At Republican gathering, all talk is of Clinton (none of it is good)

NASHUA, N.H. - They attacked her judgment on resetting U.S. relations with Russia and protecting U.S. diplomats in Libya. They slammed her as secretive for using a personal email account at the State Department and deleting messages in the face of scrutiny.

They mocked her recent campaign events in Iowa as inauthentic and her unannounced lunch at Chipotle as antisocial. They even reached back to her husband's infidelity to disparage her.

An energized, confident bench of 19 presidential candidates and potential contenders took turns taking shots at Hillary Rodham Clinton or competing with her on policy ideas at a Republican gathering in the ballroom of the Crowne Plaza hotel here, the first high-profile political event since Clinton announced her Democratic bid for the White House last Sunday.

Sen. Rand Paul of Kentucky made a robust argument against Clinton on Saturday over the disintegration of Libya, her State Department email and the Clinton Foundation's acceptance of contributions from foreign nations, including some with poor records on women's rights.

But he was especially harsh when he talked about the insurgent attack in Benghazi, Libya, in 2012 that led to the death of Ambassador J. Christopher Stevens and three other Americans.

"I think her dereliction of duty, her not doing her job" on Benghazi, "should forever preclude her from holding high office," Paul said to a standing ovation.

His was the most pointed of the Republican hopefuls' attacks on the former secretary of state. Responding to a question on whether Clinton might face a primary challenge from within her Democratic Party, Paul won laughs by cracking that she would soon need two planes: "one for her and her entourage and one for her baggage."

Also flaying Obama

But even as they tested out those lines of attack, the candidates made it clear that they were not quite ready to give up their assault on President Barack Obama. While Clinton presents a fresher target, several Republicans chose to take on Obama's economic record and his engagement with Iran and Cuba, an indication they believe he still stirs conservative audiences as much as his would-be Democratic successor.

The two-day event here in New Hampshire, where the nation's first primary will be held early next year, showcased the talents, tactics and breadth of the Republican field.

The 2012 presidential race featured several Republicans who made little impression on the party's voters, who have typically nominated longtime leaders (Ronald Reagan, the elder George Bush, Bob Dole, John McCain) or high-profile governors with strong networks of donors (George W. Bush, Mitt Romney).

The race for the 2016 Republican nomination has a mix of prominent candidates and lesser-known but fiery ones. The critiques here Friday and Saturday showed the bluntness of some of the candidates, the humor of others and the strategic interests of several - including those who chose not to mention Clinton and to introduce themselves to voters in a more positive light. And all of them sought to project the experience, knowledge and steeliness needed to take on a politician of Clinton's stature.

Former Gov. Jeb Bush of Florida talked at length Friday about his record of creating jobs and increasing graduation rates. He presented an implied contrast not only with Clinton but also with his less-experienced Republican rivals, like Sen. Marco Rubio, also of Florida.

"Accomplishment matters; leadership matters," Bush said. "Who sits behind the big desk as it relates to the presidency is different than perhaps United States senator or another job."

Bush also made a glancing comment about the scant Democratic opposition to Clinton, noting that he expected a tough fight for the Republican nomination.

"I don't see any coronation coming my way," he said in response to a question from one of the 600 people in the audience. In a nod to the many other Republicans running or likely to run, he joked, "I'm really intimidating a whole bunch of folks, aren't I?"

Rubio, Perry chime in

Rubio offered ambitious ideas for restructuring the nation's higher education system, such as having colleges tell students how much money they might earn with certain degrees before they take out loans. But first, he warmed up the crowd by noting that Clinton might try to raise as much as $2.5 billion for her campaign.

"That's a lot of Chipotle, my friends," he said to laughter.

Another former governor, Rick Perry of Texas, who came off as ill prepared in the 2012 presidential campaign, took Clinton to task on foreign policy in an effort to show off three years of what he called "intense study."

"She's the one that literally brought the reset button to the Kremlin," Perry said, referring to Clinton's presenting the Russian foreign minister in 2009 with a mistranslated red plastic button to "reset" relations. "They did reset us, that's for sure. They reset us back to pre-1989."

While lesser-known possible candidates like former U.N. Ambassador John Bolton and former Gov. James Gilmore of Virginia laced into Clinton as well, Gov. Chris Christie of New Jersey did not mention her once. He has not spent as much time in New Hampshire as some other candidates, and he chose to focus on introducing his own policy ideas, like major changes to Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid.

But Christie did take a shot at Obama that could also apply to a future Democratic president.

"We can no longer afford to have weakness in the Oval Office," he said. "We need strength and clarity and hard truths."

Slapping one another

Only occasionally did the Republicans go after one another.

Paul, without naming names, noted his difference of opinion with Bush and Sen. Lindsey Graham of South Carolina over confirming Loretta Lynch as attorney general, which Paul opposes, and he separated himself from foreign policy hawks in the party.

"There's a group of folks in our party who would have troops in six countries right now, maybe more," Paul said. Some possible candidates, like Rubio and Graham, have called for a more interventionist foreign policy that could include more U.S. ground troops in the Middle East.

The candidates spoke before New Hampshire party activists and elected officials who came primed, after a week of news coverage about Clinton's presidential bid, to hear a robust Republican rebuttal.

In the 30 minutes they each had to engage the audience through speeches, question-and-answer exchanges or both, the 19 Republicans faced the tactical decisions of whether to attack Clinton openly or target her in subtler ways, and whether to go after her in personal terms or on policy - or ignore her altogether.

Graham predicted Clinton would become more central as the election got closer, but said Republican animosity toward Obama made him a more resonant target right now.

"I have never seen anything like this," Graham said in an interview, referring to Republican contempt for Obama. He noted that it was even more deep-seated than their anger toward President Bill Clinton, whom Republicans impeached. "That's a pretty high bar," Graham said dryly. (Bill Clinton was acquitted by the Senate.)