Meet the Press Anchor: Hillary's Favorability 'Dismal,' Email Probe 'Incredibly Significant'

As I said on Friday, last week was a rough one for Democrats' presumptive presidential nominee. A Q-poll of voters in the swing states of Colorado, Virginia and Iowa showed her

upside-down by substantial margins on trust, empathy and overall favorability. A new NBC/WSJ survey confirms Quinnipiac's favorability findings, measuring Mrs. Clinton's ratings approximately 20 points underwater in two early battleground states. Meet the Press host Chuck Todd opened yesterday's program by describing the numbers as "dismal" and "troubling" for the Clinton camp:

She's at (37/56) favorable vs. unfavorable in Iowa, and (37/57) in New Hampshire. Todd also called Friday's news that two Inspectors General have requested a DOJ investigation into Hillary's improper email server and usage "incredibly significant." MSM tastemaker Mark Halperin agreed, casting the development as a "disaster" for her campaign -- if a criminal probe moves forward:

In this clip, Halperin and his co-host outline the Clinton camp's response to the New York Times' reporting, which has entailed quite a lot of highly Clintonian parsing. It's unclear whether the IG referrals to DOJ were explicitly criminal in nature, or if that determination has not yet been made -- plus, the investigation may focus on 'those responsible' for Hillary's emails, not necessarily Hillary herself. It's worth noting that Hillary ordered the (

scandalously under-secured) server to be set up in the first place, misused it, then ordered its contents culled prior to putting on a belated smoke-and-mirrors show of "complying" with records-keeping requirements. Mrs. Clinton is responsible for Mrs. Clinton's email. And while we're on the subject of responsibility, read Gabriel Malor's quick Twitter primer on the implications of her classified "spillage" problem. Aside from her lying about it, that is, which is hardly unusual for her anyway. A few key take-aways:

Oh. http://t.co/vfxytpFQPg pic.twitter.com/CJhss545dN
— Gabriel Malor (@gabrielmalor) July 25, 2015

Any gov't employee with a 10% spillage rate would be fired immediately and have their life turned upside down looking for other spills.
— Gabriel Malor (@gabrielmalor) July 25, 2015

With Team Hillary's 'deflect, deny, distract' machine firing on all cylinders, Wall Street Journal reporter Byron Tau tries the focus people's attention on two core facts:

Two facts: 1. Clinton email situation referred to FBI counterintelligence for investigation 2. IG review: Clinton sent classified material
— Byron Tau (@ByronTau) July 25, 2015

Exactly. Frustrated by stonewalling, two IGs referred the matter of Hillary Clinton's improper email usage to the DOJ for an investigation, which evidently involves the FBI's counterintelligence division -- and in direct contradiction of her pervious assertions, she did use her private server and account(s) to share classified materials. As she is

wont to do in times of distress, Hillary is busy ignoring her problems and playing the woman card:

HRC mentions "those guys on the other side." Then says, "They're all guys, btw." Then pauses. "Oh. There's one woman. I forgot about that."
— Liz Kreutz (@ABCLiz) July 26, 2015

Ahem. Isn't the Democratic field…"all guys," and one woman? And all lily-white, I might add, since identity politics is so terribly important to these people. Pretending to forget about Carly Fiornia's existence was a nice touch, by the way. As it happens, Fiorina appears to be gaining steam with the GOP electorate, and deservedly so.