THE UNFLATTERING COMPARISON – AT 11:21 A.M. ET:  Hillary Clinton is being compared to Richard Nixon, and it isn't meant as a compliment.  From John Fund at The Wall Street Journal:

Ever since Hillary Clinton’s e-mail scandal broke earlier this month, comparisons between her secretive style and that of Richard Nixon, whom she ironically pursued as a young lawyer on the House impeachment committee, have been frequent. But with Friday’s revelation that she wiped her private e-mail server clean after her records were requested by the State Department last year, the comparisons are becoming more concrete. Washington wags note that even Nixon never destroyed the tapes, but Hillary has permanently erased her e-mails.

And...

Todd S. Purdum of Politico notes that Hillary Clinton “is in the midst of re-tooling herself and her staff for a 2016 campaign that will presumably introduce at least some version of a ‘New Hillary.’” Purdum highlights the obvious echoes of Richard Nixon, who created and presented a more humane “New Nixon” to American voters in 1968 as he tried to recover from his own humiliating loss of the presidency eight years earlier. “It was an exercise in media control and manipulation,” the historian Michael Genovese has written. But it worked. Convinced that Nixon was the most conservative candidate who could win in 1968, conservatives ranging from Barry Goldwater to Strom Thurmond to William F. Buckley endorsed him. Nixon himself cynically observed of his new conservative allies: “They don’t like me, but they tolerate me.”

And...

The Republican party and conservatives paid a stiff price for swallowing doubts about Nixon and elevating him to the presidency. There was enough evidence for them to be deeply concerned about how he would perform in office. There is certainly ample evidence for Democrats to worry about what a return of the Clintons to the White House could mean for their party.

But for all the private doubts about Hillary, in public it’s all happy talk from party leaders for now. Democratic strategist Steve McMahon appeared on Bloomberg News last week to claim Democrats were happy with the choice of Hillary Clinton. Host Mark Halperin quickly retorted, “Like the way Cuban voters are happy with their choices?”

Everybody on the panel laughed, but it rang hollow. Democrats are being presented with an inevitable nominee at the same time everyone seems afraid to raise legitimate doubts about her.

If Democrats ignore the warning signs about Hillary the way Republicans ignored the ones raised about Richard Nixon, they may well also owe history and their party a future accounting.

COMMENT:  Very perceptive.  Hillary and Dick, together again.  At least in spirit.  Read the whole piece.  John Fund is very good.

March 30, 2015