BIDEN TALK – AT 10:52 A.M. ET:  Joe Biden is the flavor of the week.  Next week it'll be cherry vanilla, followed by marshmallow swirl.  The fact is, many Democrats are turning on Hillary Clinton.  She still may win the nomination, but only those in her employ may be in the hall cheering.  From CBS:   

With the specter of Vice President Joe Biden jumping into the 2016 race for the White House, some prominent figures in the Democratic party seem less sure of Hillary Clinton's chances at clinching the party's nomination.

Notable Democrat California Gov. Jerry Brown weighed in Sunday on the possibility of Biden's run, saying if he were in the vice president's position, he would give "very serious consideration" to the 2016 contest.

"All I can say is, if I were Hillary, I would say [to Biden], 'Don't jump in,'" Brown told NBC News. "If I were Joe Biden, I'd probably give it very serious consideration."

Joe Biden's political star has risen in recent weeks, with his national poll numbers climbing despite his unofficial status as a potential candidate. In a move that could signal more earnest consideration of a run, Biden this weekend met privately with Massachusetts Sen. Elizabeth Warren, a progressive policy leader of the Democratic party.

Brown, who once made a bid for the Oval Office in 1992 against Bill Clinton, added that his own personal experience has shown him presidential politics are "uncertain."

When asked if he expects Hillary Clinton to win the Democratic nomination, Brown responded, "I don't make these expectations. I've been around politics long enough to know things are uncertain. I don't know. I think she's a good person. She's got a lot of experience, but the vagaries of politics are such, I think expectations are worth about that."

The two-time California governor also expressed concern for how Clinton's brewing email controversy could impact her run, calling the issue a "vampire" haunting her campaign.

COMMENT:  The message is sent.  Any idea of Hillary's "inevitability," which is what her camp was selling just months ago, is down the drain.  She isn't inevitable, although the numbers say she's still probable.

Much will depend on the progress of the e-mail investigation, and that, in turn, may be dependent on the wishes of Barack Obama, who controls the Justice Department.  If you were Obama, would you want Hillary Clinton to succeed you?  Or close friend Joe Biden?

The soap opera will go on for a time.  But Hillary is clearly in trouble.

August 24, 2015