The Republican presidential candidates seem to hope that their party's nomination will be decided by
who attacks Hillary Clinton most aggressively, most broadly, and with the most wit, or what passes for it among the Republican base. Benghazi, of course, features prominently:
“I think her dereliction of duty, her not doing her job” on Benghazi, “should forever preclude her from holding high office,” Mr. Paul said to a standing ovation.
Scott Walker got in his
obligatory Kohl's mention, using it to spin Clinton as being
out of touch: "I doubt that the presumptive nominee for the other party has ever been to Kohl’s before, let alone shopped in the last 15 to 20 years." Ted Cruz went for the current big Republican hope for scandal:
Senator Ted Cruz of Texas took a lighter tack, joking that he thought he had seen Mrs. Clinton here, but must have been wrong because “y’all don’t have any foreign nations paying speakers, right?” — a reference to some overseas donations to her family foundation.
Clinton even became the conduit through which Republicans attacked one another. Kinda sorta.
Mr. Walker, asked by a reporter about his chances against Mr. Bush for their party’s nomination, argued that voters in New Hampshire and elsewhere were looking for a different breed of candidate than a third Bush would represent. “They want a new fresh face, particularly if we’re going to as a party take on Hillary Clinton,” he said.
What's funny is that "not Hillary Clinton" is the strategy to win the
Republican nomination. As a general election strategy, it's
not looking so hot. And maybe that should serve as a clue to Republicans that something is wrong with their overall plan for victory.