“This is beyond just a matter of poor judgement. What is going on here?”
The passage of time not necessarily put it out of mind, but certainly has blurred the edges. Both of the Clintons in different ways have very radical, longstanding ties or indicators to the domestic HARD left. China would still be ten years behind us in tech, and especially military tech, but for them. Bill made his odd trip to Moscow when it was HARD to arrange. She edited a college paper which celebrated the Black Panthers killing police officers.
Both are good chameleons, but they are as leftwing as Obama and Bill Ayers, although Bill dissipates his focus with self indulgence. At this point, he is most likely a simple hedonist, but he will be a known quantity and be partially owned for his early compromises.
Also, Hillary is from Chicago too. When she first ran, I downloaded her thesis on Community Organizing before I understood any of the Alinsky crap.
As for the lovely couple of diverse backgrounds, If one is a Muslim Brotherhood member, and the other an International Socialist, well, the ends justify the means...