It may be too difficult for Hillary to reinvent herself

It is probably too much to expect that she would use a book tour to outline a vision for the future. But Clinton certainly knew that her interviewers would be asking questions that ranged far beyond the scope of the memoir of her State Department years. Some of the people who have long been in her corner privately expressed surprise that she did not have some kind of bigger message to deliver as she began to promote her book.

Clinton’s experience is so deep that there is hardly a domestic or foreign policy issue she hasn’t wrestled with in some detail at some point. That’s a plus — giving her the ability to project competence. But would her understanding of the complexities of many of the problems she would face as president make it more difficult to think creatively? After all, she already has come to conclusions about many of them. Would she be inclined to look back at the policies of her husband’s presidency as the foundation for future ideas?

Clinton’s prospective candidacy would represent the opportunity to break a significant barrier as the first female president in U.S. history. That alone might cast her as the candidate of the future. Obama offered inspiration without experience. Will she represent the opposite? Perhaps the projection of competence will be what voters want.