Sen. Rand Paul (R-KY)
Sen. Rand Paul
continues to want to talk about Bill Clinton's sexual misconduct of nearly 20 years ago. According to the Kentucky Republican, Clinton is a "throwback to a sort of troglodyte time," apparently unlike ultrasound-happy Republicans. Why is Paul so concerned about Clinton's mid-1990s actions? Here's what he says:
“It is quite hypocritical that a party that says they’re great defenders of women in the workplace supports a guy who violated all of those pledges, all of those promises that the workplace is a safer place for women than it has been in the past,” he said.
He said he believes it’s “fair game for Democrats to have to defend” Clinton, since they lean on him heavily for fundraising and campaigning help.
Of course, Bill Clinton has been fundraising and campaigning for Democrats for years and it's only now that we're hearing this constant whining refrain from Republicans. Why might that be, do you think? Gosh, could it be that Clinton's wife looks like a lock for the 2016 Democratic presidential nomination, should she choose to run, and leads Republicans in general election polling, and one Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky has presidential aspirations? Could it be that Republicans have repeatedly gotten into trouble in recent years over their troglodyte throwback tendencies, and that trying to distract from their failure to improve their policies affecting or messaging about women is a lot harder than whining about what Bill Clinton did in the 1990s? Because, hey, he might not be running for anything, but maybe possibly his wife is, so it feels ... almost kinda sorta relevant, Paul hopes?
There's an obligatory reminder that goes with any Republican attempt to use Bill Clinton as a shiny object to distract from actual issues affecting American women today: Bill Clinton signed the first Violence Against Women Act. He signed the Family and Medical Leave Act. He signed an increase in the minimum wage. These are all policies affecting millions of women that Democrats are trying to build on and strengthen, improvements that Republicans like Rand Paul are blocking.