Daily Intelligencer NY Mag Oct. 9, 2016

If Her Opponent Weren’t a Sexual Predator, Clinton’s Leaked Speeches Would Be Devastating

If the Republican Party hadn’t nominated a man whose favorite pastimes (apparently) include committing sexual assault and then bragging about it, the Clinton campaign would be having a very bad Saturday.

Between the end of her tenure as secretary of State and the launch of her presidential campaign, Hillary Clinton earned millions of dollars giving closed-door speeches to financial firms and other private entities. This was a risky enterprise for an aspiring presidential candidate to pursue. Nearly a decade after the financial crisis, Wall Street remains an object of scorn with a large swath of the American public; the idea that our government is too cozy with the big banks has purchase among voters of both parties. So, taking large sums of money to speak at the private functions of Wall Street banks — including ones that admitted to defrauding investors in the run-up to the crash — was never going to be a great look in 2016.

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