When Bernie Sanders rallies are disrupted by Black Lives Matter protesters, it never seems like a serious threat to his campaign because the crowd at his next rally is huge and enthusiastic. When Donald Trump is threatened by the latest apparent campaign-ending gaffe, a raucous crowd shows up for him at his next public appearance.
There are Berniebots and Trumpbots. There are crazies for Cruz and zealots for Carson and Walker. In 2008, there were voters who were crazy for Hillary Clinton, even after (maybe especially after) Barack Obama took an insurmountable lead in the delegate count.
Where are those voters now? She could use a few. It's a really bad news day for her, as you probably already know: It's been determined that there were a couple of top-secret emails on her private account; she's turning her server over to the FBI; oh, and a new poll shows her trailing Sanders by 7 in New Hampshire.
I know, I know -- she can lose Iowa and New Hampshire and still have a firewall in the subsequent states, because the later states aren't lily-white and she retains strong support among blacks and Hispanics. But the press will be giddy if she loses an early contest, or two. I think it's more likely that she'll limp to the nomination than lose, but I think she'll get there limping. And the press will regale in every awkward step. As it is, there's already a sad-sack quality to her campaign, at least as it's presented by the media; she stakes out solidly progressive positions on issues and nobody cares. Where's the passionate base of support to push back against negative coverage?
Jeb Bush has this problem, too, obviously -- and he really might lose the nomination as a result (though probably to Walker rather than Trump). If he does limp to his own nomination, however, at least he'll get to sell himself as a change from Obama (plus, he'll have the media's goodwill, because the media hates Hillary, and because the perception is that Hillary has skeletons in her closet of a magnitude that Jeb has never approached). Otherwise, I think the GOP ill nominate someone with a real fan base. I'm not sureHillary will be able to compete.
The electorate wants to believe in someone or something. If Hillary can't find a way to seem like a source of hope, and can't seem like any large voter group's champion, she's in trouble.
