Cringe-worthy video shows Democrats struggling to name a Hillary accomplishment at the State Dept.
The local partisans showered praise on Clinton, but things became awkward when Bloomberg's Mark Halperin pressed them on what they liked about Clinton's State Department record. The survey was conducted by Bloomberg Politics and the firm Purple Strategies.
"As secretary of state? I really can't name anything off the top of my head," said Ryan, described as a 38-year-old event planner.
"Give me a minute. Give me two minutes," another person said with a laugh.
Halperin tried directly calling on the participants to offer an answer. But the 10 Democrats present continued to struggle with the question.
"Um," said a third person, who then paused for several seconds. "No."
"I honestly can't say," a fourth said.
Watch video of the exchange below, via the conservative research group America Rising:
Republicans and others claimed that the video demonstrates what will be a problem for Clinton as she runs for president: a lack of clear, signature victories at the State Department. GOP consultant Rick Wilson suggested the video clip would even make an effective attack ad:
The focus group video wasn't all bad for Clinton, however. The participants praised both her character and her vision.
"She's a bad mama jama. She's a strong, competent woman," said an Iowa Democrat named Kiendra. "She knows what she's doing. She's not afraid to step up. She's not afraid to take advice and she's not afraid to say, 'No, I don't want to do it that way. I'm going to do it this way.'"
Click here to view the full Bloomberg Politics report on the focus group.