CONNOR HOFFMAN
Staff Writer
Former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has been one of the biggest names in politics for a while, but her national spotlight may be coming to an end this election season. I believe that we are seeing the fall of the “House of Clinton,” and soon her spotlight will be over.
2016 was supposed to be Clinton’s election to win, and she was supposed to slide through the primary to the Democratic National Convention. Everyone was betting their money on Clinton until Sen. Bernie Sanders really started to pick up steam. It’s all starting to remind me of 2008, when then relatively unknown Sen. Obama took the party’s nomination from Clinton.
In the fall, the people were bombarded with articles that said Sanders was not electable compared to Clinton, but many recent polls have shown this is no longer the case.
The polls show that unless the Republicans nominate Donald Trump and the Democrats nominate Clinton, it would be one the easiest elections for the Republicans in history. In that match-up, according to RealClear Politics, Clinton has an average of 44 percent while Trump comes up short at 41 percent. But in a match-up with Sen. Ted Cruz, Clinton loses 46.8 to 45.5 percent; against Sen. Marco Rubio, it’s 47 percent versus 45.5 percent in his favor.
These same polls show a much different story for Sanders and show just why he is going to beat Clinton. Against Trump, Sanders has a poll average of 46.8 percent, compared to Trump’s 41.5 percent, according to RealClear Politics. Rubio has an average of 44 percent compared to Sanders at 43 percent. Sanders has an average of 45 percent compared to Cruz’s 41.7 percent.
One of the major reasons that Obama was able to beat Clinton in 2008 was the record-breaking grassroots campaign he ran. Sanders is already beating some of these very records that Obama broke. Over the weekend, his campaign reached 3 million individual contributions, more than any candidate at this point in the election in history.
We must also look at the resources that both campaigns have raised to see just how weak Clinton has become. Clinton has fundraised overall $112 million in 2015, and Sanders fundraised $73 million according to MarketWatch. This may seem like a huge gap, but keep in mind, Clinton has all of the big corporations and banks behind her, whereas the Sanders campaign isn’t even backed by a SuperPAC.
Sanders’s new popularity shows even more when you look at the comparision of his and Clinton’s fourth quarter fundraising totals. Sanders raised $33 million in the fourth quarter and Clinton raised $37 million according to MarketWatch.
Clinton might still be beating Sanders in the national polls, but that is going to change soon if she loses both Iowa and New Hampshire to Sanders. Sanders had 53 percent support in New Hampshire, compared to Clinton’s 39 percent, according to a Monmouth University poll released on Jan. 12. A Jan. 27 Quinnipiac University poll showed Sanders with 49 percent support and Clinton with 45 percent support in Iowa.
Clinton’s email server has been one of her biggest pieces of baggage this election season, and rightfully so — she broke the law. The Democrats tried to brush this off and said that it was even a manufactured scandal by the Republicans to hurt Clinton. Sanders even went so far to say her emails “were not a real issue” they should be talking about at the first Democratic debate.
But it looks like Clinton might finally be held accountable for the crime she committed. Rep.Darrell Issa said the FBI probe now has enough information to indict both Clinton and her aide Huma Abedin according to The Hill. The FBI probe is now looking at not only her criminal mismanagement of government records, but also the possibility of her breaking public corruption laws with the Clinton Foundation. The FBI is looking at whether or not Clinton used her position as Secretary of State to benefit the Clinton Foundation with foreign donations.
Clinton has ducked many scandals, but it looks like she is not getting away with this crime. If the FBI decides to issue indictment charges to the Justice Department for Clinton, it will all be over for her. Charges on Clinton would mean that she would not only lose all of her support but possibly be put behind bars, where she deserves to be.