Progressives should work to push Hillary Clinton to the left on issues ranging from Wall Street reform to Keystone XL to trade deals like the Trans-Pacific Partnership to criminal justice reform. Absolutely. But it would be nice if they didn't employ
tools from Republican groups in doing so.
For months now, America Rising has sent out a steady stream of posts on social media attacking Mrs. Clinton, some of them specifically designed to be spotted, and shared, by liberals. The posts highlight critiques of her connections to Wall Street and the Clinton Foundation and feature images of Democrats like Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts and Mayor Bill de Blasio of New York, interspersed with cartoon characters and pictures of Kevin Spacey, who plays the villain in “House of Cards.” And as they are read and shared, an anti-Clinton narrative is reinforced.
America Rising is not the only conservative group attacking Mrs. Clinton from the left. Another is American Crossroads, the group started by Karl Rove, which has been sending out its own digital content, including one ad using a speech Ms. Warren gave at the New Populism Conference in Washington last May.
“Powerful interests have tried to capture Washington and rig the system in their favor,” intones Ms. Warren, as images of Mrs. Clinton with foreign leaders flash by.
The AFL-CIO and environmental advocate Bill McKibben have both retweeted such things from America Rising, which is run by former Mitt Romney campaign manager Matt Rhoades with the goal of having a 2016 Democratic presidential nominee come out of the primaries as battered as Romney was coming out of the 2012 Republican primaries.
Using Republican social media content is unlikely to be the best way to exert actual leftward pressure on Clinton. These are Republicans—cheap shots and questionable "facts" are more their thing.