Sanders had just told an interviewer that he was iffy about raising money for down-ballot Democrats, so I asked Clinton the obvious question: Did she think Sanders is a real Democrat?

“Well, I can’t answer that,” she said with a smile. Then she proceeded to answer the question. “He’s a relatively new Democrat, and, in fact, I’m not even sure he is one. He’s running as one. So I don’t know quite how to characterize him.”

Clinton’s stock line as she’s watched Trump & Co. savage each other for months has been some version of don’t-speak-too-ill-of-any-Democrat. But things have changed over the last couple of weeks, with Sanders’ team ratcheting up its attacks and speaking openly about a contested convention, GOP style.

She was ticked off — already factoring in an inevitable loss in Wisconsin Tuesday — and was in a rare mood of public introspection, so a sit-down that was supposed to last a half-hour but ran nearly 20 minutes over time so she could more fully explain herself to a public that often views her with suspicion.