Monica Lewinsky scandal focus of Rand Paul attack

WASHINGTON, Jan. 27 (UPI) -- Rand Paul tried to give the Democrats a taste of their own medicine by dredging up the Monica Lewinsky scandal on Meet the Press Sunday.

The Republican Party has struggled to attract female voters the past few election cycles, and while it tries to improve its standing among women, Democrats have repeatedly hammered the GOP for waging a "War on Women."

But according to the Kentucky senator, former President Bill Clinton's Oval Office shenanigans prove that the party on the left has no leg to stand on when it comes to its treatment of women.

"He took advantage of a girl that was 20 years old and an intern in his office," Paul said. "There is no excuse for that, and that is predatory behavior."

Paul's comments come on the heels of another prominent Republican speaking out on women's issues in a way that Democrats were able to hold up as yet another example.

Former Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee, speaking to the Republican National Committee last week, claimed Democrats had managed to "insult the women of America by making them believe that they are helpless without Uncle Sugar coming in and providing for them a prescription each month for birth control because they cannot control their libido."

On Sunday, Paul attempted to turn the tables on the criticism of Huckabee, while simultaneously exonerating Hillary Clinton of her husband's misdeeds and making it an issue for her potential 2016 run.

"Someone takes advantage of a young girl in their office? Really?" Paul said. "Then they have the gall to stand up and say Republicans are having a war on women? So yes, I think it's a factor.

"It's not Hillary's fault," he continued, but added that it is "sometimes hard to separate one [Clinton] from the other."

In a segment later on the show, Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin, D-Ill., slammed Paul's attempt to insert the 16-year-old scandal into a theoretical Hillary Clinton candidacy.

"Hillary Clinton has established her own reputation and her own name and her own basis for running for president should she choose to do it," Durbin said. "The issues that were raised by my colleague Sen. Paul have been litigated in the public square for over a decade. For goodness sakes, let’s judge Hillary Clinton based on her talents and her vision of America should she choose to run for president."