Hillary Clinton should give a major speech focusing exclusively on her various scandals and address the ethics issue head-on.
The latest national poll from CNN/ORC indicates that the major party candidates, Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump, are essentially tied. The poll further reveals that the majority of American voters perceive Trump as more "honest" than Clinton, despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary. Years of smear tactics (remember Whitewater?), investigations (Benghazi) and pseudo-scandals (private email server) have clearly taken their toll. Admittedly Clinton played a part by making some stupid judgments (Goldman Sachs speeches). Her well-known preference for secrecy hasn't helped, either.
It is time that Clinton came to terms with those "scandals," preferably with a major speech dealing exclusively with her own ethics. Such a speech will provide her with the forum to explain her take on those issues, apologize for mistakes if necessary, and still convince voters that she is trustworthy. The speech is likely to generate loads of media coverage because most voters are familiar with the scandals and they want to know what Clinton really thinks. Clinton should use the opportunity to be forthright and truly connect with the voters, without worrying about legal liabilities or poll numbers. I am not in any position to advise her but as one of her biggest fans I wish she would do the following in her speech:
1.Explain why the deaths in Benghazi are not on her hands. As Joe Klein of Time magazine points out, embassy security is a relatively mundane matter that simply doesn't reach the level of the Secretary of State. As the highest-ranking member of the cabinet, Clinton was simply too busy trying to... oh let's see: build the sanctions regime again Iran; negotiate a new arms control treaty with Russia; broker a cease-fire in Gaza; bring China and India to the table on climate change; open Burma to the world and initiate talks with Cuba; and advance women's and children's rights around the world. (The list is taken from an interview with the former CIA deputy director Michael Morell.) Some may still blame her for advocating military intervention in Libya in the first place but that is not an ethics issue.
2.Apologize for the private email server - then put the scandal in proper context. Clinton has already said using the private email server was a mistake. Why not go one step further and apologize for having been so naïve and high-handed? ("I really did think those rules applied to lesser folks at the department but not me...") At the same time, however, it's just an email server. As Bernie Sanders memorably told Clinton, people "are sick of hearing about your damn emails." The American public should simply accept Clinton's apology and let it go.
3.Vigorously defend the Clinton Foundation - then say the Clintons will cut off all ties to it. As Paul Krugman of The New York Times points out, the Clinton Foundation is by all accounts an excellent humanitarian outfit which gets an "A" rating from an independent watchdog - higher than even the American Red Cross. The Clintons do not take any salary from the foundation. Having said that, the president and first gentleman cannot go around the world seeking donations. Hillary already resigned from the board of the foundation when she decided to run for president. It's time that Bill (and Chelsea) did the same.
4.Admit she should not have given those paid speeches at Goldman Sachs - then say the Clintons will donate the money. Clinton should simply say, "I never thought I would run for public office again. There was easy money on the table, and I decided to take it." She also needs to explain why she doesn't want those speeches made public. ("I duly gave the audience a paean to capitalism and said some things which I probably wouldn't say today...") The Clintons may want to donate the fees (minus the taxes they paid) to a charity.
5.Argue why, after all that has been said and done, voters should still trust her. Here she could borrow a passage from Tim Kaines's excellent introductory speech in Miami : "If you want to judge the character of someone in politics, here is how you do it... Look at their life, and see if there is a passion in their life that they'd had long before they got into politics, a passion that's not about themselves... and see if they have held onto that passion through thick or thin, in good times or bad... look to see if they have a passion about somebody else, and look to see if they have held onto it all the time, and that is character."
Ultimately the success of such a speech will hinge on how candid and forthright Clinton allows herself to be. Self-deprecating humor will help. As Confucius once said, "Be loyal and trustworthy... When you make a mistake, don't be afraid of correcting it." Everyone makes a mistake. What makes someone trustworthy is the readiness to admit the mistake and take corrective action.
Clinton may also want to note this advice from Mencius: "So it is that whenever Heaven invests a person with great responsibilities, it first tries his resolve, exhausts his muscles and bones, starves his body, leaves him destitute, and confound his every endeavor. In this way his patience and endurance are developed, and his weaknesses are overcome. We change and grow only when we make mistakes. We realize what to do only when we work through worry and confusion. And we gain people's trust and understanding only when our inner thoughts are revealed clearly in our faces and words."