Some top Democrats are alarmed about Clinton’s readiness for a campaign

But Correct the Record — an outside political group set up specifically to defend Clinton in the media — received only a brief set of talking points from Clinton’s office instructing them to dismiss the story as silly and to compare Clinton’s use of a private e-mail account to former secretary of state Colin Powell’s use of an AOL account. The group was given no additional information for days, leaving Correct the Record founder David Brock and other surrogates to craft their own, sometimes incongruous, defenses.

Many Democrats who want Clinton to succeed lament that she has stepped back into the political arena in a defensive posture, reminding voters what they disliked about the Clinton scandals of the 1990s. “This begins her campaign in a bad place — it’s the gateway drug to her past,” said one Democratic strategist and presidential campaign veteran who requested anonymity to speak candidly.

Some Democrats also believe that Clinton comes off as coy or cynical by repeatedly insisting she has not made a decision to run for president, even as she signs up dozens of senior campaign staffers in New York, Iowa and elsewhere.