The latest Fox poll finds that 58 percent of Americans believe Hillary Clinton lied about not having classified information on her private email server. A majority, 54 percent, also believe her use of a private email put that nation’s security at risk.
If these poll results hold, Hillary cannot be elected President next year. Republicans can nominate a flawed candidate and Hillary can outspend that person by almost any factor, but voters won’t elect a politician who “knowingly lied” to the public, especially if that lie potentially put the nation at risk.
This isn’t the 1990s, when the Cold War had ended and national security issues were confined to CSPAN channels no one watched. For the past two years, concerns about terrorism and national security have been inching up the polls as a top concern of voters. It is at least an even bet that there will be a new foreign policy crisis before the election next Fall.
No amount of spin, even from the vaunted Clinton machine and its accomplices in the media, can counter a perception that Hillary intentionally lied.
With the exception of Democrats and black voters, every block of voters and demographic believes Hillary knowingly lied. Even women voters, by an 11-point margin, believe she lied.
More than two-in-three Independent voters, 67 percent, also believe she lied. Independents also believe, by an 18-point margin, that her behavior risked national security. While most Democrats believe there is “another explanation” for the recent news that her personal email contained classified information, almost a third of Democrats, believe she lied.
When Congress returns from recess in September, foreign policy will dominate political news, as Congress votes on the Obama Administration’s deal with Iran. A strong majority of Americans, 58 percent, believe Congress should reject the deal. An overwhelming majority, 75 percent, don’t think Iran can be trusted to honor its part of the agreement.
There were already many reasons to question the perceived inevitability of Hillary’s nomination and successful campaign for the White House next year. Even before these revelations, her campaign was losing steam against an almost accidental challenger, Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders. While she still leads almost every poll, she has lost significant ground in the last few months.
For months, voters have questioned Hillary’s honesty and trustworthiness. This latest poll is different, though. A majority of voters now believe she lied.
This wasn’t a lie about personal behavior, as voters have acclimated themselves to with respect to the Clintons. This was a lie directly related to her official duties and which, according to a majority of Americans, made the U.S. less safe.
Not even Hillary and the mythical Clinton machine can come back from that.
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