It is clear now that Hillary Clinton will change her stance on positions to whatever she thinks will win her the most votes. She has already tacked left on same-sex marriage (before 2013, she openly disdained it), trade (she was for the Trans-Pacific Partnership before being against it), and immigration (I am “adamantly against illegal immigrants,” she said in a 2003 interview).
Her most recent shift, which came on Monday, could do irreparable harm to her campaign. During a speech at the University of Northern Iowa, Clinton spoke out forcefully on behalf of women who claimed they had been sexually assaulted. “I want to send a message to all of the survivors,” she said. “Don’t let anyone silence your voice, you have the right to be heard, the right be believed, and we are with you as you go forward.”
Putting aside the issue of whether she believes those accused of rape also have a right to be heard and believed, the position she voiced is a reversal of the one she took as the wife of a president who was accused of sex crimes throughout his political career. From the Washington Free Beacon:
During Bill Clinton’s presidency, multiple women who came forward to accuse him of sexual harassment or assault were subjected to public and private attacks on their credibility by the Clinton camp.
Juanita Broaddrick, who says she was raped by Bill Clinton in 1978, claimed she was personally threatened by Hillary Clinton after she came forward in 1998.
Kathleen Willey, who accused Bill Clinton of sexual harassment her at the White House, said Hillary Clinton “orchestrated a terror campaign against every one of these women, including me.”
Paula Jones, the woman who sued Bill Clinton for sexual harassment, was dismissed as trailer trash by Clinton aides, who hinted that she was just trying to make money off her accusations. Clinton eventually settled the case for $850,000.
It gets worse. In 1975, when Hillary Clinton was still practicing law, she was the court-appointed attorney for a 40-year-old man accused of raping a 12-year-old girl. Her approach back then was to target the girl’s credibility, writing in an affidavit that the child was “emotionally unstable” and had the “tendency to seek out older men.”
Politicians are notorious for backtracking and flip-flopping to gain political advantage. But this may prove to be a bridge too far for women whose vote of confidence Hillary is asking for.
