THE HILLARY PROBLEM – AT 9:42 A.M. ET:  From undisputed frontrunner and almost-crowned queen of the universe, Hillary Clinton is slipping rapidly to the level of problematical candidate.  The Dems really have no one else, although there are pretenders to the throne.  She has performed poorly in her book tour, with gaffe after gaffe.  There are new, serious questions about her health.  And she is declining in the polls.  There are also doubts that Barack Obama will give her any help.  Other than these things, she's in fine shape.

One thing that's really starting to dog her, is her and Bill's wealth.  Very unbecoming for "public servants."  Dems are worried, and their worries are making it into the liberal media.  From WaPo: 

When Hillary Rodham Clinton said this month that she was once “dead broke,” it was during an interview in which she led ABC News anchor Diane Sawyer through her $5 million Washington home, appointed like an ambassador’s mansion. Mahogany antiques, vibrant paintings and Oriental rugs fill the rooms. French doors open onto an expertly manicured garden and a turquoise swimming pool, where Clinton recently posed for the cover of People magazine.

On her current book tour, the former secretary of state has traveled the country by private jet as she has for many of her speaking engagements since stepping down as secretary of state last year. Her fee is said to be upwards of $200,000 per speech; the exceptions tend to be black-tie charity galas, where she collects awards and catches up with friends such as designer Oscar de la Renta and Vogue editor Anna Wintour.

Such scenes reveal a potentially serious political problem for Clinton as she considers a 2016 presidential run: She and her husband are established members of the 1 percent, leading lives far removed from the millions of middle-class voters who swing elections.

And...

Some influential Democrats — including former advisers to President Obama — said in interviews last week they fear that Clinton’s personal wealth and rarefied, cloistered lifestyle could jeopardize the Democratic Party’s historic edge with the middle class that powered Obama’s wins.

“I don’t know whether it’s just that she’s been ‘Madam Secretary’ for so long, but she’s generating an imperial image,” said Dick Harpootlian, who recently stepped down as Democratic Party chairman in South Carolina, which hosts an early presidential primary.

Harpootlian, who backed Obama over Clinton in 2008 and is a longtime ally of Vice President Biden, added: “She’s been living 30, going on 40 years with somebody bringing your coffee to you every morning. Is it more ‘Downton Abbey’ than it is America?”

COMMENT:  Ouch!  That is not a remark steeped in kindness.  And note that Harpootlian backed Obama.  As has been widely reported, there is no love lost between the Obamas and the Clintons.  Clinton is running into trouble.  If she starts walking backward, she may run into a knife.

June 23, 2014