All Hillary’s Russian Assets Her refusal to own up to a bad campaign gives Tulsi Gabbard a moment in the sun. By William McGurn
https://www.wsj.com/articles/all-hillarys-russian-assets-11571696214
Ever since Hillary Clinton suggested Rep. Tulsi Gabbard is a Russian “asset,” the Democratic congresswoman from Hawaii has been on the attack. But she ought to consider the remarks an in-kind contribution. Because before Mrs. Clinton’s ham-handed insertion of herself into the 2020 Democratic race, Ms. Gabbard’s campaign for president was going nowhere.
The big challenge before Ms. Gabbard now is whether she will make it into the next Democratic debate on Nov. 20 in Atlanta. She has yet to meet the polling requirements: either 3% support in four Democratic National Committee approved national polls, or 5% in two DNC-approved polls from states with early primaries (Iowa, New Hampshire, South Carolina and Nevada).
Ms. Gabbard has had trouble cracking 2% in most polls, and her debate performance last Tuesday hasn’t moved the needle. A FiveThirtyEight.com analysis put her at the bottom of the pack of all the Democratic candidates who made it to the stage, and noted her postdebate net favorability had dropped further into negative numbers.
Nor is her alleged stooging for Moscow Democrats’ only issue with Ms. Gabbard. In her call to bring the troops home, many hear echoes of Donald Trump ; her support for a ban on third-trimester abortions breaks with the party’s abortion absolutism; notwithstanding an apology, her past opposition to same-sex marriage has led to charges of homophobia; and her threat to boycott last week’s debate after alleging its corporate sponsors (CNN and the New York Times) worked with Democratic Party officials to “rig” the election had the Times writing how her political contribution was “injecting a bit of chaos” into the race.
Enter Mrs. Clinton. Speaking Thursday with former Obama campaign manager David Plouffe for his “Campaign HQ” podcast, Mrs. Clinton offered that Ms. Gabbard is a tool of Moscow. Though she didn’t mention her by name, the reference was unmistakable:
“I’m not making any predictions, but I think they’ve got their eye on somebody who is currently in the Democratic primary and are grooming her to be the third-party candidate,” Mrs. Clinton said. “She’s a favorite of the Russians. They have a bunch of sites and bots and other ways of supporting her so far.” CONTINUE AT SITE
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