News Analysis: Clinton's email controversy could fade, despite unanswered questions

Questions remain over 2016 White House potential contender Hillary Clinton's private server and email account, but the controversy could fade into the background as election season gets fully underway.

The New York Times revealed last week that Clinton solely used a private email account to conduct business during her four-year tenure as secretary of state, and kept a private server at her residence, sparking a wave of controversy and myriad questions, such as whether she sent any classified information through the account.

On Tuesday, Clinton broke her week-long silence on the issue, likening the move to an honest mistake, saying it "would have been better" if she had used a government email account, which is the norm, but that she used a personal account for the sake of " convenience."

During a press conference at the Headquarters of the United Nations in New York, Clinton alleged she sent no classified information through the account, and that the private server would remain off limits, as it contained correspondence between her and her husband, former President Bill Clinton, as well as friends. She also suggested she did not keep half of the 60,000 emails she sent during her time in office, as they involved personal matters such as planning her mother's funeral and her daughter's wedding.

The explanation, while seemingly innocuous and coming from a poised and confident Clinton, did not answer myriad questions, the most glaring being how it was possible not to send classified emails in a job that routinely deals with classified information.

Indeed, the U.S. government classified 80 million documents in 2013, according to the U.S. Information Security Oversight Office, and critics contend Clinton's claim was implausible.

While Republicans blasted Clinton's explanation, political analysts said the controversy could well fade into the background if Clinton sticks to her decision not to turn over the server, and if she stonewalls reporters on that and other relevant questions.

That's because U.S. media will eventually lose interest in the scandal, experts and pundits said, and move on to the news of the day, eventually billing the email controversy as "old news."

Such was the case with the controversy surrounding the 2012 attack on Benghazi, Libya, that killed four Americans including a U.S. ambassador, which happened on Clinton's watch as Secretary of State.

Many questions over that incident remain unanswered. While Republicans and other critics continue to accuse Clinton of not being forthcoming on how she dealt with the attack, most U.S. media is now tired of the controversy, aside from some conservative news outlets.

Moreover, polls show the average American pays little attention to political news, around a minute or two per month, on average, and large swaths of the public do not realize the importance of laws that require officials to turn over public records.

That means the public is unlikely to demand answers over the email controversy and may soon forget the issue.

The controversy also comes nearly two years before the election, and media will be enamored by all the excitement once candidates' campaigns are in full swing, scurrying to file stories on the candidates' every statement, blunder and gaffe.

Meanwhile, analysts, pundits and political prognosticators said Republicans will likely use the issue to add to their narrative of Clinton, and that could hurt her politically.

"Republicans need to play their cards right on this," Republican strategist Ford O'Connell told Xinhua, explaining that the Republican Party (GOP) needs to use the email controversy as part of a larger theme to paint Clinton as secretive and as believing the rules don't apply to her.

"This is still early on in the election cycle. We don't know whether it's going to change anything," O'Connell said of the email scandal.

"Obviously some hard core supporters are still going to support her no matter what," he said, but added that if the GOP is successful, the party could use the scandal to take some voters away from Clinton at the margins.

"This by itself is not going to torpedo her nomination," but it could help Republicans portray her as someone who is, in their view, a consummate politician who will do whatever it takes to win, he said. Endite