Why Republicans are really scared of Hillary Clinton

Hillary Clinton has famously and repeatedly insisted that she won't launch another bid for the White House in 2016. But she's more popular by a long shot than any other potential presidential hopeful, boasting 60 percent approval ratings. That, says Liz Marlantes at The Christian Science Monitor, is "higher than former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush (39 percent), Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida (33 percent), Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin (47 percent), and Vice President Joe Biden (46 percent)." With those numbers, "would she be unbeatable?" Failed 2012 GOP candidate Newt Gingrich seems to think so. If Clinton runs, Gingrich told NBC's Meet the Press this week, she'll be "supported by Bill Clinton and presumably a still relatively popular President Barack Obama." Gingrich continued: "The Republican Party today is incapable of competing at that level." Well, Gingrich may be overstating things, says Marlantes:

Well, Hillary would at least be close to unstoppable in the Democratic primaries, says Allahpundit at Hot Air. No "Democratic voter in his or her right mind is going to roll the dice" on some governor with no national profile, such as Andrew Cuomo of New York or Martin O'Malley of Maryland, when they can have Hillary "and the Clinton machine instead."

Judging by Gingrich's trepidation, Republicans are indeed "having cold sweats over the prospects of facing Hillary Clinton at the ballot box," says Ed Pilkington at Britain's The Guardian. And with good reason. She's a former First Lady, an ex-senator, and a successful secretary of state who has already shown she can stand up to the rigors of a hard-knuckled presidential campaign. Looking around at the possible standard-bearers in their ranks, many Republicans may conclude that "if Clinton decides to stand in 2016, they are toast."

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Newt's observations "suggest that influential Republicans are waking up to the reality that the party's brand has been greatly damaged over the past decade," says RTT News. And maybe deciding that your party "deserves to be the underdogs" is a positive step.