Hillary needs to check her privilege

Though in recent years the GOP nominees have been scions of privilege (think Bush, McCain and Romney) the current GOP lineup has more middle- and working-class bona fides. Chris Christie, Scott Walker, Bobby Jindal, Paul Ryan and Marco Rubio all come from backgrounds that make it likely they know how to operate a grocery store scanner. They also come from backgrounds in which the meaning of “dead broke” probably has a very different meaning for them than it appears to for the former secretary of state, especially since unlike her they are all still relying on government salaries.

Mitt Romney lost the last presidential election not because he was born to privilege, but because he didn’t know how to talk about his privilege. If Hillary has any hope of being a viable candidate against these men, then she should say what Romney never did: “I’ve been more fortunate than the average American. My daughter is certainly more fortunate than the average young person. Thanks to the advantages she grew up with she has opportunities the average young person can only dream about. But my family is committed to using our privilege to lift up other Americans. Because every person in our great country should have the same shot at the American Dream that the wife and daughter of a former president do.”