “Is that what we want back in the White House: Bill and Hillary once again using the power of the federal government to defend their friends and attack their enemies?” Then he directs readers to call their local radio station or writer the editor of their local paper to say “it’s time for Bill Clinton to move on.”

Will this kind of thing be effective? With the Republican base, perhaps. But while, as we all know, Hillary has high negatives and there are questions about how she would fare in a general election, it doesn’t necessarily track that dredging up impeachment and Bill Clinton’s scandals will move many independent or swing voters into the GOP camp. But this is no doubt just the beginning.