Why on earth did Hillary Clinton hide when announcing her well-known intention to seek, for the second time, the White House? Why would she mandate her campaign chairman, former Bill Clinton's chief of staff, to announce her decision through social media rather than doing it herself? Why spend 30 seconds only to talk about her decision to be a "champion" in an uninspired video of unimpressive quality? You don't get a second chance to announce.
This is a false start or, as I say in French, a faux-pas. After 20 years in politics, eight years in the White House, a four-year Secretariat of State with Barack Obama, she should know better. One of her toughest challenges is her age. John Podesta is running her campaign at 66 and she would be president at 70. I enjoy being a grandfather, but I am not sure America is looking for a grandmother. They might prefer Jeb Bush to Laura Bush.
The Clinton Foundation legacy is tainted by too much money and by selling favors to foreign governments and other interests. It has not been dissipated yet.
The announcement, even "oiled" by an exclusive pre-dinner with the media, gives the impression that she is hiding from the electorate. When Marco Rubio announces his candidacy to his constituency in Miami tonight, her shadow will be present. She needs to be more than a shadow. He will be live.
Barack Obama managed to rally, on two elections, the young voters who typically abstain at elections. Building on that legacy is a challenge. We are led to believe that her video meant that she wanted the American people to be first. You really need to decipher what her communication pundits are pretending.
After two years of preparation, during which her only objective has been to put in check every possible democratic candidate, she is forcing democrats (including me) to make a binary choice: Hillary or the Gross Obstructive Party, otherwise known as the Republicans. This certainly weakens the Democratic party's hopes to have one of theirs to succeed Barack Obama.
Fighting to have the first woman to be POTUS is legitimate. Does it need to be her? Is it entitlement? These first steps look exactly like a repetition of the misconstrued certainty that she deserves to be president.
The world has changed, and winning this election will require a lot more than being a woman or a member of the Clinton dynasty.
Hopefully things will change and we will soon see the real Hillary emerge: bold, smart and innovative. It will require a serious trajectory correction of her campaign.