I think the rhetorical situation the editorial is responding to is the 2008 primaries. He obviously is not a fan of the Clintons so he was was trying to persuade people against voting for Hillary Clinton in the 2008 primary. He is trying to appeal to potential voters especially democratic ones who may have considered voting for her. 

The genre conventions that stood out to me for editorials are the author's extremely strong opinion and harsh words. I have never written in this genre before because I have not had an intense opinion i feel the need to express. 

An editorial is a good genre for him to express his opinion considering he is a college student. Another genre he could use is a commercial or handing out fliers. The disadvantage of a commercial is that being a college student, he does not have the resources to make a commercial and get it out there. The advantage of it, if it was possible, would be that a whole lot more people would see it because unfortunately more people watch tv then read the newspaper. 

The editorial itself is very strongly opinionated. The other hints at the fact that he is a republican, however all his views directly point to the right side. What he is  saying is a bit contradictory because he is saying don't vote for Hillary, however, she might be easier to beat. Being a republican, wouldn't he want an opponent who is easier to beat? Also, his whole argument is based on the principle that since Bill Clinton was not a good president, Hillary would not make a good president. Just because they are married does not mean that they are the same person. She cannot be blamed for his mistakes, and if anything, I bet she learned from his mistakes and is wiser for it. This whole argument is weak, and I think he sounded a little bit ignorant.