In a speech to law students in Madison earlier this afternoon, Hillary Clinton made her strongest statements yet about the racism and extremism which is now part of the Republican brand.
"Now every day, another Republican bemoans the rise of Donald Trump," Clinton mocked. They say a Trump nomination will set the party back decades. I agree...What Republicans have sown with their extreme tactics is what they will reap with a Trump candidacy."
Clinton then went on to connect Mitch McConnell's vow to make President Obama a one-term president with Donald Trump's launch of the birther campaign.
"It wasn't long after [Mitch McConnell's vow] that Donald Trump started his racist campaign to discredit the President's citizenship," Clinton reminded. "And Ted Cruz embarked on his strategy of holding the government hostage to get his way."
She continued, "These things are connected. When you have leaders willing to bring the whole of government to a halt to make headlines, you may just give rise to candidates who promise to do more radical and dangerous things."
"Because once you make the extreme normal, you open the door to even worse," she warned.
Then she hung it all the way around Senator Ron Johnson's neck, reminding them that he's obstructing Merrick Garland's nomination while Senator Russ Feingold was always careful to do his constitutional duty when he served on the committee.
I'd say Secretary Clinton pinned that right on the butt of the elephant, wouldn't you?
