According to a new poll released by Quinnipiac University, Hillary Clinton’s scandals are catching up to her. Between the missing emails, the cloud of suspicion hanging over the Benghazi attack, and the latest questions surrounding the Clinton Foundation, Americans are losing their faith in the Democratic contender for president. 54 percent of U.S. voters think that Hillary is not to be trusted. Only 38 percent say that they still have reason to believe anything that comes out of her mouth.
While those numbers look grim, the poll isn’t all bad news for Clinton. 62 percent of respondents respect her leadership qualities, and she remains out in front of everyone who might stand in the way of her ultimate goal. Marco Rubio, Jeb Bush, Rand Paul, and Chris Christie are behind her by a few percentage points, and she leaves any potential Democratic rival in the dust. Even with the scandals, this is her race to lose.
Americans are accustomed to treating politicians with a certain level of distrust. Campaign promises have become a bad joke, scandals are commonplace, and by the time an election swings into full bloom, most people are just ready to grit their teeth and be done with it. So it remains to be seen how badly Hillary will be hurt by this notion that she is dishonest. It certainly didn’t hurt her husband too badly.
At the same time, though, we aren’t talking about illicit affairs. We’re talking about hard-hitting scandals that not only throw Clinton’s character into question, but also leave open the possibility that she broke the law. What was on that private email server that she is determined to keep out of the hands of investigators? What, if anything, was covered up in the aftermath of the Libyan terrorist attack? Did she grant favors to foreign entities after they donated to her charitable foundation?
Until these questions are answered, they are going to haunt Clinton’s campaign. It isn’t a right-wing conspiracy. It isn’t political maneuvering, meant to cast her in the worst possible light. The American people deserve to know what these politicians are doing in Washington. We don’t need to trust them. We need them to follow the laws and regulations we have in place to promote government transparency.
And that’s what Clinton fails to understand. She sees herself as above the petty rules that others have to follow. And she is seemingly indignant that anyone would question her integrity. She doesn’t see how she only makes things worse for herself by keeping the blinds shut so tightly. Then again, if we ever get a real peek behind the curtain, we may finally understand why she wanted to maintain that secrecy. Sometimes the appearance of impropriety is just as bad as the crime.
But sometimes…sometimes it isn’t.
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