The same Republican Party that nominated Sarah Palin and Mitt Romney is warning voters not to support Hillary Clinton because the Clintons are obnoxious.
Video:
To get more stories like this, subscribe to our newsletter The Daily.
Transcript from Meet The Press:
DAVID GREGORY:
A lot to get to on politics, for you to respond to the former president. Let’s talk about this wealth issue. Is this an issue, and is this an impediment for Hillary Clinton’s candidacy?
REINCE PRIEBUS:
Well, I think it’s an impediment because of number one, how they earn their money, how they talk about their money. Obviously, I don’t think there’s a problem with people being rich in this country. It’s just sort of–
DAVID GREGORY:
Mitt Romney didn’t lose because he was wealthy, did he?
REINCE PRIEBUS:
No, but I think that when you are perceived as being out of touch with people that are struggling, with people that are out there working hard, I don’t think flying on private jets and collecting $250,000 for a speech is considered to be hard work. And so people respect folks that earn their money and work hard and they become rich.
But when you talk about being dead broke and when you try to make believe that you understand how average people live, but you made $105 million giving speeches, I think people are kind of tired of this show, quite frankly. I mean, I just heard the interview, I think there’s Hillary–
DAVID GREGORY:
“The show” meaning what? The Clintons?
REINCE PRIEBUS:
There’s Hillary fatigue already out there. It’s setting in. People are tired of this story. And I just happen to believe that this early run for the White House is going to come back and bite them. And it already is. People are tired of it.
DAVID GREGORY:
You sound a little bit like Barbara Bush. Would you send that same message for Jeb Bush? That the Bushes and the Clintons are–
(OVERTALK)
REINCE PRIEBUS:
No, because I don’t think Jeb and the Bushes are being as obnoxious about all of this. I mean, you have Bill Clinton chastising Dick Cheney for speaking opinion, while Bill Clinton is out there speaking about his opinions on every subject there is under the sun. The guy’s a hypocrite.
This is the same Republican Party that nominated Sarah Palin for vice president in 2008, and Mitt Romney for president in 2012. It would be difficult to find two more obnoxious people than Palin and Romney in American politics, so it is clear that the GOP has a unique definition of obnoxious. I consider Romney telling 47% of the country that they are a bunch of takers and moochers the height of obnoxious behavior, and the majority of the 2012 electorate agreed.
What Priebus seems to find most obnoxious is that the Clintons are out in the public giving their opinions onthings. The whole idea that someone who wants to be president should tell the voters what they think about the issues and what they would do if elected has long been lost on the Republican Party. Under Priebus, the RNC has gone in the opposite direction. The Republican Party has shortened the primary process and dramatically reduced the number of debates so that voters know less about their nominee.
Republicans are running out of reasons why voters shouldn’t vote for Hillary Clinton in 2016. The majority of voters probably don’t view Bill Clinton smacking down Dick Cheney for being wrong about Iraq as obnoxious behavior. The comments today are par for the course for the GOP, as Chairman Priebus has been flailing around on the Sunday shows for months trying to find a reason why voters should reject Hillary Clinton.
His latest reason for why people should vote Republican is that the Clintons are obnoxious, and people are tired of them. Republicans have been floating the myth of Clinton fatigue since January. A more accurate statement would be that Republicans are desperately hoping that voters get tired of Hillary Clinton by 2016.
Republicans better hope that Priebus was wrong. If it is true that voters are turned off by obnoxiousness, the GOP may never win another presidential election.
Jason is the managing editor. He is also a White House Press Pool and a Congressional correspondent for PoliticusUSA. Jason has a Bachelor’s Degree in Political Science. His graduate work focused on public policy, with a specialization in social reform movements.
Awards and Professional Memberships
Member of the Society of Professional Journalists and The American Political Science Association
