September 28, 2016 | No Comments
Republican lawmakers have some advice for Donald Trump and his surrogates as they openly mull bringing up President Bill Clinton’s infidelity at the next presidential debate: Don’t do it.
GOP senators who’ve finally grown more comfortable with Trump warned in interviews Wednesday that descending into Bill Clinton’s sexual past is dangerous territory for the GOP nominee, who has his own less-than-pristine history when it comes to his commitment to the sanctity of marriage. Better to stick to, say, the economy, the pols suggested.
“That’s a distraction away from the high ground he’s got. I think talking about the economy and about how the Democrats have failed the economy and the working poor is our high ground,” said Sen. David Perdue (R-Ga.), who’s turned into a major Trump supporter. “All of this [about Bill Clinton] really doesn’t matter. People back home are concerned about the economy and security issues.”
“I”ve never been in favor of that and I’m still not,” added Sen. Mike Rounds (R-S.D.). “It’s a distraction to the big issues out there that we’ve got to face.”
Congressional Republicans have a lot riding on Trump’s debate performances: The closer he stays to Clinton in the polls, the more likely the GOP is to hold the Senate and avoid heavy losses in the House. Conversely, if Trump raises Bill Clinton’s infidelities and it backfires, Democrats may well start salivating anew about taking over the Senate.
“I hope he doesn’t,” said Sen. Roger Wicker of Mississippi, the Senate GOP’s campaign chairman. “He oughta stick to how he’s going to make life better for the average American worker.”
Clinton’s surrogates wouldn’t seem to mind if Trump follows through on his threat. It would allow them to bring up Trump’s own infidelities and crass talk about women and sex over more than two decades, a contrast the party believes would hurt Trump far more than it would hurt Clinton.
“He’s got a problem not just with women but with people who care about women,” said Sen. Brian Schatz (D-Hawaii). “He’s going to lose a lot of those voters and those voters aren’t just progressives.”
Trump has repeatedly mused about bringing up Monica Lewinsky — who in 2014 criticized Hillary Clinton for a “blame the Woman” reaction to the affair — but said he didn’t do so at the first debate so as to not to offend Chelsea Clinton. But he and his surrogates have kept the chatter going.
On Wednesday, Eric Trump said it took “courage” for his father to resist raising the issue. Rep. Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.) argued on TV that Hillary Clinton should not have been so “vindictive” toward women alleged to have had affairs with Bill Clinton. And deputy campaign manager David Bossie said on Fox News that Hillary Clinton was an “enabler” of Bill Clinton.
This is not a winning electoral strategy, Republicans say.
“I’ve never really understood why they think that persuades people,” said one Republican senator. “Who doesn’t know about it? Maybe some people who are 18, 19 years old and just getting exposed for the first time to the Clintons.”
Indeed, Hillary Clinton’s popularity was extraordinarily high when the family was embroiled in the Lewinsky scandal, soaring to 67 percent in 1998 — a point below Queen Elizabeth.
Despite an emerging consensus from Republican senators that it’s not a good place for Trump or the party to be, some in the GOP think it is fair play if he wants to go there.
“I’d prefer that didn’t happen,” said Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah). “I can’t say it’s out of bounds because she’s put up with it over and over.” And Bill Clinton “is still making the rounds for her in this campaign,” Hatch added.
“Women who are plain victims of Bill Clinton’s actions were demeaned and attacked in many ways by Hillary Clinton herself. So it undermines her credibility to say she’s a champion of women when she was the organizer of the defense of Bill Clinton,” said Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.), the original Trump backer in the Senate.
On Wednesday, Trump sent out a survey to supporters asking them to weigh in on how to attack Clinton at the next debate. It listed the Clinton Foundation’s “pay-to-play schemes,” Benghazi and how Clinton’s email server “jeopardized” national security.
Not listed: Bill Clinton’s affairs. And many Republicans say that Trump should concentrate his fire on any number of Clinton’s weaknesses that don’t involve her husband’s actions from two decades ago.
“You’ve got to be kind of sensitive to the personal nature of it. We’ve got to focus more on other areas where Secretary Clinton may be creating a double standard,” said Sen. Thom Tillis (R-N.C.). “We should stay above the fray. There’s plenty of material there.”
Senators said Clinton’s private email server, and donations to the Clinton Foundation from countries with poor human rights records, as far more fertile terrain than Monica Lewinsky and Gennifer Flowers.
“I’m not sure what purpose that serves,” said Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.). “The race is going to be won or last on whether or not people think he’s the guy that can bring about change.”
Gabriel Debenedetti contributed to this report.