Democrats' Benghazi dilemma: Join 'blatantly political' congressional probe? (+video)
House Republicans are zeroing in on what they claim were Obama administration missteps on the Benghazi attack. Democrats must decide whether to participate or boycott an investigation they see as highly partisan.
Making a partisan big deal out of scandal (or the perception of scandal) is always a bit of a gamble.
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Republicans flogged then-president Bill Clinton with impeachment over his extra-marital affair with Monica Lewinsky, which certainly didnt do Al Gore any good a year later when Gore lost in the US Supreme Court, not in the popular vote a very close and very divisive election to George W. Bush.
But as Gallup has reported, Clinton weathered the Monica Lewinsky scandal in 1998 with fairly high personal ratings averaging 58 percent that year and ended his presidency on a positive note, with a 57 percent rating in December 2000. Last year, Gallup ranked him the fourth most admired man between Pope Francis and the Rev. Billy Graham.
Now, congressional Republicans are going after the Obama administration over the 2012 attack by Islamic militants on the US diplomatic mission in Benghazi, Libya, which killed American Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three other US personnel.
Speaker John Boehner has named a special committee to investigate charges that the Obama administration white-washed or covered up missteps in the US response to the attack. Rep. Darrell Issa, (R) of California, chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee, has issued a subpoena intended to force Secretary of State John Kerry to testify before the panel about Benghazi.
Kerrys predecessor former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who leads any possible opponents in the 2016 presidential race is an obvious target.
Its clear that there are implications for 2016, Rep. Steve Stivers, (R) of Ohio, told Bloomberg News.
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Democrats' Benghazi dilemma: Join 'blatantly political' congressional probe? (+video)