Editorial boards at the largest newspapers in Iowa and New Hampshire have remained quiet of late on the 2016 race for president. Except in the case of Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton.
The Des Moines Register and the New Hampshire Union Leader are arguably the two most influential voices in the early primary. Their endorsements can offer the momentum a candidate needs to advance to the next round of voters. Likewise, their scrutiny can deflate a White House hopeful on the rise.
Recently, both the Register and the Union Leader have mostly reserved judgement on the early process, as the Republican field of candidates continues to grow and Clinton receives her first official challenge from Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.). However, there has been a wave of criticism over Clinton’s exclusive use of a private email server while serving as secretary of state and and her nonprofit Clinton Foundation’s acceptance of questionable donations from foreign entities.
Clinton has spent time in both New Hampshire and Iowa in the past few weeks, hosting a series of small meet-and-greets with potential voters but almost entirely avoiding direct questions from the national press.
“The Clintons have not changed since the 1990s,” said the Union Leader, which leans right, in an editorial on April 25. “They are still the same dishonest, calculating frauds they always have been. Anyone who does not see that is blinded by partisanship. Or cash.”
The Register was more forgiving of Clinton and the accusations that she and her husband, former president Bill Clinton, have conducted their government and post-government business in perhaps an unethical way.
“What is sad is that instead of talking about the nation’s issues the next president must confront, the Clinton campaign will expending much of its time and energy fending off accusations and responding to questions posed by neutral journalists and Clinton haters alike,” the Register said in a May 1 editorial. “The challenge for the Clinton campaign will be to keep the conversation on the issues rather than on the Clintons. In the meantime, they should avoid providing fodder for their detractors.”
