HILLARY WOBBLES – AT 11:51 A.M. ET:  Hillary Clinton is about to make a major economic speech.   Notice the excitement?  She probably wouldn't be making the speech if it weren't for the challenge thrown down by Bernie Sanders.  Hillary apparently thought she could coast to the coronation in a gold carriage, with the peasants blowing kisses at her.  Not too many kisses are being blown, and there are worried in the Clinton camp.  From Financial Times: 

Tactical blunders. A strained relationship with the media. An insurgent rival drawing enormous crowds.

For Hillary Clinton, the past few weeks of her 2016 presidential campaign have brought back uncomfortable memories of her failed bid in 2008.

Three months in to what should be one of the best funded, best organised campaigns in history, Mrs Clinton has been unable to draw a line under a series of controversies, or to generate the kind of grassroots enthusiasm that will be crucial to maintaining momentum in the gruelling months ahead.

As she prepares to outline her economic vision for the country in a high-profile address on Monday in New York, Mrs Clinton’s team is betting that a rollout of popular, middle-class friendly policies such as paid sick leave and universal prekindergarten provision will help to reset the debate.

But her rockier-than-expected start continues to unnerve some long-time allies and Democratic donors, who view the rise of rival Bernie Sanders, the 73-year-old self-proclaimed socialist who has galvanised progressives, as a symptom, rather than a cause, of so-called “Clinton fatigue.”

“We are worried about him, sure. He will be a serious force for the campaign, and I don’t think that will diminish,” Jennifer Palmieri, the Clinton campaign’s communications director,” acknowledged this week.

COMMENT:  The reality is that Clinton inspires very little enthusiasm.  Even on the liberal left she is often seen as a devious operator who got rich by marketing her "public service," and who cannot really be trusted to tell the truth.  I think she'd even lie about what she had for lunch. 

She is also seen as too cozy with Wall Street.  She's been left-wing all her life, but the left sees her as not left enough. 

She has one thing left, her most powerful weapon:  gender.  In a party that divides people by groups, and that really has bought into the whole "race, gender, and ethnicity" line of elite colleges, she can claim it's her turn.  And the American people might just go along with her.

July 12, 2015