Eleanor Clift extols Hillary's mainstream wonderful-ness -- arguing (approvingly) that she is thwarting the Republican attack machine just by being the mainstream gal that she is. Clift notes (again, approvingly), that Hillary hangs around with John McCain, Sam Brownback, etc.

Come on. This doesn't fool anyone. Everyone knows who Hillary really is -- even Eleanor Clift. After all, when's the last time Clift praised anyone for hanging around with Sam Brownback? But it's OK for Hillary to do it, because Clift knows why she's doing it -- and that there's no real danger to the liberal agenda.

Friends like Clift may be one of the most troublesome factors Hillary faces. She will never be opposed by anyone from the left, and that -- in turn -- tips off the middle that she hasn't really changed her spots, in a fundamental way, from the days when she tried to nationalize one-seventh of the economy. Besides, to convince the country that she's gone "mainstream," Hillary would have to explain the evolution in her thinking, and admit that she was wrong to be so liberal -- and as all of us have seen, admitting imperfection isn't something that comes easy for Senator Clinton.

Could she still win? Of course. But not in a one-on-one race. She would need a third party candidate -- maybe someone anti-immigration -- to help split the Republican vote in the Sunbelt, so that she could slide into The White House with a 43% plurality like her husband did.