The American Spectator

The Spectacle Blog

Quin Hillyer's excellent column urging Republican opposition to Hillary Clinton's nomination as Secretary of State offers interesting political possibilities.

First, tough questioning during Hillary's confirmation hearings would give Republicans a chance to play on familiar turf, emptying out the oppo-research files (see Amanda Carpenter's Dossier, for starters). The New York-based media loves any Hillary-related news and so, at a bare minimum, the GOP could get a week's worth of front-page headlines out of the hearings.

Second, a real fight over Hillary's nomination would give Republicans a chance to establish the "corruption" meme at the outset of the Obama administration. The Clinton connection -- including all of Bill's shadowy conflicts of interest -- ties Obama to the politics of the past (rather than Hope and Change) and a confirmation fight will help cement that connection in the public mind.

Hillary is less popular than Obama, and so opposition to Clinton's confirmation presents an opportunity for the GOP to score points indirectly against the Messiah. And there are enough Clinton-hating "progressives" among Obama's supporters that Republican senators could count on a certain amount of grassroots Democratic support in the confirmation fight.

Could Senate Republicans actually defeat the Clinton nomination? Probably not, but that doesn't mean it isn't worth trying. Remember that Clinton was more or less imposed on Obama as the price of "solidarity" during the fall campaign. If the confirmation hearings were to turn up anything really damaging against Hillary, Obama wouldn't really regret having to withdraw her nomination.