RNC targeting Clinton ahead of 2016

Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus said his opposition research shop is targeting Hillary Clinton ahead of the 2016 election. 

Priebus said the RNC is trying to focus on the midterm elections, but added there should be a greater emphasis on the potential presidential candidate. 

{mosads}“Well, we have — so our research shop, along with America Rising, has been focusing in on Hillary Clinton,” Priebus said on The Hugh Hewitt Show on Thursday. “But I agree with you that there needs to be a more of a focus.”

American Rising is a GOP research firm started by Mitt Romney’s former campaign manager, Matt Rhoades. It is targeting candidates ahead of 2016.

Priebus said the RNC has to be aggressive in going after her record, and already has been in some cases. 

“Obviously, we’re trying to get to the midterms, and we’re trying to make sure that we set ourselves up properly in these governor and Senate races,” he said. “But I think that there’s a lot of rough stuff coming out on Hillary that, you know, it doesn’t just come out of thin air. It comes from somewhere. And sometimes, it comes from us, and sometimes, it comes from other groups.”

Priebus mentioned issues like Clinton’s leadership of the State Department during the 2012 terrorist attack in Benghazi, Libya, and her failed attempt to overhaul the healthcare system as first lady in the 1990s. 

“I think you’re right. I think that we have to be very aggressive on what she’s done or hasn’t done,” he said. 

Clinton is the overwhelming front-runner in early polling for the Democratic nomination in 2016. She said she would begin to consider the decision sometime in the next year. 

The Republican field, on the other hand, is much more wide open, with a number of potential candidates splitting the polls.