What is most peculiar about Hillary's presidential inevitability is that the American electorate, by and large, thinks she stinks. In Florida, for instance, (which demographically is like a southern Ohio), the malodorous Donald Trump "has a favorable rating of just 41 percent among all voters, while 51 percent have an unfavorable impression of him." Hillary Clinton, on the other hand … actually, there is no other hand. The same percentage (41) have a favorable opinion of her, while even more (54 percent) have an unfavorable opinion of Clinton.
In head-to-head matchups? Clinton is now losing to Trump by 8 points (49-41), and by 9 points to the ineffably clueless Ben Carson (50-41).
Now it's true that these numbers won't hold. They are momentary fictions; mere fragments of an electoral mind clouded with establishment-hate and thus easily attracted to the flamboyant antics of a Trump, or the soothing imbecility of a Carson. The latter is Trump's Bernie Sanders or Martin O'Malley, so we can rule him out. Should Trump then survive, he won't. Women, Latinos, African Americans, the young and the educated — all of whom vote in presidential elections — will be aligned against Trump, no matter how unfavorable they might be toward Hillary.
And her unfavorability rating is likely to stand, since the hardest task for a politician is to reverse negative opinions about him- or herself. Hillary's negatives, true to form, have been nothing but consistent. Yet is it even conceivable that she could lose to a party (even top-ticketed by someone other than Trump) that has alienated every significant voting bloc but that of really pissed-off old white guys? No. No, it is not.
All of which means Hillary's honeymoon will expire before her inaugural address is fully delivered. Right or wrong, justified or not, the American electorate is simply unfavorable to Hillary Clinton. Congressional Republicans, of course, will make the most of that. And though that's going to make for one helluva bumpy ride for Hillary, it'll be political commentators' salvation — quite possibly the four most dramatic and fascinating years in American political history.
So please don't mistake. Yes, I'm resigned to a Clinton presidency; you could even say distressed. But as a commentator, I'm also perversely delighted.