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RNC's Priebus: GOP Nominee Must be 'Just About Perfect' to Win 2016
Sunday, April 12, 2015 02:30 PM
By: Sandy Fitzgerald
Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus said Sunday that his party's presidential nominee will have to be "just about perfect" to win the 2016 election, but at the same time, Americans are saying they don't trust Democratic frontrunner Hillary Clinton.
"The majority of people in battleground states say she is untrustworthy," Priebus told CBS "Face the Nation" host Bob Schieffer, noting Quinniapiac poll numbers from states like Colorado, Virginia and Iowa, where voters say they think she is a strong leader, but is not honest and trustworthy.
And as a result, even though she has "pure saturation" through her name recognition, polls are showing her losing in the polls to a number of Republican candidates who have far less name recognition already, Priebus said.
The issue is, though, that the nation's electoral map gives Democrats higher numbers in national elections, leaving Priebus with "no doubt that we have to be about perfect...and the other side can be about good. And so the fact is that we do have the higher burden."
The GOP is taking steps to attract more minority voters, though, said Priebus, noting that if Mitt Romney had gathered more African-American and Hispanic votes in 2012, he may have defeated President Barack Obama's re-election bid.
But it means not just showing up once every four years, five months before the election," he told Schieffer. "It means talking for two and three years, in these communities, about things that we have in common before you go in and sell the final product. It's not the most exciting topic, as far as mechanics. But this is how you win presidential elections."
As far as a Clinton campaign, though, Priebus said the former secretary of state will face more scrutiny after Sunday's announcement about her candidacy.
For one thing, Priebus said, Clinton needs to account for the money the Clinton Global Initiative received from foreign contributors.
"Then once she gives forth an accurate accounting, then people like you and others that you’re going to have on your show can look through it and figure out whether or not these are things that we need to look into further," he told Schieffer.
While politicians and their PACS can receive great amounts of money from private contributors, Priebus said that the difference is that individual candidates "can’t take money from kings of Saudi Arabia and Morocco and Oman and Yemen and that’s what Hillary Clinton did," Priebus said.
Last month, Priebus sent a letter to Valerie Jarrett, a senior advisor to President Barack Obama, asking for answers about the foundation's fundraising practices.
His comments about the Clinton Foundation contributions were along the same lines as concerns voiced by Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul on two different Sunday talk shows.
The Clinton Foundation, best known for reducing the cost of drugs for people with HIV in the developing world, has said collaboration with foreign governments is essential for its humanitarian work.
Americans are also saying Clinton's use of a private email server while in office was inappropriate, said Priebus.
