Yesterday much of the attention of the nation was riveted on Dallas, Texas and the crazed attack on the police headquarters there. But even while that drama was playing out, there was a party taking place for a few thousand people on a small island in the East River. Hillary Clinton was officially reannouncing or relaunching her presidential campaign. Or something. And given the way her she handled the first official stage of the process with a wall of silence, I suppose some observers were expecting to hear answers to the big, important questions. Why are you running? And perhaps more to the point, what exactly do you propose to do if we elect you?

If you were more interested in an answer to the first question, you got one. She wants to be the first female president.

“I may not be the youngest candidate in this race. But I will be the youngest woman president in the history of the United States,” she said. “And the first grandmother, as well.”

If you were hoping for some details on question number two, well… you may as well have tuned back over to the standoff in Dallas. There were no detailed policy positions, no plans for how to address the many problems plaguing the nation which she mentioned, and essentially nothing of substance at all. What we saw were a series of liberal feel good sound bites, including many that broadcast a rather jarring contrast with the backdrop, as well as her previous statements and positions.

“Prosperity can’t be just for CEOs and hedge-fund managers,” Clinton said in an address on Roosevelt Island, with Wall Street visible over her shoulder. “Democracy can’t be just for billionaires and corporations. Prosperity and democracy are part of your basic bargain, too. You brought our country back. Now it’s time — your time — to secure the gains and move ahead.”

That one was particularly humorous, since she was going after hedge fund managers only a few miles from the home of the fat cats who think Hillary is just about the best thing since sliced bread. She also got a rap in at opponents of gay marriage. Clinton said Republicans “turn their backs on gay people who love each other.”

You know… those terrible people who say things like, Marriage is a sacred bond between man and woman. People like… Hillary Clinton.

What was entirely missing was any commentary on foreign policy. To listen to her list of priorities and promises, ISIS essentially doesn’t exist. Iraq and Syria must be doing just fine, because there was no plan for them either. Oh, and that big trade deal that’s being fought over now? No comment.

Jennifer Rubin noted that the message was coming from the wrong messenger for most of this dog and pony show.

At times, the populist rhetoric was a bit too hypocritical to bear. The woman awash in speech money and foundation donations is not the best messenger to declare: “We have to stop the endless flow of secret, unaccountable money that is distorting our elections, corrupting our political process, and drowning out the voices of our people.” So she will give back money from foreign governments, hedge funds and other disreputable sources? She announced, “As a senator from New York, I dedicated myself to getting our city and state the help we needed to recover. And as a member of the Armed Services Committee, I worked to maintain the best-trained, best-equipped, strongest military, ready for today’s threats and tomorrow’s,” yet is unlikely to lift the sequester caps that deny all of that to our current military men and women.

This policy free festival in the park was more embarrassment than enlightenment. Clearly the Clinton campaign has heard the rising tide of frustration at her lack of answers on pretty much anything, a call which has finally grown to include the media who would mostly love to love her. Unfortunately, she seems to have misunderstood the frustration. It’s not enough to show up at a rally on a cloistered island on a sunny day. People are waiting for answers on a variety of pressing issues.

After yesterday’s performance, they are still waiting.