GOP tries to define Clinton for young voters
In presidential politics, very little is random. And the recent questions about Hillary Clinton's age and health is anything but.
National Republicans, as well as anti-Clinton outside groups and right-wing blogs, have stepped up efforts to redefine Clinton, despite her nearly 40 years on the political stage.
At the heart of this effort is one group of voters: young people.
Republicans think that young voters -- particularly Americans who were in diapers or listening to N*SYNC during the eight years that Hillary Clinton lived in the White House -- could use a refresher course on all things Clinton. Republicans feel young people could use their version of Clinton's history - and might be impressionable over what might seem like distant history.
They have stepped up their message and research efforts to rehash the news of the '90s -- including the policies and scandals that defined the years from 1992 to 2000 -- as part of their wider campaign against her as she mulls another run for president.
Democrats charge that the Republican campaign is just "dredging up" old news. Republicans describe it as "citing" recent history.
"There is a whole swath of voters out there who obviously know of Hillary Clinton and understand who the Clintons are, but they don't know of her as the politician, they don't know the specifics about her time in the White House," Kirsten Kukowski, spokeswoman for the Republican National Committee, said.
Details about the Clinton White House years is not old news for people who were in "grade school" at the time, she said.
The strategy has obvious pitfalls. Republicans risk looking petty by bringing up old scandals. And it hinges on the assumption that young voters will be receptive to Republican views of Clinton, who is liked by nearly two thirds of those between 18-29 sampled in a recent Quinnipiac University Poll.
"Republicans have been good lately at proving they are all about the past while Secretary Clinton is busy looking to the future," said Adrienne Elrod, communications director for Correct the Record, a pro-Clinton rapid response organization. "But, if Republicans want to spend money educating young voters about how strong the economy was under President Clinton's leadership in the 90s and how American broad-based prosperity was was at an all time high, who are we to stop them?"
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GOP tries to define Clinton for young voters