The latest Republican attacks against presumptive Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton suggest the Republican Party is still having trouble figuring out a good strategy for the 2016 election. Senate Minority leader Mitch McConnell, a Kentucky Republican, and others spent last week criticizing Clinton for being too old to be a good candidate in 2016.
Host Steve Kornacki and the panel discussed these attacks and why a party so full of old white men could think they are a good idea on Saturday’s Up. No matter the reasoning behind it, political strategist and Up panelist L. Joy Williams said “bring it on” to attempts to criticize the first serious female candidate for president for her age.
The election of President Obama in 2008 did signal a major generational shift past baby boomers, as guest Evan McMorris-Santoro of Buzzfeed.com said, the GOP’s policies are far more alienating than the prospect of voting for someone who is nearly 70. The real question for 2016, he said, is “can anyone under the age of 45 vote for a Republican.”
Will this tactic continue, or will the party abandon it like it abandoned its strategy to reach out to younger voters from more diverse backgrounds? Just what are they thinking? Watch the full discussion above.
Meredith Clark
Meredith Clark is a freelance writer and editor. She was previously a senior news producer for "Patriot Act with Hasan Minhaj," a reporter with MSNBC.com, the digital politics and culture editor at Glamour and a senior news and politics editor at Refinery29. She has written for Vulture, Rolling Stone, Self, Marie Claire, Cosmopolitan, The Daily Beast and Bustle. Recommended
