A double whammy for Hillary Clinton

8/12/15
 
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from MSNBC,
8/12/15:

A double whammy for Hillary Clinton … Part One: After six months, Hillary Clinton turns over her private server, and the drip-drip-drip is sure to continue … Part Two: Bernie surges in New Hampshire.

FIRST THOUGHTS

*** A Double-Whammy for Clinton, Part One: After months of resistance, Hillary Clinton’s campaign says that the former secretary of state will turn over to the Justice Department her private server and a thumb drive containing copies of her emails. (And that news came on the same day that we learned that two of the emails that the inspector general for the intelligence community reviewed contained “top secret” information, the highest classification of government intelligence.) This is exactly the scenario that many people assumed would play out beginning six months ago – that Clinton would resist and resist and resist and then relieve the pressure when it became absolutely necessary. The big problem for her camp is that now, instead of looking proactive, Clinton looks like she’s been dragged into turning these materials over. Team Clinton argues, by the way, that the “top secret” designation can be attributed to a bureaucratic fight between the State Department and the intelligence community about how information should be categorized. (The State Department says that it is still assessing the information.) The bottom line: We know we sound like a broken record in saying that this issue isn’t going away for Clinton, but these fights over potentially classified materials guarantees a continued drip-drip-drip.

*** And Part Two: A new poll shows Bernie Sanders ahead of Hillary Clinton in New Hampshire. A fresh poll from Franklin Pierce University and the Boston Herald shows Sanders leading Clinton 44% to 37% among likely Democratic primary voters. And/but: While Democratic voters like Sanders, they still view Clinton as the likely nominee, with 65% saying that she’ll emerge as the general election candidate, compared to just 11% who say Sanders will win the nomination.

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